make it new in every moment…

Why do some of us wait for January 1 to resolve to change or do better for ourselves?

There are two more days in the first month of the new year. Have you stuck to your resolve? Are you still going strong? I can admit that my commitment to health and self-development is a daily realignment. It occurred to me that this is the way it should be, the way it's supposed to be. Staying on track is a constant process of re-centering. The normal veering out of the proverbial lane, someone or something honks at us, and then we readjust. I think some of us have good intentions to purify ourselves physically, mentally, and emotionally, and then life hands us a pitfall, and we resort to our old coping habits. Food, alcohol, laziness, denial, the easy-trodden path is the easiest because we have it mastered. We know how to rely on our default settings because they’re already there, we don’t have to think about them or create them. Or do our defaults have us mastered? Am I talking in circles?

Ok…How do we make progress?

Of course, this is just a theory, but I think something severe has to happen to shake us awake to these default settings that we are constantly using. Health concerns, the loss of a loved one, comparing ourselves to someone we look up to, a look in the rearview mirror, and, not to forget, a look in the bathroom mirror. Something has to occur to ignite this inspiration to change. It has to be strong enough for us not to want to resort to the old and familiar ways of doing things.

Me, I'm still figuring out the “how” in the process of progress because I've been so attached to the fear of failure that I feel paralyzed. As soon as I take one step forward toward progress, it feels like everything under the sun tries to keep me in my old habits. For instance, going to the gym and seeing a personal trainer three times a week was the making of this desired progress. I was in the middle of doing abs, and I made this connection that, only a few weeks prior, I was longing for this physical self-discipline, and here I was doing it and loving it. Then, for whatever reason, it stopped. Not only did it stop, but it felt like I was again underneath the weight of a self-imposed boulder and couldn't get out.

Then, right as rain, I felt like I was back on the proverbial treadmill wanting more discipline and my inner critic was telling me what a failure I am. Yikes! How do we move forward?

I'm sure a psychologist would have an answer for this.

I’ve read that making small consistent changes every day is a strong possible solution. Making my bed, everything always picked up, cooking my meals as opposed to eating out, and taking daily walks at the same time every day. I read about a man that started his health regimen and his first and only task given to him by his trainer was to drive to the gym daily, be there for 5 minutes, and then go home without exercising. He did this for an entire month. He’s lost over 200 lbs and attributes his success to the daily five-minute no-exercise visits.

Is that what it takes? The simple act of showing up?

Removing the things from your home that are no longer needed is one way of showing up for yourself. It can ignite the inspiration needed to change the course of your life. The old habit of a cluttered home, recognizing the progress, and your desire to maintain the new way becomes solidified by the visual and physical validation of living in a space that feels soo good, reverting to the old way will be out of the question.

I think there are many positive methods to help change one for the better. I believe in the KonMari Method because an outer tidying typically leads to an inner tidying and inner tidying leads to one finding the courage to live their purpose. I’ve seen it happen more times than not. The people I help learn about the power of these tiny little changes that lead to the profound changes that they were wishing for all along.

I’m going to try a few of these little daily habits to see if I can affect the newer and bigger habits that I have trouble maintaining, and my new in-every-moment resolution is to have the courage to always live my purpose and to paint something beautiful as often as possible.

So, how does one make the experience of life new in every moment? I don’t know the answer. I think it has something to do with setting long-term and short-term goals, daily writing down the action steps to attaining these goals, and doing regular inner check-ins to see if you are making progress toward the goals. It seems so very simple but when you are stuck in an old pair of shoes that seem to not want to come off, do you just put a new pair of shoes on over the old ones?

Feel free to share your step-forwards and back-steps.