Self-awareness is key to a cheerful existence. So make your 2022 resolution(s) into a five-point game plan for a joyous and effective New Year.
In the end, Christmas shopping and the holiday party are over. Finally, the New Year is here. But, with just a few days gone by, do you find yourself poised on the edge of your bed, like the statue of the thinker, pondering this question, “what can I do differently to make this year better?”
Here is a suggestion, make your 2022 resolution into a five-point game plan for success in the New Year.
Don’t Live Life on Overload.
Think of your brain as a computer circuit board that keeps track of data. Burnout is likely to occur if too much activity or too much intensity of thought is racing through it. That is too much, too fast, and not enough time to process.
Lesson one is to take control of the flow of activities in your life. Once it has reached its capacity, the general nature of any object or conveyance is it will not function at its optimal performance.
Learning the difference between essential and unimportant activities is vital to succeeding in the New Year. We each formally or informally put together a ‘To Do’ list which often gets cluttered with projects. However, one critical element of leading a successful life is establishing criteria for choosing a project to add to the to-do list.
We should ask ourselves, will this project help us reach a future goal. If yes, then include it on your to-do list with the provision that it can be accomplished. If no, then scratch it off and move on to other tasks that will help us be successful.
It’s your life, and you decide what goes in and out.
Live in the Here and Now
Self-awareness is one key element to a cheerful existence. Although we are just a few days into this New Year, we can plan our future course with past challenges in mind, but we have a choice not to live bad decisions repeatedly.
Living in the here and now is a choice that the future holds the promise that we can act more toward. So, right now, we choose to make the most of life.
We can take the advice contained in a quote by Leonard Ravenhill that says, A once-in-a-lifetime chance must be taken. But unfortunately, we cannot take advantage of the opportunity of a lifetime in 2022, thinking and rethinking our failures and disappointments of the last year or years before.
We can exercise control over our minds to focus on the here and now to broaden our self-awareness. Try to realize the undiscovered country before you by looking beyond what you see to what you can become in the future.
Remove the Extra Weight from Your Life.
If the truth were told, most everyone is carrying old baggage weighing them down, and they need to let go. So in 2022, whether it’s your waistline or a crowded room of stuff in your home, consider getting rid of the heavy stuff to lighten your daily living.
Be committed to throwing out unnecessary and unused items in your personal space. One man’s garbage is another’s treasure. If items in your private area are no longer a treasure to you, then make them available to someone who can use them. However, if they are trash, send them to the trash heap where no one will waste valuable personal space with useless things.
Next, learn to recognize that you have are tools to use to accomplish a goal. Do not let them be a collection of reminders that you either cannot complete a project or that you cannot complete what you start.
Collectors and hoarders are often confused.
Allow for Creativity
Unlike the pants you have grown too big for overtime, allow yourself a little latitude to grow intellectually, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. If you have had a dream for years that returns from time to time, give it a chance to make its way into your world.
One option is to begin by trying an activity or exercising a latent talent that you have always dreamed of doing. It does not have to be on a grandiose scale but try it somewhere. For example, if you have a talent or desire to sing (dance, draw, etc.), find a venue where aspiring artists can showcase their talent. The skill does not matter, it just matters that you leave the negative words of all the Nay-Sayers behind, and you try.
A second option, change your daily routine to have a sense of freshness around you. Utilize your innate gifts and talents to transform your environment into the oasis that floods your soul with joy and happiness. Finally, if you do not want to share your skill on the world stage, find a forum that suits your needs.
A biblical scripture designed for those who do not know if they should share their innate talent with the world should keep in mind, “A man’s gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men.”
In 2022 take a chance that what you have inside is worth sharing with others, but remember the lesson on keeping life off of overload.
Be a Special Blessing
Lastly, begin this year with a fresh attitude that includes blessing someone you do not know. So often, we are engaged with activities and projects that cloud our minds and eyes to the point we cannot see that other person less fortunate than we are struggling.
If you can conceptualize that your gifts and talents have made room for you to live the life you have, then use them to help others. But, on the other hand, if you do not feel very philanthropic to help the needy and poor because you have limited resources, here is a suggestion.
To the people you know, who are having a difficult time, send them a note of encouragement to say hang in there just a little longer. Think of the joy you feel when you receive a card in the mail on your birthday or an anniversary. Pay that feeling forward but add to it the inclusion of people you generally do not contact daily, weekly, or monthly.
It might be all the encouragement they need to press on in a year that they do not think will be prosperous. The idea is to be a blessing to others which does not always have to involve money.
A blessing to someone else can mean being a friend in need. And that’s an excellent New Year’s resolution to have, be a friend to someone, like never before.
