Ding! The text message popped up on my phone. The message was one of several with wishes for the new year 2016, so getting inspired to write this post was a no sweat.
As we embark on this new year, I have a list of resolutions, like many of you would, and I am so charged up to implement these changes and follow through this time. If you are yet resolution-less, I would suggest to take a moment to pause, look back on the path you have travelled so far, and reflect. This would help you to identify the habits to include or change in order to get closer to your goals, and in turn to the purpose of your life.
If you are the kind of person who believes the beginning of new year as yet another day, I respect your belief and the high practicality index, but for mortals like me, January 1st is the calling to evaluate and refresh my intentions.
The simpler and more specific the resolutions the better the success of achieving them. For some of you, it can be as simple as crafting an intention to not resist the course that life brings upon you, and thus follow the cues of the universe. This is what is called to ‘go with the flow’. Whatever your resolutions are, I insist that you follow through. I have failed successfully in this exercise because I never followed through.This means that with the passage of time my list gradually would fade and then towards the beginning of second quarter I would attend its funeral. By November when my awareness rekindles, I pick up the dead pieces and put them back together to make end of the year haste resolutions.
But this year I plan to take a stock of my progress quarterly like a self appraisal exercise. I have set-up the reminders on my smart phone so that I do not lose track of my resolutions.
Here I share some of my intentions for this new year 2016 in hope to inspire and share some tools with my readers—
Being Mindful
As I try to juggle multiple roles and activities at the same time, I lose focus on the task at hand and then by the end of the day I am still left with unfinished work. I have come to grips that multitasking does not work for me, so in 2016 I want to focus to mono-task and then compare the progress.
Meditation is another tool that I plan to include in my daily routine. Hopefully it would enhance my ability to be present in the moment and get more accomplished.
Brain exercise– And lastly I have started investing few minutes every day to exercise my mind using the applications on my phone, and I plan to continue it.Here is the article that has a very comprehensive list of these apps—
http://www.lifehack.org/articles/technology/11-brain-training-apps-train-your-mind-and-improve-memory.html
Whether these applications have proven to sharpen the brain or not, regardless I still enjoy the mental workout.
Make new connections and nurture the existing
I have found that one of the best ways to remain connected is to remember the important dates of people that matter to me. I write these occasions on my wall calendar in the kitchen, and yes, this means that I am old fashioned in not totally depending on Facebook reminders.
Every new year I follow the ritual of copying these reminders from previous year to the present year’s calendar This exercise though tedious, encourages me to contemplate on my relations and take decisions to let go of some ties while adding new ones. I reflect and purposefully removed the people who have been a negative influence.
This calendar routine has worked for me and I plan to continue with this ritual in 2016 also. This calendar is also a reminder tool to connect with people on their big days and thus sending a clear message that they are cared for.
The calendar routine is to nurture the existing connections, but the hard part for me is to make new lasting connections. I am inherently a shy person and to interact with new people is outside my comfort zone. And that is the reason enough for it to be on my resolution list.
Stop procrastinating and eat a frog
I procrastinate to avoid the tasks I do not like to do and sometimes it is inherent fear of failure. To overcome this, I have planned to imbibe some simple tools.
First is to create a daily task list which would help me plan better and prioritize the activities. I have seen my hubby use the task list very efficiently, and I have made fun of it so much so that the days he is quiet I ask him to add ‘talk to your spouse’ task in the list. But no more mocking of this tool as I recognize its benefits.
Once I know my tasks, I am ready to eat the frog, which means to select the most dreaded task from the list and go for it.
“Eat a live frog every morning, and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.” -Mark Twain
For the remaining tasks, I would follow the ‘2 minute rule’ that is mentioned in David Allen’s book ‘Getting Things Done’. If the task takes less than 2 minutes then do it right away. And for the tasks that take more time, at-least this would leave me with more time at hand after completing the small ones.
Volunteering
In 2016 I want to spend some time helping others. This intention has always been there but it gets lost easily in the everyday chase. This year I have enrolled myself in the http://www.volunteermatch.org, and I plan to take up the volunteering opportunities for several reasons—primary is to give back but also to gain new experiences and to connect with more people.
Enough about me! How do you plan to greet the new year as it knocks on your door? You have a choice to open the door and embrace the year with a smile, or let the year push through the door while you watch it invade your life. Do you have a list of resolutions/habits that you would like to imbibe this year? I would be interested to know your plan of action to accomplish these goals.The year 2016 is a leap year, which means we are blessed with one bonus day, which amounts to additional 24 hours to our disposal. So, do you have a plan on how to use this extra time?
With all the positive intentions, here is a wishing my readers a happy 2016 and a toast to live a better life. Cheers!
Photo credit: RafeB via Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA
Toast to the New Year!
