On last day of the old year we say goodbye to the past and hello to the future. We idly wonder what adventures might be lurking around the corner and hope for the promise of new possibilities.
We might even wonder how we can we make this year different or better from the one just passed. If you’ve had any of these thoughts, here’s a suggestion.
What if you faced your new year with a focus: a theme, a word or phrase to help shape what awaits you? This is a practice my life partner Rob and I established several years ago and the results have been quite stunning. Life-changing, actually. And I mean it!
You have probably read about “the power of the mind.” What we think (and how we think) has a huge impact on our feelings and actions. Our thoughts influence our perceptions and our perceptions influence our behavior. Much of time we have no idea what’s going on in those busy little brains of ours, but imagine the possibilities if we ratcheted up our awareness a notch or two!
Well, having a theme will do that. If you created a mental frame (theme) for your creative little mind, a focused motif for the year, every day you could reflect on it and let it guide you. Do you suppose this might make a difference in your thoughts, perceptions, decisions, or behavior? I do!
I always make a “theme” poster that goes on my office wall and here is this year’s. It makes for a friendly reminder and visual celebration of my year’s focal point. Thanks to last year’s theme, I accomplished a lot, and this year I continue the trend.
If you find this idea at all intriguing, here is where you can read more about it. Review our themes from the beginning and read a few reports of concrete outcomes. Yesterday I wrote up my Goal List for 2010 (personal and professional), keeping my theme of Finesse in mind. Guess what—it’s already kicked in!
Simple Action: Test drive this idea. You don’t have to be like me and shout it to the world. You can keep it a secret and just experiment with the possibilities. Why not give it a shot? I guarantee it will make a difference.
After hearing about this outlook for the New Year, my husband and I picked ‘follow-through” as our 2009 theme. There was a lot less stress because there wasn’t a list of specifics to start the year- instead we continually reminded ourselves that when we started something we needed to finish it! This really helped us learn to not bite off more than we could chew and to really focus on projects we were already working with.
This year we’ve already started discussing what our theme will be for 2010. I think we’ll also create a poster to help us visualize what the year will bring:)
Thanks Leslie for introducing us to this wonderful concept!
Jet and Alex Perreault
I do this too! And yes have found it almost magical how things flow when you set the intention at the start of the year.
Elizabeth