Rise up

A new year is now upon us, and with it comes new opportunity to improve upon ourselves and to live our best life.  When we believe, plan, and act, we can achieve anything.  Now is the time for you to rise up and claim your best life.

Another new year now dawns upon us.  It's time once again for those New Year's resolutions everyone seems to make and no one seems to keep.

A few years ago, I stopped making New Year's resolutions.  Year after year I’d make resolutions only to drop them before the first month was out.  There's no need to look for something undone at the end of the year; I’d quit before the year got going.

This behavior is actually normal.  Most people discard their New Year’s resolutions within two weeks.  But I changed that for myself after I understood the mechanisms at play.  And once you understand them, you too can rise up and achieve any goal you set for yourself.

You must believe

People make resolutions with the best of intentions. In fact, those good intentions drive us to create the resolution.  We see something we want in our lives, or maybe something we want out of our lives, and we resolve to change.

But the road to hell is paved with good intentions, so good intentions alone are insufficient to achieve greatness. Good intentions reflect good desires, and as such they make a good start. But you must also believe in the change you want for yourself.

If you don't believe, you won't receive. Without believing that what you want for yourself is possible, you won't even try.  You’ll quit before you start.  And you’re guaranteed not to achieve anything if you don’t try.

But you must believe in more than possibility.  You must believe what you want for yourself is probable.  And you must believe in yourself and your ability to make what you want more probable.  That’s of course easier to do when you partner with the Lord.  “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:13).

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You must plan

Once you believe the attainment of your desires is not only possible but also probable, you must take action, starting with a plan.  What steps will you take to achieve your desires?

How we achieve our goals may not happen exactly the way we envision.  In fact, they very often don't.  But a good plan provides concrete action you can take.  It gives permission and direction to be busy doing.  And that's essential, because results come from one thing and one thing only — action.

The best plans provide specific actions you can take.  Clearly defined, simple tasks conform well to how the brain is hardwired.  Our brains are hardwired not to think but to execute clear, simple instructions.  When you break your plans down to that level, you align yourself with how you’re built.  And that significantly improves your probability of success.

The best plans also consider environment.  Your brain is hardwired to determine normal by assessing your surroundings.  Let’s say you want to lose weight.  If the people usually around you have some pounds to shed themselves, then your brain will think being at that weight is normal, and it will be harder for you to lose weight because most of us don't want to be abnormal; we want to fit in and belong to the group.  You must also consider potential distractions in your environment.  Again, if you want to lose weight, make sure your food stores don't contain anything that will work against you.

Finally, the best plans consider psychology.  Many who are overweight use emotional eating to compensate for something they lack.  They use the pleasures of eating to feed their emotional needs (pun intended).  If you try to lose weight without addressing deeply seated psychological influences, it's more probable you won't succeed.  Your plan must include healthy ways to address your emotional needs that can support you in achieving your goals.

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You must act

With a good plan in place, the only thing left is to do.  Results come from one thing and only one thing — action.  Action plus attitude equals achievement.

Your past attempts ending in failure can provide lessons for success.  A failed attempt doesn't mean you’re a failure; it just means your approach is a failure.  Direction determines destination, so make a slight change in your approach — in the direction you take —  and you can arrive at an entirely new destination.  Anything you can imagine you can have.  Anything you can dream you can live.

A new year is now upon us, and with it comes new opportunity to improve upon ourselves and to live our best life.  When we believe, plan, and act, we can achieve anything.  Now is the time for you to rise up and claim your best life.  When you do, you give others permission to rise up and claim their best life.  That makes life better for everyone.  And that will bring you more joy in your journey.

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You can listen to the monologue from today's episode of Joy In The Journey Radio here.  Please also feel free to continue the conversation by leaving a comment below.  Want to hear more?  Listen to the whole show by going to the show page for this episode!