It is much easier to train a child in the way he or she should go, and install good qualities and behaviors in their character while they are still young.
I think the same principle applies to a new year.
The year is still young and pliable. This is the right time to install into the year the attitudes, thoughts, actions and habits that you want to become a permanent part of your life.
By the month of May, the year will have aged and become like a delinquent and rebellious teenager and any attempts at inducing change will be met with great resistance.
By September you will have an old man, fixed in his ways, walking the accustomed path, and any positive transformation will be a mammoth task, requiring efforts that you might not be able to muster.
So while the year is still in its infancy and change is still in the air, figure out what you want in your year and what you don’t want– actually stop and work on yourself and begin the process of building a new and better year.
One tool you need to carry with you is the word “NO.” Regard it as an indispensable accompaniment of your self-development journey to wildly successful and happy life.
If, for example, you are tired because you usually feel obliged to accommodate every request for help, now is a good time to decide that you are going to use the word no to protect your health and regulate your energy.
I invite you to sit down, look at your life and define the burdens that are holding you back. Write down the ones, which you will no longer allow to discolor or degrade your life. Prepare to say no.
“The Power of No and 12 Things to Say to No to This Year”
1. I will say no to any task that in any way conflicts with my integrity or my sense of right and wrong. That inner dissonance causes stress and stress kills.
2. I will say no to any task or any act that will compromise my health and dishonour my body.
3. I will say no to gossiping about other people
4. I will say no to difficult and unreasonable people who wear me out to no avail.
5. I will say no to doing anything just to look good in the eyes of others – a big no to self-aggrandizement.
6. I will say no to distractions and diversions that take me away from my main focus.
7. I will say no to any activity that takes me away from the main goals I have decided to pursue, no matter how appealing they might be.
8. I will say no to any temptation to try to control any other human being, to get them to behave as I want them to behave or do what I want them to do or think as I would like them to think. No to the temptation to control others. That’s what makes the angels weep according to William James.
9. I will say no to going without breakfast because health comes first and breakfast sets the tone for the day.
10. I will say no to eating after 9 pm.
11. I will say no to foods like cakes, pies, donuts except on Saturday nights.
12. I will say no to wearing out myself just for money. Instead I will pay great attention to the whispers of dis – harmony inside my body and invest in self-renewal and rejuvenation.
Make a list of the things to which you are going to say no and begin now before rigor mortis sets in.
Take control of your life and the word NO can make it easier for you.
And remember that good habits are hard to form, so keep diligently breaking in the year with good practical ideas and principles before it gets too old.
What will you say no to?
Please take a piece of paper and write down the things that are making you unhappy. Decide what you will say no to and start today while the year is still young and malleable and by September your year will be brimming with success.
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