How about a new you for a new year? Yes please! 

I am contacted almost every year by radio stations that want me to share my tips on making new year’s resolutions stick.

This year, I want to focus on what it means to truly change. I don’t mean change because you set a goal and stuck to it. That alone is not enough to make a year meaningful and rewarding.

What I mean by change is feeling something shift within you, that changes the way you see yourself and your surroundings in such a profound manner, you are naturally interpreting your life differently and making different decisions without trying to – it just feels natural.

The key to this kind of change being natural is that it’s sustainable and permanent.

So if you are wanting 2017 to deliver new experiences that resonate with your heart, here are critical keys to help you bring about lasting and purposeful change: –

1. FIND YOUR REASON TO TURN ON YOUR PASSION – Choose what you think is important to you and question why you would bother. Whatever answer comes to you, continue to question until you have questioned to a level where the desire has intensified within you and meaning and purpose have been found. If you don’t find true purpose behind any goal, you won’t have passion, determination and the reason to be resilient to help you stay focused on realising your goals.

2. KNOW YOURSELF TO KNOW YOU CAN – You need to deepen you connection with your true identity; the real you. The real you can reinvent into any version that is compatible with the destiny you desire. You have to centre and detach from the version that traps you into your existing mental and emotional state of being. Meditation, yoga, brain training, walks, jogging and so on all help you get into a trance where you are letting go of the version and softening; becoming as malleable as a child.  This is imperative if you want to be able to slip out of an incompatible state of mind and discover a better one.

3. SPARK YOUR IMAGINATION – To discover better ways of imagining your life, you need to engage in ideas that spark the parts of your imagination that have been dormant. Where will you find great ideas that will show you practical and plausible ways to change your circumstances, access more resources and change your destiny? Try mentors, Google, books, coaches and so on. Search online through search engines and social media. There is always a way to get to wherever you genuinely want to go, but you need to decide first it’s possible for you. The imagination can show you anything is possible, so begin expanding your vision of yourself and the world by seeking out what others are achieving and how they are going about it. You will be surprised what you can achieve.

4. FEEL WHAT YOU WANT AND SENSE THE JOURNEY – It’s not good enough to analyse your way to a better life. No one I know has achieved that in any meaningful way. When you allow yourself to know what you feel and allow it to guide you into a balance of being cautious and courageous, you will make informed decisions and things will fall into place more often. Being in the flow is integral to realising your goals so it’s best to centre yourself, take deep breaths and be fully engaged with what is in front of you. Always allow your feelings to matter in the way you seek to understand and evaluate your options.

5. EXPECT OBSTACLES AND SETBACKS – if you don’t you will give up prematurely like most people. But if you build hunger to succeed and know obstacles are simply showing you what you need to change within you, then you will have the attitude and patience to observe and dismantle the obstacles to easily find a way through them. Every person who has achieved anything great has a long tail of opportunities to give up but chose to persist and breakthrough the stubborn blocks.

6. ALLOW YOURSELF TO CHANGE YOUR MIND – If you decide you don’t want to achieve something, then sit with it and be okay with letting it go. If you realise that it was conditioned obligation and no part of you cares for it, don’t trick yourself into thinking success is about never giving up regardless of your passion. That is just using up your precious energy and time fearing judgment instead of loving yourself into a better future.

7. STICK TO IT UNTIL IT STICKS TO YOU – Bad habits will dissolve if you build enough desire to go after a better way of being. Those new habits will form and replace the old. Then you will feel like doing what works and what will get you where you really want to go. When your body tries to make you resist a new way, hold the perspective that your body needs you to be a better leader. Lean on your wisdom, passion and will power to push through those forks in the road to a new forward instead of falling back into the old way that takes you nowhere that nourishes and expands you.

Here is an EP7 Podcast on How to make your New Year Resolutions stick! 

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My latest book release Cinderella’s Secrets – The Untold Story of Ella, is all about how Ella reinvented herself to have the life she yearned for with eyes wide open. Available in hard copy or on Amazon and iTunes

I wish you a Happy New Year that is filled with love and new adventure that will nourish your soul!

George

George Helou is the founder of EP7 – Empowered for Purpose in 7 Steps. Life Coach, Work Culture Consultant, Author and Motivational Speaker, George has 15 years personal development experience and is based in his Life Coach Perth Office in Subiaco. 08 9380 8350. www.lifecoachperth.com.