And here we are…. In the year of 2016! That all happened so fast. After refelecting on the year that was twenty fifteen, we head to our resident Life Coach Mayanthi to have a chat about heading into a new year with the right attitude.
It feels like just yesterday that we were reflecting on the past year. Now here we are, already half way through January! With the start of a new year, it is common for us to start thinking about our New Year’s resolutions and goals. When I reflect on past New Year resolutions, I realised that there are many that I haven’t been able to achieve because for whatever reason, something held me back from the finish line. I started to think back at how I would approach past goals. Was I apprehensive before even starting? Was I already overwhelmed just thinking about the effort I’d have to put in? Did I doubt myself? And there it is, my biggest enemy was my own mind.
So alongside your New Year’s resolutions, why not set yourself to achieve your ‘New Year State of Mind’. This could include telling yourself that you want to spend 2016 thinking more positively, being more generous, courageous, open-minded, or encouraging. Whatever it may be, it all starts with nurturing a positive mindset. The way you think affects your behaviour and has a great impact on the decisions you make and the actions you take.
Have you ever gone into a situation where you really want to be positive in the environment but you don’t like anything about it? You try as hard as possible, but it just doesn’t work out and you end up leaving the situation feeling even worse. This is most likely because you’re going into the situation with a preconceived mindset based on past experiences. Now how do we work towards changing this? Like the muscles in your body, your mind has to be slowly trained to look at situations differently, to react positively.
Let’s use an example. To be honest, there are a few people in my life who just annoy me. I won’t name names but everything they do annoys me. I don’t like this feeling but as much as I try to not let their behaviour get to me it just doesn’t change the way I feel and my frustration with them just grows. However, if I was to make a conscious decision that my New Year state of mind will be to go into frustrating situations and be more patient. It becomes a natural reaction if you are in the same type of situation constantly. Learn to be aware of these reactions and before another cycle makes its round, stop and reassess your emotions. If I consciously make this decision, I’ll be able to slowly retrain my mind to instinctively react to frustrating situations in a different manner.
When I have tried this in the past I’ve noticed that I get less angry and am able to take the high road for myself rather than give into the behaviours of others. But where I am unable to achieve this that is when I dwell back on my past history with these people and this mindset will negatively affect my future behaviour. It is important to power through this and be aware of your New Year state of mind. Awareness leads to achieving desired thoughts and behaviours.
What will your New Year state of mind be? I would love to hear your feedback, so let me know via my email: [email protected].