May you choose to make 2022 a great year, using all the energy around you, positively, and bravely shining your light. There will be challenges – let’s overcome them, and learn from them. Let’s be aware, awake and mindful and fully alive!
We all have to choose how we will navigate the year. Otherwise the year will just happen to us, and we just go with the flow, losing out on life and adventure. The challenge is not force, but to flow with the beauty in you and around you. How do we do this?
Let us firstly choose to live in the “now” and not allow fear and worry about tomorrow steal our joy and drain our energy from today. One study made the following findings:
85% of the things we worry about never happens.
15% actually do happen, but 12% are part of everyday life and are quite manageable. They can teach us great lessons and be building stones to something greater. Only 3% of the worries that do happen and can be quite challenging.
In other words, 97% of the things we worry about are baseless, without reason.
And yet we worry and worry, and stress and stress – being unnecessarily in survival mode, trying to move away from pain and threat. May we do it differently in 2022. May we take regular quiet time out to meditate and to cherish our inner peace. And let’s also choose to be positive and optimistic people, celebrating what’s good, seeing and creating the future, expecting the best for ourselves.
I recently struggled to do this and then remembered something I learned from Tony Robins, the human potential guru. He developed the useful concept of the “Emotional Triad” to live life from the inside out and give yourself the best possible chance on a great, productive life – see the picture below.
The model is quite comprehensive but I will try to explain it briefly:
Physiology: Yes, you can change your mental state by simply changing your posture. Ever heard of a power pose? Sports people use it all the time. Pay attention to your body – your muscles, your facial expressions, your posture, and the energy you portray. Just as slouching on a chair can lead to depression, standing and walking in a way that portrays courage and strength can lead to happiness and success. But for the best effect, you need to put number 2 and 3 also in place.
Focus intentionally on the beautiful things you want in life, your goals and aspirations. Write them down and speak about it. Remember the many things you are grateful for. Check your beliefs about others and the world and change it when necessary. Then choose to focus on Gain rather than Pain, Triumph rather than Threat, Solutions rather than Problems. Because, as they say, where your focus goes, your energy flows. And what you focus on grows. The more you focus on solutions (instead of problems), the more solutions you will have.
Language: Stop and listen to the way you speak to yourself (your inner dialogue) and others. Is it helpful and hopeful, is it empowering? Not only what we say is important, but also how we say it, how we phrase it, and what metaphors or picture language we use. Language has a huge impact on our brains, bodies and relationships. Let’s choose the way we speak so that our words might give light and be helpful, energising and uplifting.
If I can add one thing to this, I would put Identity right in the middle of the model. In fact, your identity determines your destiny. Positively affirm your strengths, successes, talents, and experience. When you know who you are, it is so much easier to manage and steer your physiology (posture), focus and language.
May you truly live and thrive from the inside out. It is in fact a choice! And may you grow in 2022, knowing there is Someone who loves you holding you and your future.
