Health and Wellness

By Monica Thakrar

Spirituality and New Year's Resolutions

With February now upon us, New Year’s resolutions seem to have fallen by the wayside. Year after year, we make resolutions with such earnestness, only to see them falter after a month or two. The longstanding question remains: How can we truly follow through on our New Year’s resolutions?

One way to stay true to our resolutions is to become better connected with our spirit. What does that mean? It means understanding our souls’ desires and moving towards them. Often, we set goals for ourselves that are in line with what our mind or society tells us we should be doing – eating better, exercising more often, controlling our finances, spending more time with family and friends. But if these goals are not aligned with our spirit’s desires, we will not be able to effect true change in our life.

Achieving goals and sustained change is truly an inside-out job. Spirituality plays an important role in allowing us to become more connected with ourselves and with something higher than we are. When we are thus connected, we make decisions for our greatest good–ones that help us reach our highest potential. When we are aligned with this potential, there is not as much internal resistance within us that will prevent us from reaching our goals.

So how does spirituality compare to religion? Spirituality is the connection to oneself and a higher power, while religion comprises the structure, rules and rituals used to connect to a higher power. Spirituality is a direct connection, but structure is sometimes needed as a stepping-stone to connect. In that way, religion can help us begin on the path towards spirituality. In South Asian cultures, there is often more emphasis on rituals and the religious path – such as poojas (prayers), aarti (songs sung in praise of a deity) and malas (strand of beads used in meditation) – than on spiritual understanding.

So, how do we connect to our spirit in order to follow through with our New Year’s resolutions?

- Listen to your intuition. Often, when we have a gut feeling, it is a nudge from the universe to take steps in the direction we are meant to be moving. Take some quiet time for five to ten minutes each day to hear the messages your intuition is trying to send you. Then, set goals that are based on this intuitive guidance. Continue taking this quiet time, not only to set goals but also to stay on track to meet those goals by staying connected to your spirit.

- Visualize your goals. Create a “vision board” or collage of your goals by putting words, phrases and pictures on a poster board. Document your intuitive guidance on this vision board and keep it in the place where you have your quiet time each day. This will help you stay focused on the goals and visualize them coming to fruition.

- Have faith. Listening to your true desires can bring up many fears (e.g. of failure or success), which can be another reason why following through on New Year’s resolutions is a challenge. How do you get past the fears and doubts that may be holding you back from making life’s needed changes? Connecting with spirit, faith and courage allows you to begin taking the risks you want to take, knowing the universe will keep you safe. A predictable job or spending time with comfortable friends may make you feel safe, but they could be holding you back from living the life you are meant to be living. By having more faith in something higher, you will not need the artificial safety of comfortable things but will be able to go after what you truly desire.

- Have a support group. Spend time with like-minded people who are also trying to connect with their spirit and achieve their spirit-centered goals. By being able to discuss your spiritual goals with others, you are much more apt to stay true to those goals and work towards them. Hire a coach, join a support group, attend your local church/synagogue/temple service and meet like-minded people. As you build your spiritual support group, it will be harder to fall off the wagon, as others will be there to help you when your own efforts wane.

The more you connect with yourself and with something higher, the better able you will be to follow through on your resolutions because they will be based on your spirit’s desires and not just your mind’s desires. Start with some quiet time today to hear the right resolutions, and then take baby steps to begin implementing them! Get started today and focus on making your New Year’s resolutions a reality.

Monica Thakrar is a life coach focused on helping clients live a more balanced, joyful life. She uses a holistic approach to personal transformation and offers a free consultation for those interested in living up to their fullest potential. She can be contacted at monica@joyfulsoulcoaching.com, or for more information, check out her website at www.joyfulsoulcoaching.com.

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