New Year: New You? What does your Timeline look like this year?

 

New Year: New You? At this time of year, we start to think about New Years Resolutions. Be honest, you’ve already been thinking of them, maybe for some weeks?

Do you do this every year? How long do your resolutions last? Will you make the same resolutions in 2018?

Let me ask you now to think about this differently, have you considered what went well during this year or the year before? Have you been mindful of what you have already achieved? Did you notice what positive impact it’s had on you and those around you at home, work or friends?

Our survival instinct is to have a negative bias. It’s what keeps us safe. It alerts us to danger. Also, if something bad happens you want to be aware not to have it happen again, but what if this negative bias overshadows all the good things? What if you hear yourself saying things like “I don’t want to tempt fate by expecting something good to happen.” or “Good things never happen to me.”

Thinking the above will bring you just that and more of it. Your unconscious mind doesn’t know if something is real or not, it reacts as if it is real, so what you think and believe is what you get.

I’m not talking about things we have no control over, things that are external to us, I’m talking about your internal dialogue. What story are you telling yourself?

So I’d like you to concentrate now on everything you can think of that went well this year, your Timeline. Think, then write it down, time stamp it, notice your whole year’s Timeline. How does it look? What did you learn (even the bad times give us information and learning)? What did you do differently as a consequence? Who’s lives did you touch? What progress did you make? Is there anything else about all that?

When you have your Timeline, imagine floating into each positive memory, what do you notice? What comes up for you? How good do you feel? Leave the memory there and bring back the positive feeling or sensation into the present.

Your Timeline may be filled with many major events, remember to count the small things too. Opening a door for someone makes them feel valued. Acknowledging or speaking to someone you don’t know can enrich their day. What if that person is elderly, lonely, you may be the only person that speaks to them that day.

You have created this wonderful Timeline, this is yours, it’s your empowerment. You can use this at any time in the future.

So now you have your excellent, accomplished Timeline from this year, imagine how great next year is when you look back. All the positive things you have achieved.

Focusing on what went well and on what you’ve learned from this year can serve you well as you move into the next. Be mindful of what you have done rather than what you have not yet done.

Make plans, be bold and be aware, notice the opportunities surrounding you. Make this year’s Timeline as effective as the last.

To work with Kate on discovering more about your Timeline and how you can use it to enhance your new year, fill in the contact form below.

Thank you to Tad James creator of Timeline Therapy. 

 

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