Like many of us, you may have been kicking around some “resolutions” of what you’d like to achieve in 2014. The age-old classics of lose weight, get healthier and make more money are still worthwhile goals. But, as a Certified Empowerment Coach, I can tell you that there seems to be a new trend in resolution making moving towards more “spiritually-oriented” personal growth development. As such, I’d like to tell you about 4 very simple resolutions that can help you grow the most as a person in 2014.
The 4 Best New Year Resolutions for The Most Personal Growth
Losing weight and getting healthier need to be a daily priority at all times of the year, not just at the top of the New Year. Same with quitting bad habits – like smoking, drinking too much, gambling, maybe spending too much time on social media. These are all things that require daily behavioral change. But there are some different personal growth resolutions that you might not engage in everyday that can really help you grow as a person. Although, I’m sure you might think of even more, it’s been my experience with clients that these 4 seem to stimulate people to grow the most.
1. Balance Work/Life. With the recession of the last 5 years, many people have been working more and spending less quality time in their own life. As a result they’re work and life are way out of balance. If this sounds like you, 2014 is the year you’ll want to try and start re-balancing your work and life. You can start by looking for 1 job that meets your financial needs better now. But if you can’t do that quite yet, start focusing on carving out some quality time amidst your work life. Create a written schedule, if you have to, in order to spend more quality time with your family. Even if it’s only 1 hour a day, or a few hours a week, focus solely on them with no multi-tasking. You can also create a family-time only day per week where you do something special – visit a museum together, see a movie, go to the gym, do some outdoor activity, or even just play with the Wii together. Just as important, find at least 1 hour a week for yourself to finally turn that hobby, or skill, into that business idea you’ve been dreaming of, or just spend more time with something that brings you some personal happiness.
2. Read More. People need regular mental stimulation to keep their mind and spirit continually growing. If you always wanted to learn more about History, Art, Politics, Foreign Cultures, whatever, reading books is a good way to start. Reading/learning stimulates a part of your brain that also makes you feel calm, content and happy. After you start reading about something new, note all the interesting thoughts you start having about how that subject connects to many other things in life. Notice how stimulated you feel, how your mood has improved, how you’re motivated to learn and do more. Reading more even helps your relationships – it gives you something interesting to share with your spouse, or a friend.
3. Get Organized. You know the scene – things laying around everywhere, can’t find this paper, that phone book, keys, wallet, tripping over last month’s newspapers, mailed piled up on every flat surface there is, book length “to do” lists, etc. Psychology studies have shown that people who are chronically stressed out live/work in more cluttered and chaotic environments. Similarly, creating clutter and disorganized environments resulted in people with higher stress, anxiety and depression levels. So, do yourself a favor and get organized in 2014. It’s one of the simplest, yet biggest, things you can do to gain more personal contentment, calm, happiness. You’ll be amazed at how much lighter, and happier, you’ll feel when you do.
4. Volunteer. One of the most spirit-lifting things you can do is to lend assistance to someone in need. Many of us have the sense that a New Year makes all things new again and washes away old problems. In some ways that can be true, but for many social agencies and relief efforts, the same old problems are still there on January 1 and are not going anywhere anytime soon. These 24/7 places need volunteers on a continual basis to help people who are without families, income, a place to live, or who by natural disaster, or other personal circumstance, have found themselves in dire straits. You can do any number of things too, helping collect clothing, working in an agency store, delivering meals to shut-ins, offering your skills to help build or repair things for very low-income people, etc. Offering just an hour a week of your time and assistance to one of these agencies is one of the biggest ways to experience personal spirit growth as well as make new friends.
I’ve always thought of the New Year time as a crossroads of sorts. You can stay on the same old path, or you can decide to take a turn down a new path that leads you to new experiences and new people. As history has taught us, it’s more often the new paths we take that result in the most new personal growth as well. These 4 simple resolutions can propel you down more new personal growth paths in the New Year.
