New Year Resolutions

[LightBeam]

I just thought of something, again while driving. Driving without radio though, just silence, seems to be the time when a lot of information gets "downloaded" into my mind.

So many people were talking about new year resolutions, but they all expressed how hard it will be. I was listening to them and I realized that they were planning to make efforts in order to achieve new goals. Well, making efforts in a sense of absence of desire but forcing certain actions to achieve goals may not work. It will fail at some point, and they will give up, simply because the efforts will make them miserable. Here are the most common new year resolutions:

-Eat healthier and stay away from junk
-Stop drinking excessively
-Stop smoking
-Stop doing drugs
-Meditate more
-Practice AP techniques consistently
-Start exercising regularly
-acquire a new skill
-don't spend for useless items
-Don't throw away so much food. Make weekly meal plans ahead of grocery shopping
-Budget better

So, all of these can be challenging if there is no DESIRE to take the actions. People just know that these will bring benefits, but they don't have the DESIRE to execute these plans. It's easier to continue the old way, but they end up constantly complaining of the various outcomes when lifestyle remains on autopilot. So, at the time I thought, well you have to make the efforts.

But this morning 5 minutes into my drive I suddenly had a popping thought " In order to make changes, one needs to ask to receive the DESIRE first. One should not force change through efforts, because efforts do not bring satisfaction, the action will be aborted and the plan will fail. One needs to have a strong desire and be satisfied of the new actions, to enjoy the new habits. So, one needs to meditate first and ask for the feeling of DESIRE to come over them".

So, I will modify the suggestions to my friends and advise for them to ask with intent for the desire to appear within their being, for this feeling will drive the success. I will also apply this technique for a few of my new goals and see if an extraordinary drive will suddenly appear to get things going, without the need of me forcing actions.

The difference between who you are and who do you want to be, is what you do!

[Nameless]

Well said LightBeam. What are goals worth without an actual desire? This is a brilliant observation and one definitely worth noting. All too often we find ourselves parroting ideas and thoughts but we don't have an actual desire to achieve them. That is a major key to self improvement.

[Marzillian]

I failed miserably regarding smoking. I have all the willpower in the world, but i can't seem to crack this one. Is it then right to say
that i don't really want to? I don't think so. I don't know why i keep failing.
One time, i took a walk of approx. 17 miles, to a street called "Stopping avenue". When i got back,
totally exhausted, i managed to quit automatically for 4 days. And that was it. I am
not going around the world for this however.

[LightBeam]

I failed miserably regarding smoking. I have all the willpower in the world, but i can't seem to crack this one. Is it then right to say
that i don't really want to? I don't think so. I don't know why i keep failing.
One time, i took a walk of approx. 17 miles, to a street called "Stopping avenue". When i got back,
totally exhausted, i managed to quit automatically for 4 days. And that was it. I am
not going around the world for this however.

The level of desire isn't there. This is not impossible to achieve. Many people have conquered addictions, but the level of desire needs to rise. Professional help, hypnosis, etc are also available. If there is a will, there is a way. Keep fighting.
I will give you just one example. A friend of mine shared once that when his daughter was born and he held her in his arms, he swore to never light another cigarette again so he doesn't poison this little, helpless, innocent baby, because she could not protect herself. It was his job to become her protector at all cost. And he did it. It's been 30 years and he never smoked from that day on. So, for each person the turning point is triggered by different events, depending on their deepest desires. Find yours.

[Lumaza]

I failed miserably regarding smoking. I have all the willpower in the world, but i can't seem to crack this one. Is it then right to say
that i don't really want to? I don't think so. I don't know why i keep failing.
One time, i took a walk of approx. 17 miles, to a street called "Stopping avenue". When i got back,
totally exhausted, i managed to quit automatically for 4 days. And that was it. I am
not going around the world for this however.

I smoked for about 22 years. One time years ago I had a bad attack of Bronchitis. When it cleared up, I put the cigarettes down and never touched one again. I did it cold turkey, totally on willpower alone. Needless to say, I didn't make many friends because of that. People kind of snidely congratulated me. I had a number of people around me, both Family and friends that said they wanted to quit. My wife was one of them too. But rarely did they want to quit for themselves. Some wanted to quit for their Family or because they were tired of people alienating them because of their smoking habit. Because of this, they all failed.

  If you "really" want to quit "for you", you can. Once you decide that you are serious, there is no withdrawal symptom that will ever trump your focused will.

[Marzillian]

Thanks Lumaza,

There's also this obsession that i have with "controlling it" rather than to quit entirely.
In 2019, i quit for 6 months, but then i started again. I thought to myself: " alright, i have
proved to myself that i can leave it". And yet i'm still not happy with it.

I am going to do it when my current pack's finished. Thanks for the support.

[Lumaza]

I am going to try it again when my current pack's finished. Thanks for the support.

I'll help you out with that. Change that word "try" to "do" and you will find it's almost done! 

[LightBeam]

  Change that word "try" to "do" and you will find it's almost done! 

"Do. Or Do Not. There is no try"  - Yoda

Sorry, couldn't resist lol. It's so true

[Lumaza]

"Do. Or Do Not. There is no try"  - Yoda

Sorry, couldn't resist lol. It's so true

For full effect, click here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQ4yd2W50No

[LightBeam]

For full effect, click here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQ4yd2W50No

Awesome!!!!