It’s never too late to initiate a good intention.
Change Requires Awareness and Action
You are well into your resolutions of this new-year or are you? My current article once again examines the notion of Noticing. To follow through on a well-intended goal and bring about impactful change, you need to notice what it is you want to change or what you want to include or eliminate from your life. This in turn requires that you pay attention to the behaviours, which will impact your resolutions and what motivates them.
What better time to once again reflect on your resolutions than when you find yourself on the threshold of springtime. In the spring we leap forward by an hour, we revel in the bursting open of colourful blossoms and delightful scents. But often we also acknowledge that we have once again let our good intentions slip off course.
Be curious about your actions, reactions and attitudes and remember, it’s never too late to start initiating a good intention.
A life well lived is the result of behaviours well noticed.
I don’t know anyone who doesn’t wish to improve upon some aspect of themselves?
Most of us could be a little more efficient with our work, more committed to our personal needs, more conscientious with aligning aspects of our life, or more determined to tweak some wonky personal behaviour that keeps showing up. Personal growth and professional development are certainly never far off my radar. How about yours?
Life improvements can be pursued on a personal or professional level. Although in the past I have said that these two realms often overlap, the truth is, achieving harmony between them is in itself a huge accomplishment. Notice that I said “harmony” rather than “balance”. Harmonious coexistence rather than balanced separation of the different aspects of our lives is the ultimate success in our growth experience.
But what happened this New-Year to that grand commitment for personal improvement… for that harmony within all parts of life?
As you settle into your new year often your resolutions get put on the backburner where 
they gently simmer on low. But if the pilot light is still aflame there’s opportunity to reignite the fire within you. You need to let go of the excuses and revisit the goal. It’s time to step into the change you wrote on that white board. It’s time to notice what you wish to harmonize in your life!
So ask yourself the questions…
What do I wish to change in my life?
What do I wish to add to my life?
What do I wish to eliminate from my life?
What do I wish to create in my life?
Creating something new in your life however only works if you really want it, if you view it as meaningful and desirable, and if that desire comes from deep within you rather than from what you see others wanting or having. Then you will be highly motivated to make it happen and will not place it on the back burner.
“Between the end of one thought and the beginning of the next is a space. In that space, you will find your inner silence.”
Don Miguel Ruiz
But it’s not enough to think you want something. You must also be sure that what you want is in alignment with who you are. Confusing? Sadly, people often think they should want what other people want. They are motivated by external forces rather than noticing their own subtle internal nudging. Your internal voices can be quiet but persistent and it takes careful awareness and pause to enter your inner silence and to notice them.
Noticing what you want to change may seem like an obvious prerequisite to change but often it is difficult to articulate the very thing you yearn for or wish to change. Sometimes it can take others to point out your quirks and habits. But by noticing them you can create choice and set yourself up for successful change and achievable goals.
For example, have others pointed out to you behaviours that you may be unaware of?
Do you speak out of turn and interrupt others?
Are you inclined to deflect blame regularly onto others?
What are you chronically NOT taking responsibility for?
What do you circle or outright avoid doing?
Are you fearful of direct and challenging communication?
Welcome feedback with a neutral mind, rather than a defensive one. Sit with the information received. Determine whether it rings true for you. Have you previously had some negative self-talk about it? Know that you are the only one who can make the changes necessary to re-jig your behaviour and your life.
Noticing and developing awareness around these behaviours will help you advance to a new plateau both personally and professionally. Noticing is a necessary first-step to initiating change and launching your goals into action.
ACT – Actions Can Transform. Mental insights are not transformative or a substitute for change. You need to distil your insights into a plan of action, which will move you forward to a new state of being.
Have a great day of Noticing, knowing that “it’s never to late to initiate a good intention