Let’s face it. New year’s resolutions pretty much suck as a way to instigate any meaningful positive change. This year, why not give your resolutions the heave ho and try something different?
That’s what I’m doing. This year, I’m going to take a deep, focused dive into change. Instead of coming up with a laundry list of ways my life needs to improve (and trust me, those are legion), I’m focusing on a single, central theme.
My focus for 2014 is “self-compassion.”
Rather than making it a resolution – I. Will. Be. Self-compassionate. Dammit! – I’m making it a year-long learning project, filled with books and talks and immersing myself in it experientially.
Self-compassion has always been one of my challenging spots (my inner critic’s name is Brutal Bart), but my attention on it has been ratcheted up by adding the Heart Base to the Ripple Revolution model. (If I don’t have it, I can’t teach it.) Along the way, I’ll be sharing what I learn, the struggles I encounter with it, and the positive impact it has on my life.
If the idea of creating a year-long learning project appeals to you, here are some ideas to help you design it.
Pick a theme
Pick a central theme that feels important and that would have a broad impact on your life if you more fully embodied it. For me, that is self-compassion. For you, it might be organization, or physical nourishment (I say that instead of “diet”), or your relationship with money.
Start exploring your course materials
We’re blessed with an abundance of information readily available on just about any topic. Start your learning project with a simple internet search. See what’s there.
Some of the materials you might find for this year-long course you’re creating include:
- Web sites
- Videos (e.g., TED Talks)
- Podcasts
- Books
- Audiobooks
Schedule time
You can enroll in school, but if you don’t go to class you’ll get nothing out of it. Make sure you create space for the learning by having consistent time for your exploration. That might be a daily practice (for example, I follow my daily morning meditation with a time for reading), or maybe blocking out a couple hours each week. Whatever works for you.
Let the learning expand
If the topic is deep and broad enough, you will find plenty to keep you occupied and learning for the whole year. For example, my exploration of self-compassion so far (I started this project in earnest a couple weeks ago) has included mindfulness/meditation, neuroscience, HeartMath, and using challenges for spiritual growth.
Make your life a learning laboratory
Don’t fall into the trap of making this a purely intellectual, theoretical venture. Take what you’re learning and put it to work in your life. Use your life as a learning laboratory. Put what you’re learning to work in your life. Experiment with it. See what happens. See what works and incorporate that as you go forward.
Learn from others
Any time you get a chance to talk with someone you think would have good insights on the topic of your project, do it! It takes a village to grow and nurture anything new, and this is no exception. The more you connect with people around your project, the more supported it will be, and the more likely it is to both last the entire year and offer you meaningful insights.
Teach others
As you explore and learn, you’ll develop some expertise in the topic you’re exploring (or at least have more insights than many of the people around you). A great way to both deepen your understanding and make a difference is to teach others what you’re learning.
It doesn’t have to actually look like teaching. It can be simply sharing some of the cool things you’ve learned with a friend over coffee. You’re already doing the heavy lifting with your learning efforts. Sharing it with others is an easy way to spread the value of that learning, planting seeds and creating ripples.
Summarize what you’re learning
It might be helpful to keep an ongoing summary of some of the key points you’re learning to refer back to as the year progresses. It doesn’t have to be super-involved. It could be as simple as a laundry list that you add to over time.
Without some way of reminding yourself of what you’ve learned, much of what you gleaned from your exploration in January could have disappeared entirely by December. Try creatig an easy refresher for yourself to refer back to.
Let the learning seep in
Finally, the idea is not that you will flip a switch and make a change, but that you will immerse yourself in the coming year, learning and applying as much as you can.
As you do, changes will start to happen. New insights will yield different ways of experiencing and engaging with the world. It might not happen with a heavenly chorus swooping down and singing, “Lo, on this day Change Has Happened,” but it will happen.
And when December 31st hits and you look back at the past year, you’ll probably be amazed at just how much of an impact it had. Not because you made grand and glorious change, but because you let change seep in.
If you decide to create a learning project for the new year, let me know. I would love to hear what it is and how it goes!
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Brought to you by Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst TM
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