MORE TOOLS FOR 2014

Here are the remaining tools to support you in each day, the year ahead and beyond. With my deepest wish that they serve you well. 

“Incredible change happens in your life when you decide to take control of what you do have power over instead of craving control over what you don’t.” ~Steve Maraboli

LET GO: This is two-fold. Let go of what no longer serves you: anger, guilt, pain, being right or hurt or a victim. Release and change jobs, people and scenarios that block your joy and serenity. This tool is also about letting go of the need for control. You do not have control over anything, other than your reactions and choices. Letting go is not giving up. It is not folding. It is the absence of resistance to what is and what has been and the opening to the possibility of what could be. 

HOW? Become conscious and aware of the choices you are making in thought and action. Notice what you can take responsibility and ownership of and face that, embrace that and shape that.  If your attention is on what was, instead of what could be, you are controlling the uncontrollable. Come to this moment, and let it be. What could you let in, by letting go?

SIMPLIFY: This is the decision to cut out anything that does not serve your well–being. It means different things to different people, however it is ultimately the not-to-do list, I don’t need list and I won’t accept list. Health challenges and major changes oftentimes create a natural and necessary response to simplify. When you create space in your life by eliminating the “stuff” you will allow for more movement and energy and ultimately peace.

HOW: Make a not-to-do list. What activities and projects could you stop doing, delegate or re-frame? What is zapping you of energy? What could you clean up, clear up or give away or give up in your home, your body, your relationships -  to create more peace? What would you like to make more room for in your life?

“Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials.” 

- Lin Yutang

A BEGINNER’S MIND: Zen teacher, Shunryu Suzuki said about the proper approach to Zen practice, “In the beginners’ mind there are many possibilities, in the expert’s mind there are few.” It is curiosity and openness and ultimately the lack of preconceptions that allows for limitless possibilities and fresh answers and this creates amazing freedom. You are no longer tied to only what you “know” but the unknown becomes open and with it, boundless options, messages, people, healing and experiences, beyond the limits of your preconceived notions. I was challenged in this space, as I felt I knew and took care of my health and my life, in many ways “expertly." It is when I entered  a beginner's mind – when I was willing to not know, to be surprised and to learn anew, that unique and powerful insights, ideas and possibilities were revealed to me.

HOW: Remain curious. Affirm that you are open to new answers, options or perceptions. See yourself as an open book with blank pages and allow a new version of the story to be written and new paths to be forged. If you were to let go of the way you “see” or believe something, what could be? How could your health, relationships and overall life improve, grow and transform? What door could you open with a beginner's mind? 

THINK BIG, TALK SMALL, ACT NOW: You need a vision. A possibility. A direction. Something to pull you forward. The big – the meaning and purpose as defined by you. Wellness, better relationships, more compassion, travelling, saving money, getting more sleep. It is whatever feels most important to you – your big. Dream and ponder. Then narrow the focus, bring it back down and come to this moment. Talk here and now. Brainstorm. Collaborate. Listen. Act.

“Dreams are a means to an end, not the ultimate purpose of our lives. They are simply a tool to concentrate our focus and move us in a direction. The only reason we really pursue goals is to cause ourselves to expand and grow."   ~ Anthony Robbins

HOW: What do you hear yourself saying that you wish you could change? Have? Do? Be? What would achieving that give you? What values will you honor? How would that make you feel? Ask yourself what a person who achieves these things would have to do each day and believe each day, in order to get there? Commit to taking a step now in the direction of that vision. Review it often, but continue to talk about it and plan for it in the present moment.The big pulls you forward, however it is achieved by staying and talking in the present and acting in the moment. 

So there they are, all 10 tools for your 2014 Toolbox. May they serve you well. If you have any suggestions or "tools" that you have found useful, I would love for you to leave them in the comment section.