Guiding Questions for the New Year

Dear Reader,

Today is the first Monday of 2011, which means… this is my first post of the new year for a “Year of Excellence!” In case you missed my previous post, I have such a good feeling about the year ahead that I will be devoting a post every Monday to creating excellence in our lives this year. In doing so, my intention is for all involved to cheer each other on in being our best selves this year, and to inspire others to do the same.

So, let’s get to it! By now, I’m sure that some of us have set intentions, made goals or resolutions – and hopefully written them down – for what we would like to create and how we would like to be in the new year. I would like to offer some guiding questions to help us move forward in an inspired, attentive way. This list is not meant to be exhaustive, so feel free to add your own – and share in a comment or email if you’d like. Nor is it important to use every question, as if going down a checklist, but do pay attention to the ones that grab you!

Guiding Questions for the New Year:

• – How do I feel as I enter this new year? Excited? Fearful? Mindful? Scattered? Why might I feel this way? It is important to know our starting point!
• – Am I being kind to myself and others?
• – What do I love? What do I love doing? Who do I love spending time with? These questions cut through the intellectual aspects of goal-setting and allow us to go deeper – to our heart, and ultimately to our spirit. That’s where we want to be this year, right??
• – What would thrill me to accomplish this year? What would allow me to contribute to the world the way I really want to? Am I thinking big enough?! This question moves us from our heart into our vision for the year.
• – What, if anything, is holding me back, making me pause or tempting me to think small? No – nothing is really holding us back… but our own perceptions, beliefs, old stories or perceived tangible obstacles (money, time, etc.) sure can preoccupy our thinking, can’t it? Gotta release what no longer serves!
• – Am I taking right action? By “right” action, I mean the most appropriate, inspired, focused action we can possibly take. By action, I mean – action! Krishnamurti said that action is understanding; they are one – meaning that learning is only truly understood once put into action.
• – Am I being consistent? Persistent? Keeping the faith? The beautiful artwork of an excellent year is created on a daily basis.
• – Am I being flexible? Starting in one direction doesn’t mean we can’t make course corrections.
• – Am I willing to honor the mystery? This may require letting go of desire for a particular outcome, or it may mean simply allowing ourselves to dance with the universe. We do our part, and we allow the universe to respond in its own way.

That’s a good start. But in case you’re wondering – why work with questions? I believe, passionately, that although there is a time and place for goals and intentions, the most powerful action we can take is to go directly to the source of our own inner wisdom. Spirit, Soul, Higher Self, Inner Wisdom, Essential Nature, call it whatever works for you. Questions have the ability to lead us to our essential Truth, and more than anything, this is what the world needs from us now.

Thanks to everyone who has left comments! Keep ’em coming; we’re in this together.

I honor your loving heart,

John