The year of cultivation for a new life

The first week of 2018 is almost closing out. How far along in your new year’s resolution changes have you fully committed too? It is not too late to make necessary steps toward change. It begins with making an honest commitment to begin moving towards intention, purpose, meaning, and conscious living. Make 2018 all about cultivating a new life.

This single moment of commitment stems from the deep sense of impulse of one’s desire to grow and change. This authentic impulse yearns for each of us to expand, embrace our larger potential and means to influence others. However, many of us make good intentions of wanting to change, yet, we never follow through on those intentions. All paths that lead to hell are paved with good intentions.

Hell, in this context, is misery, pain, inadequacy, and suffrage. We desire to change, however, lack the commitment and motivation to follow through with seeing ourselves changing, growing, and enlarging into better people. Our desire for change requires a serious commitment and motivation for change to happen. This is one key principle I share with my patients. This does not make the journey, or the process, toward change an easy path to follow.

Commitment leads to sacrifice based on our willingness

The beginning path of conscious living, where we have meaning and purpose, begins with the understanding of our own willingness to commit ourselves toward necessary change. This requires necessary sacrifices needed to begin transforming our lives. For the person whose new years resolution is to begin exercising requires the willingness to commit to exercising. Requires the willingness to change one’s diet and eating habits, and making the sacrifices of time, money, and personal change of habits. For the person whose new years resolution is to quit smoking, the willingness and commitment toward tobacco cessation.

Our level of commitment is our level of willingness. Lower our level of commitment, the lower our level of willingness to make change happen. The higher our level of commitment, the higher our willingness to make change happen becomes. And, our commitment comes with sacrifice. That, I believe, is what frightens people from making an effort toward change. Our very desire is our very fear.

Without motivation, our commitment and willingness is futile

The final truth is this: it is not about our intentions. It is not even about our commitment, willingness, and our needed sacrifices. It is about what motivates us to not only start our journey, to keep going through those difficult times while we are engaged in change.

A farmer does not look at his land and say, “this is too difficult.” Instead, he see’s the various possibilities the land has in producing a bountiful crop. He is committed to cultivating the land, making the necessary sacrifices, and is willing to spend each day nurturing and cultivating. His motivation? It’s not the actual bounty of the harvest he may gain. His motivation is the process of each day working, tilling, planting, nurturing, and being focused on what he has accomplished for that day alone.