Happy New Year everyone! I really hope that everyone has had a break from their normal routines, got to relax a bit, spend time with family and enjoy the holiday season. It is a tradition for a lot of people to set new years resolutions for themselves before the Gregorian new year to go into 2019 with a new mindset, prepared for success.
If you are familiar with the statistics for the success rate of New Years Resolutions, they are pretty abysmal. Only around 8% of people are actually successful with their resolutions, with 80% of people failing in as early as February. A lot of the reason for this failure is the lack of will power to follow through with the resolution. That can be compounded with people setting their sights too high, for example going from a carnivore to a vegetarian over night. These types of goals are bound to fail because for most people they are unrealistic.
Gradual approaches have been shown to be much more successful. Using the previous example, a more gradual approach would give the body a lot more time to adjust to the new diet and allow you find proper substitutes for the meats that you are used to eating. A good example of a gradual approach would be to first give up eating red meat first, then when you are comfortable with that, give up chicken, until eventually you have stopped eating meat.
There is another less obvious reason why I think people fail in their new years resolutions. It has to do with the language they are using, the fact that they are making a resolution rather than an affirmation. Affirmations work so well that they have become my primary mode for self improvement, change, and transmuting the aspects of myself that I wish to change from a negative into a positive. There is a powerful difference between a resolution and an affirmation that I will explain below.
If you look up the word resolution or (resolution etymology) it's primary use and meaning is to resolve something into simpler components. In most dictionaries it is not until the 4th or 5th use that it is used in the context that we care about here as "a formal expression of opinion, will, or intent voted by an official body or assembled group"... basically meaning that this is the expression of an opinion, will or intent.
The definition of affirmation or (affirmation etymology) is the state of being affirmed or the assertion that something exists or is true. In law the word is used as "a solemn declaration made under the penalties of perjury by a person who conscientiously declines taking an oath."
So yeah sure you could use a resolution, but why would you want to when you could use an affirmation instead? Words have meaning. Affirmations are even used in law for a reason, because they are a statement of the truth. By you using an affirmation instead of a resolution, you are stating to yourself and the Universe that this statement is true. That carries weight and is much more powerful than that of a resolution which is little more than an opinion or wishful thinking. You can use affirmations as a powerful tool in your tool chest to drive positive changes in your life.
To make your affirmation even more powerful you should make affirmations on an astrologically significant day. From my personal experience, only making the affirmation is half the equation. If you want them to be as effective as possible you need to do it on or close to an astrologically significant date like an Equinox or Solstice.
Why? Because the Sun has a large impact on our lives whether we realize it or not. Without the Sun, life could not exist on this planet. Farmers have to pay attention to the Sun and other governing bodies in the skies to determine the best times for planting and harvesting. I have found through first hand gnosis that timing my affirmations with the astrological movement of the Sun has made them that much more powerful.
The Equinoxes are days of balance (equal day, equal night). The Solstices are where the Sun at the highest or lowest point in the sky throughout the year. The Summer Solstice is where the Sun is the most powerful and at the highest point and the Winter Solstice is where the Sun at the lowest point in the sky and at it's weakest point.
You can use this to your advantage by powering up the things you want in the Summer and suppress the things don't like in the Winter, Spring is perfect for new beginnings A lot of business start around the Vernal (Spring) Equinox for this reason. Autumnal Equinox is perfect for change and reflection.
I make my affirmations on these days because you are affirming this change to be true for yourself at a time that the Universe will hear you and help you. The Universe respects decisiveness, so doing this when it is to benefit you the most would make the most sense.
Work towards the things you want to make affirmations on through out the year and allow yourself some room for failure. Keep working at it until you are ready.
Don't make an affirmation on something that you have not truly deep inside changed or are not ready to accept.
Make affirmations on astrologically significant days to make your affirmations more powerful and to enlist the help of the Universe.
Again, Happy New Years! and I hope everyone has a great 2019 and that you try making some affirmations come spring Equinox. If you do, please let me know. I would like to hear how others do with this approach or any modification that they have put on it.
Love to all.
Photo Credits:
Fireworks photo Ray Hennessy
Lunar Eclipse photo Bryan Goff
Thinking photo Ben White
