Forget New Year’s resolutions. Make these tiny tweaks instead and watch your life change effortlessly for the better in 2015

2014 is waning fast as I write this.  Just eleven and a half hours of it left for me here in the UK, in fact.

As the year turns, don’t we owe it to ourselves to ask, “What have I learned?”

And perhaps, “What have I contributed to make the world somehow better?”

I’m not thinking of academic knowledge as I pose these questions, although that might come into your equation.  I’m pondering how we show up in the world, the effects we have on our fellow humans, for example.  Do we leave them lighter and more inspired than before they encountered us, or burdened with our troubles?

I’m considering the way we interact with our environment, and I don’t only mean ecologically.  I’m talking about whether we treat it as a force to be vanquished, constantly struggling with every twist of fate as if we were a foot weary soldier in a battle with life, or whether we see opportunity and new possibilities around every corner.

I’m asking about whether we still cling to possessions whilst ever coveting new ones, or if we have found a way to detach and enjoy whatever we have and what shows up.

In short, are you fulfilled and happy or still waiting for your moment?

This turning of the year is a time for reflection of a neutral kind, however.  It’s not for self reproachment or guilt trips.  If your answer to the question “What have I learned” is “nothing” then you should consider that you are lying to yourself.  Go and watch “It’s A Wonderful Life” again and again until you get the message!

If your answer is “not enough” then you should review – how are you going to tweak that result in 2015?

I’m not talking about resolutions here – those are too reliant on willpower, meaning that you’re mostly resisting the fulfilment of your own promises – and you’re just backing them with great big, “SHOULDs.”

Those just lead to guilt trips and a feeling of failure.

Rather, I’m speaking of “tuning up:” What the Japanese call Kaizen and Anthony Robbins adopted as CANI, meaning “Continuous and Never-ending Improvement.”

Little tweaks that make a world of difference.

For example, you could smile more.

Or choose to spend your time in the shower each morning thinking of things to be grateful for.

These are easy and free.

As you contemplate your tiny new year tweaks, let this question float into your awareness:

“What do I want from 2015?”

You don’t need a reason.  In fact mostly you won’t have one, because the answer will be somewhere on the “feel good” spectrum which doesn’t easily translate into words in any case.

Don’t worry about how you’ll get it either.  The secret is to plant your intention.

You’re most welcome, if you wish, to plant it in the comments section below.  If you do, we, the community here, can support you – and each other – to ensure that those intentions become your reality in the coming 12 months.

Thank you for reading, and may you have the best 2015 possible!