A new year, but no new goals. No New Year’s resolutions for me for 2023. I don’t believe in them. I believe in changing goals and habits when they have to be changed, and not in changing your life around on the magical date of January 1.
In yoga we have a principle that is called Svadhyaya. It means something like the study of the self. I mostly explain as; asking yourself why you feel what you feel, why you think what you think, and why you’re reacting the way you react.
Switching of the automatic pilot
You can also say Svadhyaya is switching off the automatic pilot. It is taking control of your life, and not letting it be dictated by the people around you, by society, by your past or – worse – by just not thinking about the things you do. I mean, lots of people are just doing things, because that’s what they do.
I like to be in control of my life. Which means I’m critical of what I do, what I say, what I eat. It also means I often evaluate the things I do; work, actions and reactions, training, habits and so on. If I feel I have to change something, I do it. If possible directly. If not, I look for the first moment to change what has to be changed.
A weird day
This trail running blog, for example, started on August 10. A weird day. January 1 probably was a more logical day. The day lots of people start running. Or at the end of winter. Another moment people start with running, because the weather is becoming nice again, or they don’t fit in their bikini or surf shorts anymore.
However, I missed writing. I finished a big project – the rebuilding of our house and the new office of our company – and Sara asked me what I really wanted to do. My answer was to write again. So, we created this trail running blog, and now I write every day.
I could have published this blog on January 1, but why is January 1 better than any other day in the year? Why wait for the 1st of January when you want to change something. I like the expression: If you really want something, you find a way. If you don’t really want it, you find an excuse.
Delay change
For me, waiting for January 1 to change something is just an excuse to delay change. So no New Year’s resolutions for me. I prefer to work on myself a bit every day. To change, if needed every day.
Which reminds me of another saying about change. One that used to hang in my office in Spain, and one that – I think – is a good ending to this blog and a good beginning of the New Year:
“Be the change you want to see in this world” – Gandhi.
