Taking an Inventory of Your Life

By Misako Lauritzen

The year 2014 is fast approaching, and many of us have started to contemplate on new year resolutions.

Today I would like to talk about taking an inventory of our life, so we can begin the brand new year a lot more powerfully. There are two words that we will be focusing on: integrity and commitment.

First, integrity. The word Integrity gets thrown around a lot, but I define it simply as ”You are what you say you are.” When your actions match your words, you have integrity. It is a very powerful way to live your life.

The problem is that most of us have integrity issues, which leave us unhappy and ineffective. We may not break promises that we have made to others; however, we tend not to be so honorable with ourselves.

Take a moment to reflect on your life. Think about where in your life you currently lack integrity. What are the things that you have told someone you are doing to do but have not? What have you said or thought to yourself that you are going to do this year but have failed to do so? Write them down.

It can be something as trivial as "I will exercise every day.” (This is me!) You may think falling out of integrity with yourself is not that big of a deal, because you are not hurting anyone. Well, you are dead wrong about that.

What happens when you don't do what you've said you are going to do, it conditions us to be a certain way. In other words breaking promises, slacking off become a habit. When you break a promise, you are not just breaking that one promise, but you are setting off a chain of broken promises.

When we break a promise with ourselves, we also tend to beat ourselves up. We say stuff like, ”I'm no good, ” or ”I can't do anything right.” Creating a self image like that dis-empowers us and reinforces the negative behaviors.

When we find ourselves lacking integrity in our lives, the thing to do is  to restore integrity to where it is lacking. Here is how to do it.

Examine the list that you have just made and divide the items into two groups. One is ”What you are willing to re-commit yourself to,” and the other is ”what you are not willing to re-commit yourself to.” With the latter, declare powerfully to yourself and to the universe that you are not doing them.

By owning the fact that you have failed to keep the promise with yourself and choosing NOT to commit, you can regain your sense of power and control. This is very important, so you can really focus on the list of things to which you have decided to re-commit.

With commitment, it is either you are 100% committed or not at all. If you find yourself on a sinking ship in the middle of the ocean, and if you are not 100% committed to keeping yourself afloat, you will die. When you make a commitment to something, approach it as if your life depends on it. Commitment is that serious. This is why we have to be selective about our commitments.

Taking an inventory of your life will organize your thoughts and create an opening for you so you can better focus your energy and resources on things that matter most in 2014.

Next time I would like to talk about ”being kind to yourself” which would increase your chances of accomplishing your goals and being a happier person in 2014.

Namaste.

Apply for a scholarship for our 30-day coaching program for 2014!!!

All you have to do is to 1) write a paragraph or 2) to express what you would like to get out of the coaching program and email us by 12/28. You will get four (4) weekly coaching sessions (one hour per session) free of charge to begin the new year to get closer to your goal.  

Spiritual coaching complements traditional coaching techniques like goal setting with spiritual practices such as meditation. 

The winner will be announced on January 1, 2014 via email.