Here's the thing, right? Putting aside my personal situation. Think about this, based on the dumpster fire that has been life in this world in the last three years, whether it is based on what has been going on in your personal life, you know, your your bubble of life, whether it's in your greater community, or within, you know, your state, your country, right, your, you know, even larger, widespread community. But you know, things happening in different areas that have nothing to do with you, but still impact you. If the resolution the intention, the word, were simply to be present, or compassionate, or full of grace. Isn't that still significant? Is that enough? This is me asking you. Right, I wish that we could be in space together to have a conversation because i Man, I really wish that I could hear what you're thinking and saying. Now, I'm sure that you know, the stats of resolutions, I just did a quick, you know, search on Google or to get these results that I'm about to share with you. And the Googler says, researchers suggest that only 9% of Americans my apologies if you're listening outside of the United States, that only 9% of the Americans that make resolutions complete them. In fact, research goes on to show that 23% of people quit their resolution by the end of the first week. And 43 Quit by the end of January 3 43%. My apologies quit by the end of January. Now in my professional opinion, there's a whole host of reasons why this happens, including but not limited to the fact that one dominant culture puts way too much fucking pressure on us. So do the goal we created for ourselves was most likely unrealistic within the timeline we've set or within the situation of our lives, right, based on like the research sources that we have access to at that time, the capacity we might have. And the one of the main problems with resolutions is that it's a decision to change our behavior, often that is rooted whether we realize it or not, in a place of feeling not good enough. unworthy, less than pressure to be a certain way and feeling compelled to do something to make us better. And or to fill a void. You may have feelings about this, this may not be the first time you've heard me say it. And still you may have had feelings about it when I said it. And I encourage you to be with those feelings. Maybe sit with them, analyze them for a little bit. Because this is for real truth. Right resolutions are rooted in an expectation of yourself to do something in particular, usually in a very particular way. And this is formed by your ego. It's attached to 100% guilt, shame or obligation. And it's for that reason, right? Because like this all has a negative connotation for that reason it doesn't last and often. Right? If we're moving from a place of feeling less than when then we fell short of the mark saying for instance, like if we plan to do this thing three times a week, but this week, we only did it twice. Well, when we fall fall short of what we said we were going to do because like life frickin happens, circumstances change. But inevitably, they're oftentimes for many people are feelings of guilt and deep shame. And neither of these things power us forward. None of this is sustainable, right. None of this is is allowing us to be successful. Not in a sustainable way. Not in a way that is fulfilling. Like deeply. So let's say maybe you're listening really well stuff too bad. I already created my word. I already created my intention and my goal. No problem. Great. I still encourage you to be curious about All of this, you know, what is the real significance or driving force behind choosing a word or creating a goal in the new year? Even if it's a heart centered and like not sucked into dominant culture self improvement thing, right? Or maybe is it really think about it? Like, is it still tied to dominant culture self improvement? Seriously, consider is there any piece of this where your ego is at play? Is it to avoid feeling shame, guilt or less, then you've really got to get real with yourself here. Because you can guarantee that if there are ties to dominant culture, with the creation of your goal, your word, your intention, then dominant culture will absolutely play out in the way you uphold the word and goal, without a doubt. And then I have to talk about the pressure, the pressure that we put on ourselves that dominant culture puts on ourselves on us to, you know, make sure that this is set in stone by January 1 by the first week of January, or by the end of January. That's a really big problem for me. You know, we've really got to stop the shoulds the shame, the guilt, and I encourage you to, you know, examine how the narratives have played out in your timeline? Did you place a timeline on yourself? Why? And maybe consider, like, what would have happened if you didn't? Or what if what would have happened if you hadn't created your goal or your word by the first I bet, you know, exactly how you would have felt? You know, like, why, why must we this thing that we want to be focused on for 365 days, 52 weeks, straight? This thing that, you know, we are committed to? That really speaks to us? Why would we place pressure on ourselves about it? Does that defeat the purpose? I don't know. Again, I'm asking. And I'm curious, you know, what is your plan for embodying the word and the goal? Does your plan feel fluid? Or strict? Does it feel doable, like for real, or no? For me, choosing a word allows for there to be, you know, an overarching theme in my life. And typically, it connects to, you know, a part of my son capo, which is my heart centered intention. You know, it's also a greater, deeper meaning of like my purpose to be here in this life. And so, I definitely can get caught up in the shoulds, and have tos and shouldn't have when, when it comes to choosing as well as honoring the word or the goal. And that really sucks. I believe that, you know, when there's that pressure, when I'm getting caught up in the things I've done wrong, or the weight, you know, really focus on the things, the things I didn't do in the way I thought I should, I feel like that defeats the purpose of the enrichment, this whole thing was supposed to bring to my life. And so what I've started doing in the last couple of years, is kind of going through these prompts. And these are the prompts that I offer my clients as well. And you can do this at any time. Here's the thing, like when it comes to connecting to your hearts, deepest intention, your deepest desires. You can do this at any time, or you don't, it doesn't have to be the first of the year, and I understand the, you know, the connection to the new year I get it. Right, but just know that, and this is work I do with my clients is I encourage them to like come back to this monthly, quarterly, and reassess like, does this thing still hold value to me? Does it need to be adjusted? Right? So there needs to be flexibility because guess what, like, who you are, and how you are right now is going to change even in a few weeks time, possibly in six months time, maybe even three months time. But anyway, I encourage you to take some time, whether it's this week, next week, the whole of January even longer than that, right however long it takes to really become clear and connected. Instead of asking yourself, even if you've already set a word or a goal, I encourage you still to do this practice anyway.