2 Tips to “Flip” your New Year’s Resolutions

Here Rebecca Ryan talks about  tips to help readers with their New Year resolutions – January 2020

Happy New Year, Zen Leaders!

I spent Christmas day completing my year-end reflection questionnaire. (I wasn’t being a scrooge; our household was overtaken by sickness, so laying around was the order of the day. Even Pip laid under the Christmas tree most of the day. That’s her in the photo below.)

This year, I did a “flip” in my planning.

Usually, I think about the changes I want to make in my life. This year, I flipped it and asked instead, “What does (my family, my friends, IZL, the dojo, our clients, etc.) need from me?”

Reframed this way, a whole new set of possibilities emerge. Here’s an example:

At home: “I want to be a better wife”

Flips to: “What does my wife need from me to feel more joy in our marriage?”

At work: “I want to attract inspiring clients”

Flips to: “What can I offer to the people and organizations I admire, to inspire and amplify their efforts?”

There are two simple steps to this process:

Step 1: Identify the most important roles or relationships in your life, e.g. spouse, parent, child, employee, boss, friend, neighbor, elected representative, board member…you get the idea.

Step 2: Ask “What does this relationship need from me at this time to reach its potential?”

This flip takes the emphasis off you as the central actor and widens your perspective to include other people, conditions, and factors. After you see the whole picture, you can center-and-enter.

Zen Leaders, please let me know if you try this, and how it works.

With love and admiration,
Rebecca Ryan, APF

IZL Board Chairwoman & Faculty

P.S. THANK YOU to those of you who made a contribution to our Zen Off the Cushion year-end campaign! This newsletter was adapted from Rebecca’s fortnightly newsletter, available at rebeccaryan.com.

Remember the power of connection! IZL has a full suite of programs in 2020, both in the United States and Europe. Please review the attached calendars and feel free to share them, and this newsletter, with people you know that may be interested in Zen Leadership. Thank you!