Today is the first new moon since the spring equinox.
Contrary to common practice, THIS IS THE TIME to make our resolutions. This is the time to plant the seeds of our future–what we truly wish to create this year.
During the 90′s, I worked on the start-up of companies and the turnaround (fresh start) of companies in crisis. AND I owned a garden center and nursery and taught gardening classes for kids.
To me – growing plants, growing companies, growing ourselves and our children – it’s the same process and I am passionate about growth!
That’s the reason I use so many gardening analogies when I talk about cultivating self-awareness and creating the highest vision of ourselves.
I approach Managing Thought® as if I were pruning a tree. When I prune a tree, the first thing I do is decide what I want to accomplish. What’s my purpose? What difference do I want to make?
Do I want to remove the dead wood? Create a certain shape? Bring in more light? More fruit or flowers? Growth upward or outward?
Once I have my purpose, I begin to prune, first removing the dead and diseased branches. I then prune the branches that are crossing other branches, sticking straight up, or shooting from the base of the tree. These are appropriately called suckers because they suck up the water, nutrients, and sunlight from the viable branches.
Once these branches are removed, I then prune and shape the tree to fulfill my purpose. After completing the process, I turn my attention to the daily cultivation of the tree–how it is fed and watered and its exposure to the environment.
This helps the tree resist stress and develop a strong root and trunk system. With less stress, the tree resists insects, disease, and damage. It thrives in its full glory.
As we practice self-awareness and managing our thoughts, we can follow the same process.
As we plant the trees of our lives, our work, our marriages, our retirement, ourselves in every role we play in work or life, education for ourselves or our children, our retirement, our health, and prosperity, a corporate initiative–we can decide what we truly want.
Before we say or do anything, such as interact with our family, children, or significant others, or converse with a customer or coworker, we can decide our purpose. We decide what is of significance. We decide what we wish truly wish to create.
Then we watch our thoughts. We prune those that are destructive and diseased -the thoughts that don’t bring us peace or inspire us.
We notice and prune the thoughts that are at cross-purposes, focused on what we don’t want –sucking up our time, energy, and money, blocking our light, our true reality.
We practice choosing and shaping our thoughts, creating our intentions, and focusing our thoughts, and ultimately our actions, on what truly matters, what we truly wish to create.
We pay attention to our environment, the culture we are creating, the people with whom we choose to surround ourselves.
In doing so, we accomplish our purpose and fulfill our intention in each moment. We cultivate ourselves daily and develop a strong mind, body, and spirit. We resist stress, disease, and damage. We thrive in our full glory.
Take some time today to reflect and wonder.
What seeds could you plant? What intentions could you cultivate? What is the future you truly wish to create?
I invite you to check out these quick links to resources on creating your life well-lived How to Make Resolutions You Can Keep, Reflection is a Powerful Action, and Resolutions, Intentions & Affirmations for a Life Well-Lived.
To learn more about my PrioriTreeTM process, you can order the book Managing Thought or subscribe to read a Page A Day of the book for free.
For daily self-awareness thoughts and inspiration follow Managing Thought on Twitter or “like” Managing Thought on Facebook to receive them as they post.
To cultivate your thoughts one thought at a time, sign up for the Mindfulness Monday online program.
Please join me in helping others learn how to manage their thoughts and contribute to the production of my PBS Pledge Special.
© 2013 Mary J. Lore and Managing Thought LLC All rights reserved.
Spring is a time of transition in nature and within ourselves. Many traditions around the world mark this time as the true beginning of the year. (March was the first month of the year in the original Roman calendar – a fun fact!)
Is Groundhog Day stuck in my View-Master? What’s she talking about?
I remember when I first heard Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Even though I was a young girl, it had quite an impact on me. I didn’t blink. I got the chills. I knew I was hearing something very powerful. I remember looking forward to being an adult and being able to fully grasp what I had just heard.
We learn news of the shootings and deaths of innocent children in Connecticut. We find ourselves filled with all kinds of emotions.
A woman emailed me. She said she was exhausted and frustrated by a laundry list of problems. People in her field of work were burnt out and she was burning out. She took a few days to visit some friends, to get some rest, think, and hopefully become unstuck.
It is the sweet new year for our Jewish friends and the autumn equinox. It is a time of thankfulness and farewell for what has been, a time of balance between darkness and light, and a time of maturity and coming wisdom.
It’s self-awareness month and with the recent celebration of Labor Day, I am reminded that we are a nation of laborers. White collar, blue collar, working, not working—we labor. We are busy, busy, busy, doing, doing, doing.
Having once owned a garden center and nursery and having a huge passion for gardening, I know this weekend is THE weekend to get our gardens growing. Now to me — growing gardens, growing companies, growing ourselves — it’s all the same. That’s the reason I use so many gardening analogies when I talk about developing self-awareness, self-mastery and being on purpose.
