“Whatever you do or dream you can do – begin it. Boldness has genius and power and magic in it.” -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
It is the new year. Here is wishing you a magical and wonderful 2016!
Here is wishing that you make it your best year yet!
While you do not need to wait till the new year for new beginnings, this is a good time to begin afresh on that project or interest.
Perhaps you want better health or better finances. Whatever your thing is, new beginnings are always exciting times.
And nothing like the whole planet rebooting itself at the turn of a new year, making resolutions and positive changes. Talk about social proof!
Many people make positive changes during this time and hope to make permanent and impactful changes in their lives.
Here at LYG, we are all for positive and impactful changes that launch your genius in the world.
Rest assured that we will do our best to be facilitators of positive change and inspiration in 2016.
Here are some ideas and great quotes on new beginnings!
1. The Power And Excitement Of Expectation And New Beginnings
“And now we welcome the new year, full of things that have never been”― Rainer Maria Rilke
As you welcome the new year, become aware that every day and every moment is filled with opportunity.
You can choose to get excited and enthusiastic about things that have never been and move ahead.
While many of you might feel jaded with your lives, the past is now gone. Old moments will never repeat themselves exactly the same way as in the past.
You may still have old habits and structures but you have a choice to move forward in new ways.
So are you seeking to make a new ending by creating exciting new beginnings?
“Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.” -Maria Robinson
“Every day is a new beginning. Treat it that way. Stay away from what might have been, and look at what can be.”- Marsha Petrie Sue
2. Do it Now
“You don’t need endless time and perfect conditions. Do it now. Do it today. Do it for twenty minutes and watch your heart start beating.” -Barbara Sher
Any new beginning is contingent on the simple fact that you begin and you keep working at it. In the past, I have waited for the perfect time and the best situation. You guessed it! The perfect time never came.
Forget perfect, forget the best conditions, and simply begin.
“Do not wait until the conditions are perfect to begin. Beginning makes the conditions perfect.” -Alan Cohen
3. New Chapters And New Books
“No, this is not the beginning of a new chapter in my life; this is the beginning of a new book! That first book is already closed, ended, and tossed into the seas; this new book is newly opened, has just begun! Look, it is the first page! And it is a beautiful one!” ― C. JoyBell C.
Many people begin the new year and the new day with the heaviness of the burden of their past.
While we cannot jettison our pasts and there is no real need to do that, we benefit by beginning anew.
You can craft a new book in your life and you can be the creator of wonderful new adventures.
Make this day and this year count. Become what you have always wanted to be. Launch that book and practice that musical instrument or go to that traveling adventure.
Let it go and let it begin.
“Every day is a chance to begin again. Don’t focus on the failures of yesterday, start today with positive thoughts and expectations.” – Catherine Pulsifer
4. Beyond Success and Failure: The Joy Of True Learning And Unbridled Creativity
“The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.” – Steve Jobs
Have you been burdened by the relentless pursuit of success or the fear of failure?
Have you spent a lot of time worrying about how to succeed and how to make an impression on others?
Well this new year, drop the weight of doing things to become successful.
Let go of the fear of expecting failure and setbacks.
Instead, allow yourself to experience the lightness and the power of letting go of excess expectations.
Realize the joy and anticipation of being a relentless learner. Make curiosity and enthusiasm your new motto.
5. Giving Yourself The Gift Of Happiness
“It’s a helluva start, being able to recognize what makes you happy.”- Lucille Ball
Most of us want to be happy. But often happiness is fleeting because we may have forgotten what makes us happy.
We may have replaced it with what we think makes us happy.
This new year, take the time to make a short list of things that make you happy.
Some of these items can make you happy in the short run and some may be more long term.
Some can be simple pleasures that money cannot buy. While others might be material pleasures.
Whatever it is, the first step is to become aware of what makes you happy. And then, follow that path.
6. Small Beginnings
“Start wherever you are and start small.” -Rita Baily
The only antidote to perfectionism and doubt is to begin right away.
Continue working for short periods of time on what you want to accomplish.
For example, often I have grand plans for writing. I have the best intentions to write a lot but it never materializes. Perfect times and perfect moments are overrated.
“When I face the desolate impossibility of writing 500 pages, a sick sense of failure falls on me, and I know I can never do it. Then gradually, I write one page and then another. One day’s work is all that I can permit myself to contemplate.” -John Steinbeck
Now I am content in 2016 to catch a few minutes of good and enthusiastic clicking at the keyboard. And I would like to make that into a habit. 🙂
So, what are you waiting for? Begin on your work today.
“For last year’s words belong to last year’s language And next year’s words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning.” ― T.S. Eliot
7. The Wisdom Of Letting Go
“Begin today. Declare out loud to the universe that you are willing to let go of struggle and eager to learn through joy.” -Sarah Ban Breathnach
My hope for you this year is that you:
- Let go of struggle.
- Decrease the worry.
- Reduce the tension.
- Disallow the toxic thoughts.
- Release the ANTS (automatic negative thoughts).
- Get off the rat race.
- Stop the hedonic treadmill.
Instead:
- Laugh more.
- Love more.
- Embrace the joy of the moment.
- Live in the moment and accept more.
- Complain less and solve more.
- Judge less and understand more.
“The highest spiritual practice is self-observation without judgment.” – Swami Kripalu
8. The Dynamics Of A New Beginning: The Best Productivity Advice
“The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret to getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks and then starting on the first one.” -Mark Twain
One of the main reasons that I get overwhelmed is that my goals and tasks appear intimidating when looked at as a whole.
When you begin dividing up the complex task into smaller manageable parts, it is possible to move forward.
Many people look and wait for the perfect productivity system. In reality, the answer is very simple.
The answer lies in making things manageable and SIMPLE.
SIMPLE is:
S for small
I for interesting
M for manageable
P for parts
L for like or love
E for easy
Break up the complex into easy interesting chunks that you like to accomplish. If you hate doing something, it is best to delegate it to others who like it better.
9. How To Transcend Disappointment And Setbacks
“Letting there be room for not knowing is the most important thing of all. When there’s a big disappointment, we don’t know if that’s the end of the story. It may just be the beginning of a great adventure. Life is like that. We don’t know anything. We call something bad; we call it good. But really we just don’t know.”― Pema Chödrön, When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times
Make uncertainty your best friend this new season. While it is difficult to come to terms with failure and setbacks, learn quickly from them.
Instead of taking things personally, realize that failures are just events trying to tell you something new.
When you change your perspective on disappointments, you can move forward in new ways.
10. The Power Of Belief
“Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” -Saint Francis of Assisi
You have to have the faith and confidence that you can do things.
While many people wait for hard evidence of their worth, they realize that it is difficult to find.
Self-belief, faith and confidence are powerful and underplayed but overtalked attributes. This idea of belief has become so clichéd that we do not even understand what it means anymore.
In my view, the belief of confidence is that deep feeling in the gut that you can achieve more and dare more.
It is the visceral feeling and implicit understanding that you deserve greatness. And you are willing to go the way because the other options simply fall short.
It is the same feeling that Luke Skywalker has in the movie Star Wars that his life is destined to be more.
While he has doubts in his mind, there is a “force” that he can feel that always reminds him of his own possibilities and more.
Often, we lose sight and feeling of our own confidence and we lose belief in the self.
Choose to rediscover and rekindle an uncompromising self-confidence and self belief.
Then with that visceral feeling of confidence, move forward.
It is not that you will not have doubts but the important thing is to have levels of self confidence and belief that transcend your doubts.
“Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”- Martin Luther King Jr.
11. Be Willing To Change And to Improvise
“There are as many worlds as there are kinds of days, and as an opal changes its colors and its fire to match the nature of a day, so do I.”― John Steinbeck
Change is inevitable. In this time of transformation, embrace change instead of running away from it.
Make improvisation and readjusting your sails a norm and not something that you do in crisis only.
“We must always change, renew, rejuvenate ourselves, otherwise we harden.” -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Perhaps that is where our choice lies — in determining how we will meet the inevitable end of things, and how we will greet each new beginning.”― Elana K. Arnold
12. On Perseverance
“There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth… not going all the way, and not starting.” -Buddha
Perhaps this is the single most important idea as we begin the new year. No matter what, go all the way in your pursuits.
If you plan to walk to improve your health, do it and keep doing it.
Begin and keep going. We all know this but we all may also need to be reminded of this. Over and over again.
Keep going.
13. Acceptance Of Things We Cannot Change
“Life is simple. Everything happens for you, not to you. Everything happens at exactly the right moment, neither too soon nor too late. You don’t have to like it… it’s just easier if you do.” – Byron Katie
Accept the things that you cannot change. This is important so that you have the time and energy to move forward in the things that you want to move forward in.
Begin realigning your life as a participant and not as a victim. With this new view, you have the power to make positive changes.
14. Find And Play To Your Passions
“Today a new sun rises for me; everything lives, everything is animated, everything seems to speak to me of my passion, everything invites me to cherish it.” –Anne De Lencios
Always keep the spark of enthusiasm and excitement close to your heart. If you feel disinterested and non-passionate, pay attention to it.
Bring in some excitement in your life. Live your life with passion. You deserve it and you are the only one who can give permission to live your life with a twinkle in your eye.
Go and seek the things and activities and people who bring out the best in you. Go for your passions and go for enthusiasm.
“When you dance, your purpose is not to get to a certain place on the floor. It’s to enjoy each step along the way.” – Wayne Dyer
Now over to you. As always, sound off on social media or on the blog comments below. Your ideas and opinions are always welcome!
Have a wonderful and inspired 2016!
“I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day, a fresh try, one more start, with perhaps a bit of magic waiting somewhere behind the morning.” – J. B. Priestly
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