Over the last several years, my first post each January has explained my plan for the coming year. This year is no different; except I arrived at my 2016 plan in a different way. While it didn’t start out that way, 2015 turned out to be a year of letting go and finding the flow instead of making grandiose plans and then sticking to them no matter what. Since this approach served me well through most of 2015, I’ve decided it should remain in place for 2016.
What’s this letting go and finding the flow all about?
Have you ever experienced one of those moments when you just let go of the control over a situation and go with the flow that the universe is providing? Whether it’s a work or personal project, the next most important task reveals itself and you intuitively know what needs to be done and how to do it. To someone watching you, it might appear as if you are working in a haphazard way. The reality is that you are being highly productive.
It’s as if you opened the box of a complex “some assembly required” product and put it together without ever looking at the instructions. I’m certain you have experienced being in the flow at least once in your life. It’s a great feeling when time doesn’t matter and all that you are focused on is the present moment and what is right in front of you.
How does this look for me?
While I haven’t published much in the last year, I’m still writing. I have a few posts in various states of creation. Some of those posts may never be finished and published, but some will. I’m not going to set some goal such as posting every single day. (I tried that once and didn’t like it much.) But I believe I’ll post more frequently in 2016.
There is also a writing project I’ve been working on for about 10 months and the path forward is finally becoming clear to me. But it’s not my path. It’s not the path I necessarily envisioned. It’s the path I’ve arrived at by doing the work the project required each and every day. More time remains to make this project what I loosely envisioned more than 10 months ago, but I have a better understanding of what tasks lay before me. And for now they are still small and simple tasks. More will be revealed to me as necessary and when necessary.
It’s odd because as I’m doing the work for this project it does not feel like mine. I don’t struggle with what to do next. The guidance for this project just flows through me. The thinking and writing behind this blog post is not mine, but flowed through me from some universal source of energy and wisdom. By letting go and getting in the flow, I can tap into this universal source of energy and wisdom.
All that’s required of me is an ability to set aside the past and the future and live in the present moment. When one is present (as I am with these words while I connect with the keyboard), that connection with universal energy and wisdom is strong. Things that were previously lost in a mental fog become crystal clear. Things that clouded my mind about the past or future are of no concern. There is little that can be done about them in the present moment.
In the present moment, we can and should act. Action moves the projects we are part of and our lives forward.
How I let go and find the flow
Pause. Breathe. Read. Write.
Pause and breathe go together. Some might refer to those two steps as meditating; but I find it difficult to sit still long enough to actually meditate. However, I do pause, close my eyes and concentrate on nothing but my breathing for a few moments – less than a minute. Then, with a clear head, I read some motivational of inspirational material for a few minutes. Without thinking too much, I then write whatever comes to mind. Sometimes that writing is directly related to the readings and sometimes I wonder “how did I come up with that?”
I’ve done this every single day for more than 300 days. The result is that the book I’ve always envisioned myself writing is almost complete. A few sentences a day over 300+ days adds up to a book. So the plan for 2016 is to continue on this path and complete the project(s) around this daily writing.
Have a great 2016 and please use the comments below to let me and the readers here know your plans for the new year.
Be like water.