The Possibilities of 2023…

(Friday Filosophy 12/30/22)

Happy Freakin’ Friday!

Welcome to a fresh, tasty edition of Friday Filosophy – the weekly postcard where I challenge you with a question, idea, or topic you may want to think about. Today the thing I’d love to challenge you on is your approach to the New Year.

There’s a lot of racket surrounding the calendar flip from December 31 to January 1 each year: self-reflection, the resolutions, counting down to midnight, “best of…” lists, goal setting, booze, drugs, contemplation, and parties.  It doesn’t matter if you go into the New Year with revelry or introspection, if I could interrupt you, it would be to proclaim:

You can’t really create a Happy New Year without first creating a Happy New You. 

My last book was really a recognition that every day can be January 1^st – another opportunity to reinvent yourself.  Reinvention isn’t simply setting new goals or making New Year’s resolutions.  Goals express a desire but have no pathway designated to achieve them.  Resolutions are usually about abstract behaviors (being kinder, etc.) or killing old habits (quitting smoking, etc.).  Nothing inherently wrong about either of these choices.  But reinvention goes higher, focusing on the bigger picture of becoming a certain kind of person who lives in a certain kind of way.  You essentially kill off the old you and create a new, improved version.

Your life won’t lead you to meaningful purpose, happiness, and prosperity unless you live it in continuous evolution and reinvention. Anything less is you hibernating in a neutral state of stasis, or even sliding backward toward mediocrity. To live the highest possible version of yourself means intentionally seeking out a progression of escalating challenges – then doing the difficult work of trial, growth, and self-development to overcome them.  It’s not about beating yourself up over what you’ve done in the past – it’s about giving yourself permission to be healthy, happy, and prosperous.  The most liberating day of your life will likely be the one that you realize some bridges are meant to be burned.

Real happiness can be attained only through self-examination and eventual mastery of self. The things you get from introspection and evolution are great.  But the best reward is who you become.  When someone comes to me complaining that their prosperity seems blocked, the first question I usually ask them is…

What are you holding on to – that you need to be releasing?

Here’s the TL;DR version: If you’re holding on to victimhood, you can never become a victor.  You have to create a vacuum for success. If you’re living a small life, it’s not the life you were meant to live.  Ultimately, living small will lead you to a defining moment: You either hate change enough to stay mediocre or you hate being mediocre enough to change.

Thirteen years ago, I made a video about how to conduct a “Burning Bowl” ceremony to release the things you desire to let go of. To this day I still hear from people whose lives have been transformed by that concept. I decided to produce an updated version for both the YouTube channel and the podcast peeps. Here it is for your dining and dancing pleasure…Releasing Your Past & Reinventing Yourself with a Burning Bowl Ceremony

Apple: http://ow.ly/wKZ550McGuE

Spotify: http://ow.ly/2OwW50McGuB

Anchor: http://ow.ly/eWf250McGuC

YouTube: https://youtu.be/PfHUoYGGp4k

When you’re brave enough to reinvent yourself, you get to make one of the most monumental choices possible: who you want to become.  That’s where the breakthroughs live.

Peace,

- RG

P.S. If your vision for 2023 involves:

Writing a Book: Read this.

Rocking the Stage: Read this.

Changing the World: Read this.

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