Wellbeing

Barefoot Doctor: How To Get Some Resolve

The UK’s top tao master on ditching New Year’s resolutions and finding some resolve instead

The UK’s top tao master on ditching New Year’s resolutions and finding some resolve instead
While true that the odd one or two make a New Year’s resolution and stick to it the rest of their lives, doing so is a bit like winning the lottery. Resolutions are mostly nonsensical when serious about making change, but we persist in going through the motions, because it’s hardwired into our primal circuits.

Originally the festive season was the winter solstice festival, wherein the clans gathered to share their provisions and make merry in the firelight to celebrate still being alive. Afterwards there wasn’t much food left and being the dead of winter meant they were obliged to tighten their fur belts, and hence the echo in today’s form of self-flagellation – making resolutions you’re not going to keep then beating yourself up for it – in honour of the ancestors.

But there’s a more intelligent way to treat yourself in this regard, one which tends to be more effective for making serious changes to your habits.

It’s based on the premise of treating yourself with the respect you deserve as an adult, rather than as some naughty child who needs reigning in by force.

And here’s how it works.

If I say don’t think of an elephant wearing an ice-blue tutu, you immediately think of an elephant in an ice-blue tutu.

So if I say to you to stop smoking, drinking, over-eating, over-shopping, indulging in wrong relationships, being lazy, or whatever it is you’d be putting on your resolution list, this will be precisely what your mind focuses on, and it’s a proven Barefoot axiom, that what you focus on grows. It doesn’t work.

If however I say become a fresh-air addict, a jolly-minded teetotaller, a slim, slender slip of a thing, a prudent saver, master of your own heart, zestful exerciser or whatever it is you actually want to become, your mind then focuses on and lends force to that outcome instead.

Furthermore to delay this till New Year’s Day merely indicates a lack of will and that you didn’t really want this happy outcome, or you’d set about it without delay, no matter the season.

Your three-step guide:

Write two lists Write a list of everything you were thinking of giving up. Think of the positive result of doing that – for example by giving up smoking you’d increase your breathing capacity and vitality flow and live longer and healthier, or by giving up over-eating you’d reduce the strain on your heart, liver and other vital organs and feel (and look) much lighter and easier on the eye. Go through each item like this and then write a second list.
Create a positive mantra Destroy the first list. Then write down six times: ‘I am a magnificent, accomplished human being, who’s made it this far despite my habits, and I am perfectly capable of taking command of my mind now, to totally reshape the way I’m living for the better’.
Visualise the outcome Spend three minutes visualising yourself already enjoying the desired outcome and repeat the whole procedure once daily till results are attained.

MORE INFO

Barefoot Doctor is a leading Tao master and has written numerous books including the cult classic Handbook for the Urban Warrior. His latest book is called The Man Who Drove With His Eyes Closed and is published by Hay House. For information on his books, courses, lectures and other news visit the website barefootdoctorworld.com

Article by

Barefoot Doctor

Tao Master

Barefoot Doctor is a leading tao master and has written numerous books including the cult classic Handbook for the Urban Warrior. His latest book is called The Man Who Drove...

Discover more

Article by

Barefoot Doctor

Tao Master

Barefoot Doctor is a leading tao master and has written numerous books including the cult classic Handbook for the Urban Warrior. His latest book is called The Man Who Drove...

Discover more