As each New Year begins, many of us identify several things that we will do differently to improve our lives for the coming year; our “New Year’s Resolutions.” These decisions commonly focus upon efforts to lose weight, get more exercise, eat more healthily, manage our money better, spend our time more wisely, and the like. While those are all good areas for us to improve, how many of us develop them in a Spiritual way?

We all have things in our life that seem to be holding us back; things we resist. Oftentimes situations seem to repeat frequently in our lives causing us much consternation and worry. It seems like we can never get where we would like to go, feel the way we want to feel or experience what we want to experience.

Yet when we least expect it, one day as if by magic the series of repetition ceases. Why does this occur? Well, the Universe knows what we need to learn, grow and develop on our unique path. Unfortunately, we’re not always aware of the messages being sent to us so we continue to have the same lessons over and over again, in slightly different forms, until we “get it” and “pass the test.”

It is important to recognize that “energy flows where attention goes.” If we want to make changes in our experience, we must remember to take correct action towards our goals in a spiritual way rather than merely establishing new “worldly” solutions to our dilemmas. In other words, it’s not enough to change our habits; we must also change our spirit.

So how do we accomplish this? We must first be aware of the things that hinder our progress on our life journey. Spending some quiet time thinking or meditating about the things we don’t like about our lives can help us identify the “list” of areas we’d like to improve. Let’s say we discover that we often feel unhappy because we are busy and overwhelmed with too much to do. We might look at ways to manage our time more effectively but our spiritual discord may relate to a feeling of being disconnected from the ones we cherish in our lives. Understanding this underlying spiritual need is crucial in making true and lasting change in our life.

We may need to do some “shadow work” and identify some of our internal “dragons” that create the barriers to our progress. Perhaps we have had this yearning to feel more connected for most of our lives but have made choices to insure we were unable to connect for a variety of reasons. We discover that we want to feel more connected and yet are terrified of the feeling at the same time.

Once we understand ourselves in this way, we can then shift our attention away from the negative aspects and toward the positive alternatives. So instead of saying or thinking “I never have any time; I’m always too busy” we focus our energy towards the positive alternative of “I easily find the extra time I need in the most amazing ways.”

Finally, it is not enough to simply speak or think in this new way; we must also feel it. Our spirit must hold the feeling that what we desire is already here. How does it feel to have more time and feel more connected to our loved ones? When we focus our spirit in this way and stand in our truth, we connect with source and unleash our true, unlimited, creative power.

So don’t forget to include Spirituality in your plans for the New Year…you’ll be amazed at what you’re able to accomplish.

This article appeared in the January 2014 edition of Natural Awakenings Magazine.