We are officially into the new year. The new year brings new aspirations, new resolutions, and new things that we want to do that we forgot to do last year. The good thing about the new year, is with the new year you get new opportunities and new ways of being. If you have been reading my articles from past years, you will know that the common denominator of many of my articles is “more being and less doing.” Today’s Monday Morning Mindset focuses on not only more being and less doing, but how you are being and how you are doing it. Resolutions are great, the important thing to remember is that while you are accomplishing your resolution – who are you being is just as important. Are you becoming a new person and implementing new ways of eating or exercising? Or have you decided to take a more holistic look at your life and decided to focus on personal growth? All these items are great, but resolutions fail when one loses their ability to be more in their ability to let go of who they’re not. Being more is just that simple, deciding to be more of yourself. Either way, in this new year take the time to “be more and do less.”

This week’s Monday Morning Mindset focuses on “taking responsibility for where you’re at.” We all have challenges that we all will face at one time or another in our lives. The way you handle your challenges will determine your ability and maturity for growing past your past. We all come from different backgrounds, cultures, environments, family dynamics, and financial abilities. The one thing to focus on when taking responsibility for where you are is to understand self accountability. There are situations that are out of our control, things we can’t do anything about and situations that can get out of hand. With all that in mind, it’s important to remember that you are overall control of your life, your purpose and your destiny. Taking responsibility for where you’re doesn’t mean there’s going to be any immediate changes, but it will provide you with a outline or roadmap towards how to better yourself and improve your situation. The first step is to take responsibility for where you’re at, not blame others for your obstacles and to embrace change as much as possible.

In life we have the ability to be our worst enemies or our own best friends. We can push ourselves to no degree, or we could be our best comforters. In all, we have flaws either visibly or non-visibly that we share in times of deeply connected relationships. The more intimate the relationship, the more visible your flaws. We often have a tendency to treat those closest to us the worst. One of the reasons for this is because of the comfort of knowing that you will be loved regardless. Regardless of your flaws, regardless of your background, regardless of your physical ability or regardless of who you betray yourself to be – flaws are parts of you. Eventually, those intimate relationships become solidified in knowing that your flaws are not just a part of you they are you. Choosing to accept your flaws and moving forward requires great strength, admiration and the ability to want to grow. Today, take some time to review and accept your flaws and then move forward knowing that your flaws do not make you who you are. You are who you are innately by your purpose. Your purpose is what sustains you and provides you with the understanding that tomorrow your flaws may not be as visible to you as they were to you yesterday.

It is time to wake up. Have you decided to make a drastic change in your habits? Have you decided to go back to school and become an influential person in the community? Are you ready to be the person that you know you ought to be? These questions and more are becoming common conversational topics among each other. We are all searching for purpose, understanding and unconditional love. This Monday take a look at your overall self and decide who you choose to be in this moment. Making the choice could be a continuing factor of who you should be and who you will be in life.

Keeping your word is important. The average person means to keep the word, although there are situations where a person may have to break a promise or the word in reference to something they said they would do. Back in the day, keeping your word was as good as a contract. If you broke your word, you broke contract. In many instances, breaking your promise to do something meant losing notoriety and credibility in the community. It’s important to do what you say and say what you do. This week think about being honorable in what you say and in what you do.

Dr. Jaye

This week’s Monday Morning Mindset focuses on “Being Creditable.” Being credible implies that you are a person of virtue and substance. When you think of the word credibility, what do you think of? Credibility implies that you are honorable and understand the value of keeping your word, keeping your promise and keeping track of your own ethical purpose. Although there are times in life where we are unable to keep a promise, being credible adds to the conversation by explaining the reason for changes. Within situations, it is important to be honest when changes arise. In today’s world, credibility is lacking. In order ensure you were being credible, take note of how you were being, how you were acting, and how you respond in adverse situations. Being credible is more than just doing something, it’s about being a certain way on purpose.

Dr. Jaye

This week’s Monday Morning Mindset focuses on “Accepting Miracles.” We have heard the old saying “Miracles happen everyday.” This can be true for you if you so choose it to be. Where we fail in our understanding is what constitutes a “miracle.” A miracle for you may not mean the same as what it may mean for me. I choose to “see” and “experience” miracles everyday, for instances waking up. Waking up is a miracle; we slumber all through the night without any awareness of what it takes for the human body to function without our being awake. We tend to think of things being a miracle when we “can’t believe it.” Isn’t that just the opposite of what a miracle is supposed to be? We need to revaluate what we consider a miracle. Food for thought, actively think and look for miracles you can believe in – then be thankful for the experience.

This week’s Monday Morning Mindset focuses on “Compassion for Others.” Compassion starts with the ability to have self-compassion in any given situation or moment. Often, we equate compassion to the ability to relate to somebody else, compassion is also the ability to understand when another is disappointed with something or someone whether the action occurred purposeful or indirectly. It is common practice to want others to feel how we feel about a situation, but the related aspect of emotions has a tendency to misdirect our intentions to show compassion. With practicing of compassion, I’ve come to realize that it first starts with the ability to have compassion for self. Being that each situation will be different with different people, it’s important to understand that compassion is an active aspect of every relationship you have. It is important to remember that just because you may practice compassion towards another, does not necessarily mean that your compassion will be received equally. Instead of finding excuses for why something isn’t or is, find a relatable factor to show compassion within the situation and then except the fact that your compassion may or may not be by the other person(s). The real growth comes when you have the ability to exercise self- compassion and then transfer it over to compassion for others.

Happy New Year and now it is time to focus on your New Year’s Resolutions. There is only one problem – is your New Year Resolution realistic? Is it something that will better your life? Or only give you a quick fix? Will it sustain you? Or will you only be sustained by merely obtaining the goal itself? The key is to stay realistic. Do you want to loose weight? Instead of focusing on losing the weight, focus on eating better. Do you want better relationships? Focus on having a better relationship with yourself. Either way, a New Year brings new hope. Keep your hope, keep your focus and keep your motivation through out this New Year. Know and understand that there will be times when you won’t want to focus, that is when you need to focus on the feelings of achieving and believe that your goals are happening one day at a time – just as this new year happens.

This week focuses on keeping a positive attitude. Your attitude is the one thing that nobody or nothing can change without your permission. You have ultimate control over the attitude that you have within any given situation. If somebody cuts you off while driving, you have an opportunity to keep a positive attitude and ensure that you pay attention to the traffic ahead instead of getting road rage. Ultimately, there’s nothing you can do about anybody else’s attitude, but you do have control over your own attitude in relation to dealing with people, situations, and adverse events. It’s important to do a attitude check when you feel yourself getting angry or frustrated. Ask yourself “why am I frustrated” or “what is causing my negative attitude change.” Once you’re able to understand what you trigger points are, you’re able to figure out ways to stay positive with in those situations. It’s important to promote a “positive self-talk” attitude. Thinking of an accomplishment or a happy memory assist with improving your attitude almost immediately. Overall, it’s important to remember that you and you alone have the power to change your attitude for the better within any situation.

This week focuses on Motivating yourself. Motivation is more than getting a pep talk from friends or family members. Motivation truly comes when you decide to do something when you don’t have the feelings of wanting to do it. When you decide to do something, it takes motivation to keep doing it. It is important find ways of motivating yourself. Often we have a support system or family members encouraging us to do better and strive for more. There will be times where you will need to find the courage within yourself to “self-motivate.” Instead of depending on others to motivate you, make a list of motivational factors to remind you of your end goal and how close you are to achieving your goal.