New Year’s Resolution and the Law of Attraction
My family has been doing a Harry Potter movie marathon this week, and in The Prisoner of Azkaban, I saw a great example of the mindset to maintain when you want to achieve a goal. With the end of 2021 quickly approaching and so many people setting a new Year’s resolution around this time, I thought this would be a perfect time to delve a little deeper into it.
In this scene, Harry has traveled back in time with Hermione by a few hours, using a Time-Turner. He is waiting for a powerful wizard to appear to save Sirius Black and his past self from the dementors, using the Patronus charm. He has a hunch it’s his dead father, who has somehow managed to come back to help him. But his father never shows up, even as Sirius’ soul is being sucked out of him. And it dawns on Harry that he’s the one that has to step up. He has to save himself and Sirius. Harry successfully casts a Patronus charm in the shape of a stag and disperses the dementors. Later on, Harry tells Hermione, “I knew I could do it this time, because… well, because I’d already done it.”
We can’t travel back in time like Harry Potter, but the lesson he learns is still applicable in our own lives when we want to meet our own goals.
3 Steps to Meeting Your New Year’s Resolution
The critical first step is for us to realize that we are our own saviors. If we want to see results, we have to put in the effort. We can’t set a new year’s resolution and expect someone to magically step up to take the helm. This sounds obvious, but when you consider how many people fail to meet their own resolutions by the end of the year, I’d say it’s a very common problem. I will even admit that I didn’t truly understand this until my mid to late 30s. At the time, life seemed easier if I could blame others for all the things going wrong in my life. I never imagined that taking responsibility for my own life will reduce the amount of problems in the first place! Make sure this really sinks in before moving on to the next step.
Second, you’ve got to believe in your own power, just like Harry. Most of us vastly underestimate what we are capable of. The thing that hold us back the most is our own lack of trust in our abilities. Luckily, we can actually trick our minds into believing in ourselves. If we can visualize and, more importantly, FEEL what it’s like to achieve our goals, we are more likely to actually meet our goal. Athletes might call it mental conditioning. Those in the spiritual circles may call it the law of attraction. Whatever you call it, we are simply more likely to reach a goal that we believe to be within our own abilities.
Third, take action. You can continue imagining yourself achieving great things, but if you don’t take any action, you’re still going nowhere. And the earlier you start, the closer you are to your goal. In fact, if you already have a resolution on your mind, I challenge you to start today. Don’t even wait until the new year starts! Set small incremental goals that add up to great results by the end of the year. The sense of accomplishment and the confidence you build are going to be your strongest allies as you work towards your ultimate goal!