Intentions #1 – Be Positive Paranoid

Some people make New Year’s resolutions, others set goals. For me, it’s all about intentions, a more flexible version of resolutions and goals. Intentions serve as a guidepost, reminding me to focus on what matters most. When I set an intention, I genuinely mean every word, AND, I’m willing to adapt and change the intention as I evolve and grow.

So with that preamble, the following is the first of three of intentions that I’m committing to for 2016, or until this intention transforms into an even more worthy intention!

2016 Intention #1 – Be positive paranoid

About 85% of the time, I am a VERY positive person. I honestly believe that the universe is rigged in my favor. I see the world through rose-colored glasses and believe that EVERYTHING is in perfect order, no matter what it looks like on the surface.

However, in the remaining 15%, I am embarrassed to admit that I’m quite the opposite. This small part of me imagines that I’m being harshly or unjustifiably judged. That the world is not so friendly after all.

So my #1 intention for 2016 is to deeply care for that scared 15% by imagining that everyone is saying the sweetest things about me, rather than disapproving of my actions and motives, no matter the situation or evidence to the contrary.

I learned about this concept many years ago in a book by Wayne Dyer where he said that he chooses to believe that people are only saying good things about him.  He chooses to be positive paranoid! Ever since I read this, the idea has lived deep in my psyche, and I’ve decided to finally give it a whirl and see what happens. Only good things, I’m sure :)!

Early in my career, I remember telling myself “fake it ’til you make it”, which often gave me the courage to move into new and scary professional situations. I like Susan Cuddy’s version even better that says “fake it until you become it”.  After years of experience, this mantra has evolved for me into “imagine it until it becomes reality”.

So I intend to imagine that everyone in my life, whether a family member or casual acquaintance, is in love with me, for all sorts of meaningful and shallow reasons. And I fully expect that this vision will soon be true.  To take this a step further, it already IS true. I just need to focus on what I want, believe it is already here, and then patiently wait for reality to align with my vision.

Just writing about this intention puts a big ole smile on my face. I’m sure that everyone in Starbucks (where I’m writing this) is thinking that I must be a really joyful person (rather than a bit nuts) – I’m practicing my intention right now!

This intention goes beyond envisioning that the world is in love with me. It extends to being in love with everyone in return. This leads to intention #2 – Positively “judge” others in return – the subject of my next blog post.