The way these human brains of ours are wired, we try to resist pain and discomfort when we anticipate them coming our way anyway. But the more we resist anything that's a natural part of the cycle of life, the more suffering we cause ourselves.

You'll experience more of whatever you regularly focus on this year. So bring some kind, consistent attention to what you want to experience this coming year, starting right now by pausing to write what you most want to create or experience down.

When we perpetuate the habit of not following through on things that feel important to us or waste precious time and energy saying we're going to do something but never actually doing it, procrastination is most definitely a habit that could use some upgrading.

But sometimes when it looks like you're procrastinating, things might not be quite as black and white as they appear.

When we really do trust the process and lean into earnest inner inquiry with curiosity rather than judgment, we arrive at insights we never could have conjured up with our logical minds alone. The deepest wisdom arises from stillness, not from doing; from being, not from thinking.

The more we strive for perfection, the less worthy we feel. The antidote to the thankless, life-force-depleting, never-ending perfectionism cycle is simple. It's the deep-in-your-bones trust that: You are enough.

It's never too late to start cultivating a new level of kindness toward ourselves. Self-compassion practice is where we can begin.

What might shift for you if you were to act as if everything your heart most desires is already on its way? If you could relax and trust that you're right on track, how would you use this down time to weed your garden and prep the soil for the sweet new things about to blossom? What happens when you stop waiting and start preparing?

We stay quiet because we fear if we put words to the things we fear most about ourselves, it will confirm that they're true. Paradoxically, the reality is the moment we share our secret shame - our monster in the closet - someone else inevitably chimes in with "Oh my God, you too? I thought it was just me!!"

Two antidotes to suffering:

1) Keep your eyes on your own paper (or yoga mat). 2) Let yourself let go of things you can't control.

You might not understand why you've been called to do the thing you feel called to do, but you do it anyway because it just feels right. It's only in hindsight that you see how it all connects.

The reality is, your mind was just as wild before. It's just that you're finally noticing it.

What shifts if you drop the illusion that some perfectly packaged "Here's what you're meant to do with your life" bundle with a bow will arrive at your doorstep and you accept that whatever you're exploring or struggling with right now is your life's purpose?

Appropriate guilt is a useful call to action. It's a flare going off to call your attention to an area where you might want to alter your behavior to get back on track toward being the kind of person you want to be and living more in alignment with your values.

You don't have to believe it fully for the seeds of possibility to start to germinate. You just have to keep the door of possibility open, and acknowledge that even slightest sliver of what's possible.

All we need to do to get unstuck from a sticky moment - aka a sticky thought - is to: Pause. Step back. Take an objective look at what's actually happening (not in your mind, but in reality). And get curious about what's under the microscope, with no clinging to or pushing away whatever you discover.

But there’s a much friendlier way to view jealousy: As a reminder that what you see in the person you're jealous of is something you want to turn the volume up on in yourself.

Every time you let a should trump a genuine desire, you're telling your big “S” Self — your natural core of love and kindness — to get out of the driver's seat so your little “s” self — your control-loving ego — can take the wheel.

Yes, long-held beliefs have layers. But if you chip away steadily and with heart-centered intention, you'll get to their core, and you'll uncover what's actually always been true: That you are 100% whole. That there is nothing you need "out there" that you don't already have "in here."

When we align our actions in a committed way with our most sincerely heartfelt desires, the universe tends to step in to support us in some way, even if not in exactly the way we'd envisioned. But we have to meet the universe halfway.

You never know whose life you might be changing for the better right this second by just showing up. There's no different way, no "more” you need to be to positively impact someone's life right now.