An Impeccable New Year

03 Jan An Impeccable New Year

To be impeccable means to not use your own knowledge against yourself, and you don’t use the voice in your head to abuse you.

~ don Miguel Ruiz, The Voice of Knowledge

A new year. A new day. A new opportunity to be impeccable.

At this time of new beginnings we usually make a list of New Year Judgments instead of New Year Resolutions. This is because most of the goals we set are based in some sort of creative self-rejection:

We start off being impeccable with our word and our intent: “I resolve to exercise.” “I will clean my office.” “I want to start a new relationship.” But then we quickly use our word against ourselves, often without even being aware of what we are actually saying:  “I resolve to exercise … because I hate my body.” “I want to clean my office …so I’ll like myself again.” “I want to start a relationship …to prove that I am worthy of love.”

Anytime you judge or condemn yourself, you are using knowledge against yourself.  This New Year I invite you to make one resolution: To be impeccable with your word. And by that I mean simply this: Stop using the voice in your head to abuse you.

That crabby, nagging, plain old mean inner voice is what the Toltecs call the parasite. In the parasite’s eyes, you are never enough. And here is the important thing to remember for the New Year: you will never be enough for that voice. No matter what you do. The parasite is always looking for what is wrong, and is never satisfied. Never. Ever. So give up!

And then let’s celebrate! Because once you realize that you can’t win against the parasite, once you understand that the voice in your head is not something to argue with or try and appease, you are finally free. You can start being impeccable. You can use your word to support, guide, befriend, and encourage you.

Feel the difference in being impeccable with your word: “I resolve to exercise… because I love this body and want to keep it healthy and strong.” “I will clean my office… so I can enjoy the feeling of spaciousness when I go to work each day.” “I want to start a new relationship… to share the love I feel.”

Now, the voice of knowledge in your head will probably continue with its smart-alec responses. That inner voice has been using knowledge against you for a long time, so don’t expect it to suddenly become a bubbling fountain of positivity. Your mission: to be impeccable by not listening to the verbal abuse of that old voice and putting your attention on building a new Team You. It’s a new year, a new day.  Choose again and again this day, and all the ones to follow, to seek out the positive, to cultivate an inner support team, to nourish encouragement and enthusiasm.

Happy impeccable new year!

This week’s practice: If you have a new years resolution list, say each goal out loud and then listen for your inner voice of knowledge’s opinion. Where did you make that goal out of judgment or fear? Go through and clean up your list. You don’t have to change what the resolution is, but you can change where your motivation is coming from. By pass negativity and you aren’t good enough thoughts by writing down your new positive, you can do it motivations for each resolution you have.

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Heather Ash’s apprenticeship with don Miguel Ruiz, author of The Four Agreements, began in 1994, and she now teaches with the Ruiz family. She is the author of The Toltec Path of Transformation and founder of Toci, The Toltec Center of Creative Intent. www.toci.org