What New Years Resolutions Can We Borrow From Yoda?

Make 2023 your Jedi year

A new year will be upon us in just 9 days time.

In 10 days many of us will have listed or invented a few new years resolutions that often fade as life gets in the way.

“Difficult to see. Always in motion is the future.” — Yoda

If, like me, you find it difficult to maintain a few half-hearted resolutions by mid-January then allow me to share with you a novel solution that I intend to try in 2023:

Master your inner Jedi with Yoda’s life-lessons

Ready? Let’s jump in so.

Yoda’s life-lessons

Below is a summary of 10 Yoda lessons for the new year ahead.

№1 — Inner Light: “To be Jedi is to face the truth and choose. Give off light, or darkness.”

• Lesson 1: Choose wisely — “be a candle” of light to illuminate everyone around you and shine positivity on everything you do.

№2 — Learn: “The greatest teacher failure is.” Embrace failure, its gold-dust, the most valuable feedback you will ever get in life.

• Lesson 2: Don’t let your Ego get in the way of the lessons that failure has to offer.

№3— Be Fearless: “Train yourself to let go of everything you are afraid to lose” because everything you’ll ever need is always here and now.

• Lesson 3: Loss makes way for anew.

№4 — Transform: “You must unlearn what you have learned” is the ability to reinvent yourself when challenges arise.

• Lesson 4: Challenges can transform your mind, enabling you to reframe your worldview and create opportunity.

№5 — Take Action: “Do or do not. There is no try.” Remember that ideation is 10% whereas execution is 90%, this applies to every goal we set out to achieve in life.

• Lesson 5: I repeat, execution is 90%.

№6 — Self Compassion: “If no mistake you have made, losing you are. A different game you should play.” Falling down is part of the journey of life, you can’t learn to bounce back unless you make mistakes, it’s the foundation of resilience building.

• Lesson 6: Mistakes are crucial to navigate the game of life, made possible with consistent self-care.

№7 — Reciprocate: “You will find only what you bring in.”

• Lesson 7: It’s as simple as that, so bring your A-game.

№8 — Growth: “Named must your fear before banish it you can.” Face your deepest fears as overcoming the obstacles that life presents is the stairway for personal growth.

• Lesson 8: “Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.” — Marianne Williamson

№9 — Follow Your Heart: “Close your mouth and open your ears, you must. Then hear what your true heart is seeking, you will.”

• Lesson 9: Remember to pause, every now and then, and listen to your inner voice … it has your best interests at heart, always.

№10 — Life: “To live halfheartedly, this is the most stupid thing in life. Forever gone is the moment that is gone.”

• Lesson 10: You have one life so why not go all in? Seize the day, what have you got to lose?

Why Yoda? Allow me to surmise.

Final Thoughts

Imagined by George Lucas, influenced by Spielberg and designed by Stuart Freeborn’s vision, who was inspired by “Einstein’s eyes” and “wrinkles”, collectively brought Yoda to life.

What you think you create. What you feel you attract. What you imagine you become — Buddah

This rare collision of three creative minds culminated with the introduction of a Jedi Master in the 1980 masterpiece we know as The Empire Strikes Back.

It’s fair to deduct that the words of Yoda are those of Lucas, Spielberg and Freeborn.

That’s good enough for me.