Sadhguru: Sadhguru, what about the New Year resolution, what should we take?
And I've taken many times and it didn't work, so what should I do?
If you want to make some change in your life, you don't have to quit something.
What you need is not a resolution, forcefully changing something.
Well (Laughs), tomorrow fixing the New Year means
people are always thinking of taking a new year resolution. "I will do this in the New Year,
I'll do that in the New Year," it lasts till noon time on 1st (Laughter).
For more determined ones it lasts a few… few days but most give up by the end of January, New
Year resolution is forgotten because it's old (Few laugh). The year is already month old, how can you
talk about New Year resolution, that was over. That was only when it was new, mint new.
So, these New Year resolutions, tch...
It once happened Shankaran Pillai took a New Year resolution that, "I'll quit smoking.”
He told everybody that he knows, “I'm quitting smoking.” So,
on the first evening... You know, many people have this, what is called as a recovery parties. They
woke up at twelve noon, now they have to recover from the party, so there's a recovery party
(Laughs). There are people who’ll… who are experts in suggesting
for the recovery, what kind of drinks you must have (Laughter).
So he went to that party, and then he asked one of his friends, “Give me a cigarette.”
He said, “Oh, I thought you quit.”
He said, “I have. Just this is the first phase.”
He said, “What do you mean by that, what is the first phase?”
He says, “I’ve quit buying (Laughter/Applause).”
Phase by phase implementation, you know? So, various things.
So, people (are?) always asking me,
“Sadhguru, what about the New Year resolution? What should we take? And I've taken many times and
it didn't work, so what should I do?” You should not take any New Year's resolutions (Laughter)
because you cannot decide what you will do considering a particular date.
If you want to make some change in your life, let's say something has to change,
let's say you want to quit smoking or you want to quit picking your nose (Few laugh). No,
no, I'm saying this because I was in conversation with some top psychiatrists in UK
and they told me, “Nose picking is one of the classified ailments in psychiatry.” Nose picking!
See, now you can't even get to it, hmm (Laughter).
You are masked, you can't even get to it anymore.
After they put that swab and did this, this, this (Gestures) (Laughter)
to you, you don't want to put your hand anywhere near that anymore (Laughs).
So whatever you wanted to quit, you don't have to quit something, all you have to do is you must
move from compulsive behavior to a conscious behavior. If you have to become conscious,
you must be in a certain sense of exuberance within you, certain joy within you.
Have you noticed, when you're happy you can forego many compulsions, hmm?
You're very happy - normally you sit only in that place (Gestures) (Few Laugh) –
you are very happy, somebody pushes you,
it's okay, hehehehe (Laughter). When you're unhappy, can we push you (Laughs)?
When you are unhappy, if we push you, you are like a bomb, you will explode. When we are… when
you're happy, we can push you around. That's why I keep people happy (Laughter/Applause).
Because when they're happy, you can push them around, it's okay,
nothing is absolute, everything is okay; when they're unhappy,
they're behaving like concrete blocks, they can only be like this (Gestures).
So, what you need is not a resolution, forcefully changing something, what you need is
consciousness. "How do I get there?" Well, you need to work on enhancing your energy to
a higher level of exuberance. If you’re little more exuberant, you'll naturally be conscious.
If your experience of life is very pleasant, you will be conscious.