It’s that time of year. My email and my social media feeds are full of “make 2019 your best year yet” and include things like calendars, planners and goal setting templates. New Year resolutions are just around the corner. I have a confession to make…I’m kind of a sucker for this stuff!

I’ve had the recurring idea that if I could just “get my act together”, “get more organized, focused, disciplined, etc” it would be better, or I would be better. I have these fantasies of buying the perfect planner or calendar and filling it up with all things wonderful that will make me a better business person, more productive and even healthier. Somehow this calendar or planner is the key to life!

Ok, I’m exaggerating – a little bit – but not much. I don’t want to admit how many planners and calendars I’ve bought in the past only to sit on my shelf never to be opened.

Now hear me out. I’m not saying, planning and calendars are bad. Or don’t spend your money on them. Or don’t set goals. We all have times when planning makes sense in business and life.

What I’m pointing to is how I had something between me and experiencing my “best life” or my “best self”. It can look like something is needed before I can just experience fulfillment, connection, joy or higher performance. That somehow there is a better version of me if I could get my act together.

This last weekend, in the Relationship Ready retreat, Lila Turner, the founder, made the statement, “What if our most natural self is the upgrade?”

There is something about that statement that hits home for me. It gives me pause. It calls into question all the ideas and thoughts I have about how “Life would be better if (fill in the blank)” or “I would be better if (fill in the blank)”.

What if just being ourselves, AS IS, as Lila suggested, is the best version? What if there is nothing to improve upon?

As I type this, I want you to know that this is a learning curve for me. While I’ve let go of fixing myself, improving myself or putting pressure to be better in so many ways, I can also see that there is more on offer. More opportunity to let go of the idea that somehow there is an improved version of me wanting to be released.

What now seems true is…the only thing between us and a deeper feeling of fulfillment and appreciating life and ourselves, as we are right now, is thought.

We experience ourselves through thought. Thought is not permanent. It’s fluid. It shifts. It has no roots.

When we see our expectations, our standards or our critical thinking for what it is – thought in the moment – it has no power. We can hold it lightly and as a result, we naturally experience more of the truth of who we are. Our True Nature.

Our true nature. Our authentic self. Our essence. That deeper intelligence. Does not need to be improved upon.

We are so used to measuring ourselves by our behavior, our results or our strengths and weaknesses. Yet, when we REALLY look we SEE the truth of our deeper nature. When we look in that direction, it no longer makes sense to try and improve upon that.

And in a moment, any perceived gap between us and our “best-self” fades away and we are whole and complete. We don’t have to attain anything to get there – WE ARE THERE.

As we move into the holiday season and get ready for a new year, I’d like to invite you to explore this with me. What happens when we SEE the truth of who we are beyond all our ideas and expectations? What happens when we let that truth be the foundation for all our work and our lives?

I’m curious. Are you?