Scientology and New Year Resolutions - Part 3 - Want Your Product

The next thing to examine in making your New Year Resolutions become a reality is "want". Do you really want the product you have named?

I strongly recommend that you read the article "Want Your Product". It is dated 7 August 1976 and can be found in the Admin Know-How Series of articles in Management Series Volume 1.

Sometimes people make a New Year Resolution because of pressure from relatives or peers. "I'm going to give up smoking!" Is that your choice or is it a choice that has been forced on you by others? If it is not your choice then it won't happen. You have to make the decision for yourself and not because others are forcing you.

Another possibility is that although the resolution is a good idea and is something you should want, your "want" seems either not be there or comes and goes. One day you want it and the next you don't care. The usual reason for this is that someone in your environment is an anti-social personality and is not interested in you improving. This can be handled by understanding the situation and becoming knowledgeable in how to deal with such people. There is a course called "Overcoming Ups and Downs in Life" that gives you the knowledge and tools to handle the situation.

The other possibility is a tough one to face. If a resolution is a positive thing that will help you or others and you still don't want it, then it is possible you have a problem with personal integrity. You've done things (or are doing things) that are harming yourself or others and deep down you don't think you deserve to improve. This is the toughest one for a person to face because we usually have such actions very well explained and justified or we just want to forget that we ever did them. The husband who cheated on his wife, the employee who stole from his employer, etc., etc. We live in a rather unethical society where "everyone does it, so why shouldn't I?" But deep down we know something is wrong. Well, luckily there is an answer for this condition too. The Personal Values and Integrity Course can help. It gives you practical methods to handle the situation and regain your personal integrity.

Now that you want the resolution you have named you can go on to the next step ...

Scientology and New Year Resolutions - Part 2 - Name Your Product

I strongly recommend that you read the article "Name Your Product". It is dated 7 August 1976 and can be found in the Admin Know-How Series of articles in Management Series Volume 1. Mr. Hubbard explains it much better than I can. Anyway, here is my attempt:

If you want to achieve something then the first step is to name it fully and completely and to the level of detail necessary to really know what you are going for. Maybe that sounds obvious, but let's look at a common New Year Resolution: "I'm going to lose weight". Okay, so you lose an ounce - resolution achieved, you lost weight. Hmmm, perhaps you were intending more than that. How about "I'm going to lose 10 pounds." So you go on a diet for 2 months and lose 10 pounds but by the end of the year you've put the 10 lbs back on. Well, how about this wording, "I am going to reduce my Body Mass Index to 23 and I am going to keep it at or below that level permanently." Now you have taken the first step in achieving your goal, you have accurately named the state or thing you are going to create.

One last important point - you are naming something you are going to have, not what you are going to do. "I'm going to eat less" is not a product, it is not something you can have, it is something you are going to do to achieve the thing you are going to have. In this first step you don't look at what you are going to do, you look at what you want to have. Doing comes later.

Scientology and New Year Resolutions - Part 1

How many times have you looked back at the New Year Resolutions you made last year only to see that they were not achieved? For some people it's gotten so bad that they don't even bother with resolutions because they know they'll never keep them. Often it becomes a joke: "I've given up smoking 16 times."

Well, there is a way to make your resolutions happen. In 1976, L. Ron Hubbard wrote a series of articles on how to get things achieved. They were titled "Name Your Product", "Want Your Product" and "To Get You have To Know How To Organize." They are found in The Management Series Volume 1. They cover the three basic steps needed to achieve anything and in the next three days I'll tell you how they can be used to make your resolutions happen.

Christmas Day

Well, all that I can say today is: Merry Christmas!

A Scientologist's Take on Christmas

In Scientology we don't have any traditional special dates such as the winter solstice/Christmas/Chanukha or the spring equinox/Easter. We have our own special dates such as the birthday of L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of the religion, the date of the founding of the International Association of Scientologists and a few others like that. However, being a happy bunch we are pleased to celebrate the same traditional holidays as everyone else in the societies in which we live. So, for example, tomorrow I'll be giving and receiving gifts over at our in-laws (who are Jewish but celebrate Christmas anyway).

Tonight my wife and I and our kids will be meeting some close friends at a superb local restaurant where there will be carolers and traditional Christmas fare available. We'll be singing along and having a good time getting into the Christmas spirit.

As I've said before in my Scientology Blog, to me, when you are trying to get at the commonalities between religions, religious philosophy is more important than religious practice. The philosophy behind Christmas is hope for the future, helping others less fortunate and goodwill to all mankind. So for me that is what Christmas represents and based on that I try to "practice" Christmas according to those three ideas. For example, I give gifts to the kids and a few close friends and family, but most of my gift giving consists of donations to charitable organizations that are doing something to help others less fortunate and protect human rights.

Several years ago I began making donations to such organizations on behalf of family members. I thought, why give some meaningless present to a family member who you maybe see two or three times a year, or who perhaps lives far away and you see once or twice in a decade? So I made the donations, created fancy certificates to represent them and gave the certificates as presents. I was very surprised at how well this was received. And with my more distant family this has become our own Christmas tradition. For example, my dad gives to a cancer research organization and to Oxfam on my behalf and I give to The World Literacy Crusade and The Citizens Commission on Human Rights and others for him.

So whatever your religion, or lack thereof, you can still get into the spirit of the season by using the philosophy behind Christmas to guide your actions.