Early in December, I start thinking about the new year. I look back on the year I just had and do something a coach I love calls “running game film.” Like an athlete will watch the film of the game they just played to assess how they did–what they rocked and what they want to strengthen–I do this for the year I just had.
What did I love?
What did I loathe?
When was I at my best?
What would I like to do differently?
What we Pay Attention to Grows
And then, I get excited. I get excited because I know that when I give myself time and space to slow down and look at things from a place of compassionate curiosity, I magnify. What we pay attention to grows.Imagine finding the love of your life and then ignoring him or her. Would your relationship thrive? Would it be all it could be?
Our relationship with our life is like this–when we nurture it, it thrives. When we give it time and attention and love, it grows into all it has the potential to be.
5 Steps to Create Your Dream Year
On New Year’s Day I did something magical. (I use the term magic to talk about things that seem illogical, like they don’t make sense to our analytical mind, but they are wonderfully, absolutely happening.) This process for creating your dream year involves great intention, purpose, and joy. I did it on New Year’s Day. You can do it anytime.
Get a big sheet of paper. I mean BIG. And some colored pens. And another smaller sheet of paper.
1. Self-recognition and appreciation. On the smaller sheet of paper, write down what you want to recognize about you and what you did in the previous year. This is your time to celebrate who you are and what you did–no holding back. Remember: what we pay attention to grows. So if you give yourself the time to acknowledge and recognize even small steps towards big goals, well…they grow. This step gets you into powerful creator mode.
2. Envision it. Get the bigger sheet of paper. Close your eyes and begin to get quiet. Set your intention to attune to your wisest self, your highest self, the Self beyond the self. Then set your intention to imagine all that’s possible for you in the upcoming year, all that you would love to experience and create. One way to get your mind to think of this is to ask yourself: “If anything were possible, what would I want to create in my life this year?”
3. Record it. Grab your pens and go. No editing, no second-guessing. Write down words and goals. “I want to write a book.” “Passionate. Purposeful.” “Put it all on the line.” “I want to earn 100K.” Whatever it is for you–write it down. Include how you want to feel. It helps to set a time limit–it helps your mind stay focused. Include key areas of your life: money + work, relationships, self-nourishment, stuff. You can see a snap of mine on Instagram.
4. Live it. Once you’re totally complete with step 3, take the next leap. Imagine that it’s one year from now. You’re telling a group of people who love you everything that’s happened in the year before. What you achieved. What it felt like. Get all into that vision, as though it’s already happened. Talk up a storm. Be thankful. Be fierce. Be all “of course it happened.”
5. Challenge yourself. Imagine that the people you are telling ask you this question: “What was your biggest challenge and how did you overcome it?” Answer that question.
Celebrate.
You did it! Put the paper up where you can see it. Remember what it felt like to stand in that place of having DONE it. Get into that state regularly. Act from that place.
Create your dream year.
Love,
Lindsey
{The image above is a caricature of me by Ona Praderas. I love her work.}
