My favorite ritual to start the year

With the start of the year...new intentions are on the mind.

And while I believe the whole "new year new you" movement places unnecessary pressure on a person, this is a potent time to get clear on what it is you want from life.

Here’s one of my favorite rituals to do so. You'll want paper and something to write with for this one :)

STEP 1: Respond to this journal prompt: what do I value? 

💁🏻‍♀️ Tip: Trust whatever comes to mind. Perhaps it's personal development, time with loved ones, nature, adventure, travel, home, comfort, luxury, simplicity, creativity, spirituality... whatever it is, trust it. Keep writing until you feel complete. 

STEP 2: Look at your list. What are the top 5 things you want to focus your time, energy, and money (as applicable) on this year? 

💁🏻‍♀️ Tip: Think about your life right now. What feels in alignment? What feels out of alignment or like something is missing? Check on all core areas: Self, Love, Family, Friends, Wealth, Career, Purpose, Play... where are you spending the least amount of time, energy, and resources and is also something you value? Put that in your top 5.

STEP 3: Look at your top 5 priorities for 2023. How do they make you feel? 

Instead of immediately going into "to-do list mode" explore how you want to feel when you're spending more time, energy, and resources on these things as well as how you imagine you'll feel after they're a natural part of your daily life. Write those feelings down. 

💁🏻‍♀️ Tip: When we are in a state of TRUST instead of task management and logistics overwhelm, we are more likely to take inspired action instead of stressed action. (This is one of the secrets to turning your intentions into reality.)

And I love using visualization for this purpose. 

STEP 4: Visualize. 

After reading the below, close your eyes and guide yourself through this visualization: 

Take a few deep breaths into your body. Feel how safe and supported you are. Close your eyes.  

Imagine that you are in the future, towards the end of 2023, and you're reflecting back on the year. You've spent more time, energy, and resources on your top 5. You're feeling calm, relaxed, and satisfied with life.

Visualize yourself in that moment.

What do you feel? Where are those emotions in your body? Do they have a color? Texture? Temperature?

What are you doing with your body? Are you celebrating and dancing around, or are you sitting peacefully, knowing you can rest easy having focused your efforts on what you value?

Get into your FEELINGS. Give yourself permission to already feel the joy for a few moments now. When you're ready, open your eyes.

How do you feel?

💁🏻‍♀️ Tip: When we give ourselves permission to feel joy now as opposed to some time in the future when we’ve accomplished our goal—we take ourselves out of overwhelm and back into our body and the present moment.

Yep—by imagining and feeling the future, we create it in the present.

And when we feel satisfied and peaceful, we’re not overwhelmed, right?

By having already felt the positive emotions we want to feel, we know on an unconscious and body sensing level that we can get there. We’ve created trust where there was doubt or overwhelm before.

And in doing so, you’ve freed yourself.

Now, you can confidently go with whatever idea or action step pops into your clear and relaxed mind to help you get to where you want to be, and know it will be the right action to take to get you there

And if one of your top 5 values was growth or personal development, I'm here for you :)

Book a complimentary Self-Care Strategy Session with me right here >>