2018
A year of being intentional.
Now what do I mean by that?
I have been at the mercy of outside forces for most of my life. I found myself reacting to what was happening all around me instead of actually creating exactly what I wanted. I had no idea there was any other way.
When I DID create what I wanted, it was accidental.
What I have discovered is that we have the internal resources to live how we wish to, no matter what is happening around us. Now that is Amazing!!!!!
Oh I can hear the skepticism. How can we possibly ignore things like the bills, taxes ….PEOPLE?
I know! How can we? We cannot pretend the physical world doesn’t exist! Maybe some enlightened masters on a mountaintop can. Or crazy people.
For the rest of us though, what does this mean?
It means being intentional.
HA! If it were that easy, what wouldn’t we know about it? Why wouldn’t everybody be doing it?
I have been a bit late to the party. Actually a lot of people know about it and do it. They are called “Happy and Successful”. They see the world for what it is, a wonderful, messy, very hard place full of every kind of personality imaginable and some we wish were not!
What do the Happy and Successful do that we do not? They set themselves up to have a great life by making choices and then taking actions to achieve those choices. After they take an action step they reflect on what has happened and make adjustments and take new action steps.
Sounds incredibly boring to me.
HOWEVER, it doesn’t have to be!
Here’s how to make it an adventure.
First, Know in your heart that you are not going to let this year go by, and not achieve what you want again. THIS year you can make different!
Sit in a comfy spot.
Close your eyes.
Take a deep breath and let it out slowly. Do this at least 3 times or as many as you need to feel your heart and mind slow down a bit.
( Fun Fact: Did you know we are the only mammals that can do this, and fool our bodies into calming down?)
Bring to mind a situation you’d like to do/create/start/finish. A project or goal.
Start to picture in your mind yourself when you have completed the project or goal. How happy you are. How accomplished you feel. Really dig into the excitement. If you want to get into shape, for example, see yourself feeling so confident, attractive, energized. See yourself smiling with friends, feeling romantic, feeling just fabulous.
You don’t have to know the HOW yet.
Now think of WHY you want this goal accomplished.
If it’s a work goal, think of how exciting it will be to have achieved this. How much more confident you will feel. You want to get into the feeling place. Now get into WHY you want this to happen. You want to be successful so you can take care of yourself and your loved ones. ( Or whatever the WHY is for you.) REALLY get into it. Feel how important it is for you. See the results. Again you don’t have to know the HOW yet.
Focus on what you want. Not on any of the negatives. What we focus on, expands in our experience, so bring in what you want to feel. Not the fears. They will come up. Notice them, say ok thanks, now go away, and bring yourself gently back to the joy and excitement. If you find yourself struggling with those fears, I have techniques for dealing with those pesky buggers too.
Now comes the fun part!
Allow yourself to fantasize and reverse engineer some steps you can take to make your goal happen. All you need is some building blocks. The details come later.
Back to the fitness goal. The end result is your smiling, joy filled, confident self. To get there you need the building blocks of : Support, Good lean foods, Some kind of physical routine you enjoy.
Good.
Some ideas on the first Building Block of Support could be:
- I want support in keeping to a physical routine so I find a hiking buddy, a workout partner, a friend who will sign up for dance classes with me, etc.
- I ask my family to understand how important this is to me. I’m not making pasta for the foreseeable future. They are welcome to go out and eat all that, but know it won’t be here.
So we are talking about support from within and without. Support you provide for yourself, and the support you ask from those around you. If it doesn’t happen right away don’t let it stop you. It almost never does! Setbacks are part of the process. It’s the ones who keep going despite the setbacks who achieve their desires.
The second Building Block is Good Lean Foods:
- I clean out the shelves and the pantry of all the food and snacks that do not support my goal. (Donate them to a food bank, or homeless shelter perhaps. My son’s band helps me with any junk food I wish to be rid of! Where do they put all that food? Hollow legs?)
- Premake the snacks you want like hummus and veggies and have them ready to eat in fridge.
- Have a plan! Plan ahead for meals and make sure I have the food I need so I don’t just grab and stuff.
- I decide to make my dinners vegetarian. I can digest it easier and I sleep better. I get up feeling more rested and can make my goal of getting to the gym. Win Win!
The third building block is Physical Activity
- I have already covered some of it on my other goals!
- I have a work out partner, and instead of catching up with friends at lunch, we go for a walk, hike, or dance class. I also like going out for a green juice. Feels extravagant.
- I volunteer to walk my friend’s puppy. It gives her a break and gets me moving more often.
- I look for a dance class I have thought about taking but felt too lazy to do. I need something I can do that won’t make me hurt, has good music, and that I can do at least some of the moves in the first class. Bollywood dance class it is!
These are examples.
Whenever you get down or a bit discouraged, take a 5 minute time out and sit down and do your visualization. Get back to your excitement and your WHY.
Our egos want us to stay in the same spot, so all kinds of crazy ass shit will come up to stop you from changing anything. Knowing this ahead of time can help steel your resolve. Know it is part of the process.
Ok, I have laid a lot on you so I’ll stop here. There’s plenty to get started on!
If you want to know more about this, or have questions, join our new private Facebook group and ask there.
We are here for you!
Here’s a year where you fly forward!
