New year’s resolutions seem to be copping a bit of slack recently. Personally for me the energy of a new year is a perfect time to reflect and re calibrate on what I want in my life, and with New Zealand and Australia essentially checking out over most of January, it’s a lovely time to gently swing into the new year with some planning and focusing (versus a bunch of coffee meetings or phone calls).
A concept which seems to be enjoying as much popularity as ever is creating vision boards. I attended a vision board workshop just over three years ago, and recently as part of my new ‘reality check’ philosophy, thought I would identify what had come ‘true’ on the board I created that day.
What a reality check – pretty much nothing had come true… after three years!
I think some of the most dangerous ‘popular recommendations’ that are dished out frequently are that when you are goal setting, err on the side of thinking big.
Well there’s thinking big, and there’s thinking delusional. Don’t get me wrong, I do believe we can create anything we want, but if we are choosing grandeur, I think we sometimes lose a reality check on what it is actually going to take to get there.
My vision board was full of Bentleys, diamond rings, luxury holiday houses and world cruises. Of course the first observation on that is that it is all very materialistic. But when you are in a room with a bunch of glossy mags to cut up, that often ends up being what presents itself to you (and it truly was a great workshop and lots of fun).
Two challenges on this one; firstly, if I were to be able to purchase those things myself, then I would need to be earning something along the lines of 1 mill a year, which is, just quietly quite a jump from what I was earning back then.
Within the powerful Thought Leader’s Business School, there is a methodology which if followed can drive you towards earning that kind of money within three years. However, you have to be prepared to put in the work to a whole new level, and that’s something I realise I am not choosing right now.
The second challenge is, did I really want these things, or was it just a bit of fun? Realistically, I am not sure that driving around in a Bentley is really me, and rather than a holiday house, maybe I would prefer to travel to different places each holiday.
In the last couple of weeks, I have created a new vision/reality board, and one which contains images and words for things that I realistically want to appear in my life for 2017.
Actually, I think that the better way to describe it is a reality board. Many of the things that I have put on it I already do have; it’s simply a way of keeping them front of mind for me. I have popped stars on the ones that are currently in my life and am looking forward to popping stars on the ones that become reality as the year progresses.
Out goes the fancy jewellery and in its place are things as simple as a case of Rockburn Stolen Kiss Rose, a new winter jacket and boots, even a vegetable spiraliser and dental water flosser! Pedestrian? Maybe, but a heck of a lot more realistic than my previous effort.
At the heart of my reality board, are the four essential choices that I have identified, in accordance with Robert Fritz’s brilliant work on creating; I am enjoying reading his book ‘The Path of Least Resistance’, which flies in the face of many concepts I have adopted over the last 20 years or so.
(1) To be true to myself and embrace REALITY as a new guiding light. Case in point, this vision board; as a recovering idealist, I am all up for million dollar revenues, but choose to get a gauge on where I am now as a benchmark, something I probably have enjoyed avoiding in the past. On the true to myself bit, it is also about choosing the work and market that I actually enjoy vs what I, or others, think I should do.
(2) To be the predominant creative force in my life; it’s all up to me. An interesting insight I got recently, was how I still hold onto victim mentality at times. For example, going to a gym and doing all the ‘right’ things but not trimming up as quickly as I would like. I felt like a little four year old girl with my arms crossed, stomping my feet and saying ‘it’s not fair’! This year, I am simply getting clearer on what I want to create, noting when things aren’t working, and experimenting usefully with other approaches. Creativity is one of my key words for this year; watch out for upcoming blogs on how you can apply it to your own world (if you choose of course).
(3) To be free, especially financially and continue my sense of bliss and knowing. Ever since I started meditating twice a day almost 18 months ago, I have generally felt this almost trippy sense of bliss. Of course I get triggered at times, I am only human, but if I can maintain it, along with the knowing I am on the right track, then that will be the best version of freedom. Regarding financial freedom, it’s time to get a reality check on what I choose to generate monthly, to feel free. Last week I actually created a budget, for the first time in over 15 years. That’s a good start!
(4) To be freely healthy (and love my food and exercise) and love my body and energy. How many hours of collective head time have I spent worrying about what I eat, how I exercise and what I weigh? I know I am not alone in this. Well guess what? It hasn’t exactly served me; any time I produce results of a significant weight loss (say 5kg or more), I end up piling it back on! Enough! I am taking the invaluable learnings from the Mindful Eatingcourse I did last year, and simply feeling free around my food and exercise choices. And feeling comfortable with my body whatever size!
Even just writing these down now, it feels so good, particularly the freedom around it! It is amusing to see that it has taken me until I am nearly 50 years old to realize that my refusal to be real about my present situation has not been that helpful. Don’t get me wrong, I am all up for thinking big and bold, I think the question that has liberated me, is ‘how is that really going for me so far’? For me, there is freedom in a health dose of pragmatic reality. For you, it may be that you are truly thinking way bigger than this, and if that is the case, bring it on! Whatever works and feels energetically right for you is the way to go, in my opinion!
I am reintroducing my New Years offer of a one off session with me before end of February.
With last year being all about working out the way I truly want to work, I realised that I wasn't such a fan of one off coaching or training; the reason being, as humans we can create all the intentions in the world, but often don't get the results we are looking for. That's why my key offerings, LabYOU and Your Best Work Coaching, require a longer term commitment of six months to a year. But not being one to be rigid and forced about anything, I like to offer a one off two to three hour immersion session as an exception for the beginning of the year.
These sessions receive rave reviews, and will help anyone who is looking for powerful clarity on what they might want to be focusing on career, business or even project wise for 2017. I love asking the questions that give me clues to the threads in an individual's make up and brilliance, and then working with them to create a framework/high level overview of where they can not only create some great revenue and fulfillment for themselves, but do it in a way that feels way more natural, simply because they are focusing on what they naturally are good at and enjoy rather than what they think they should be doing.
Don't underestimate what value you can get out of a couple of hours; this session could save you massive amounts of time, energy and frustration, simply because you have been focusing historically on something that is not really you! There is a huge cost, both personally and nationally associated with people hanging around in roles and businesses that aren't enabling them to be their best creatively, and sometimes all that is required is a minor tweak in their current situation. Please email or phone me direct to have a chat about this. The investment is $700 plus GST.
