What's The Word? Start Your 2020 Off Right
It’s January and everyone is scrambling to get those resolutions and promises in place.
But what if i told you there’s a really simple technique to start your year that would help you truly align with grace and ease?
Ready?
It’s super simple, really easy, and fun!
Here's the idea- choose a word, 1 word, to be like a lodestone, an organizing principal, or inquiry for your year.
It can be any word.
Sometimes the word pops right into your head as soon as you sit for a second with it. Other times, it takes a little coaxing.
I’ve been doing this to start my new year now for nearly a decade and it’s become a profound activity for me, as much as my beloved vision board.
It’s January and everyone is scrambling to get those resolutions and promises in place.
But what if i told you there’s a really simple technique to start your year that would help you truly align with grace and ease?
Ready?
It’s super simple, really easy, and fun!
Here's the idea- choose a word, 1 word, to be like a lodestone, an organizing principal, or inquiry for your year.
It can be any word.
Sometimes the word pops right into your head as soon as you sit for a second with it. Other times, it takes a little coaxing.
I’ve been doing this to start my new year now for nearly a decade and it’s become a profound activity for me, as much as my beloved vision board.
In the past, I've chosen words like: trust, love, relax. shine and flow. Other folks I know have picked words like: faith, focus, patience... get the idea?
Once you have your word, here's what to do:
Allow this word to dance around you all year.
Write it down in at least 1 place in your home or office, more if you can!
Allow yourself to return to this word again and again, as you explore your inner landscape and use it whenever you plan and vision.
My goal in using this annual word, is to have it so thoroughly penetrate me, that IT becomes the guide and the teacher, revealing the lessons it has in store for me!
Last year, my word was flow. I REALLY wanted to allow myself to relax into knowing and receive guidance. I'd spent so much of my life pushing that I wanted to try a different way.
I CANNOT tell you how impactful that inquiry was for me. Seriously, it changed my life. I stopped really planning and instead started asking for guidance.
For 2020, when I checked in about my word, it was WILLINGNESS.
Sometimes I have to laugh at the perfection of it all. Because now that I am choosing to live a more guided life, I ACTUALLY have to DO what I'm being told to do! 😂 😂 😂
Thus my word.
If the idea of ONE word feels limiting, you might want to try a yearly theme.
Or, if you like, a phrase.
Perhaps the theme for your year is to be financially independent, or more present in your everyday, or accepting of yourself and others.
Whether it's ONE word, or a theme, I encourage you to sink into that all-knowing space within you, and ask what that is.
Write it down on post-it notes around the house or office, stick it on your vision board, make a flyer or poster. Allow your word (or theme) to be like an anchor for your year, a guide, a way to navigate 2020.
As always, let me know how it goes!
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What’s Your Word for 2017?
It’s almost New Year’s Eve.
Nearly 2017.
Ready for to start this new year?
One of the best ways to get clarity is to choose a word, 1 word to focus on, to dive into. One word to be your theme for the year.
It’s almost New Year’s Eve.
Nearly 2017.
Ready to start this new year?
One of the best ways to get clarity is to choose a word, ONE word to focus on, to dive into.
ONE word to be your theme for the year.
In 2016, I chose receive.
I’ve spent the last 12 months really exploring what receive means to me. Some of the questions that I asked were:
- How do I allow myself to receive?
- Where am I limiting that?
- How do I experience opening up to receiving in my body, mind...
This inquiry taught me a lot about myself. About where I hold back, where I get stuck, where I feel afraid.
Through a deeper relationship with this word, receive, it's helped me open up more, relax more and allow myself to feel safe, comfortable and happy to let in all the abundance, happiness, opportunities and change that has come my way this year.
And now it’s time for me to choose a new word!
Here are 3 Ways to Help You Tune into Your Word for 2017
1. Ask
Get quiet and simply ask. What is my word for 2017? Is there something I could benefit from focusing on?
Here is a list of some of the words my students have chosen in the past: bold, trust, faith, love, dream. balance, speak, mindfulness, pause, deliberate.
2. Use A Book
If you’ve asked and nothing has come to you, you can always try this cool trick.
Grab a book, any book, off the shelf and close your eyes. Think about your word for the year and then randomly open the book. See where your eye lands and what it reveals.
3. Meditate on it
Once a word comes to you, try it on. Settle into the energy of that word.
- How does it feel?
- Is there an opportunity for learning and growth?
- Is this where you need to go in 2017?
If the answers feel affirming then you’re on the right track. Don’t be dismayed if you feel scared. That’s often a pre-requisite to change.
My husband often tells me that if he feels afraid, he knows he’s onto something!
Have fun with this and share your word with me! Simply type it in below.
If you’re ready to dive in more, download my free vision worksheet to really jump start your year! Click HERE
Here’s to an amazing, wonderful 2017!
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Move Through - Make This YOUR Year
Now that January is back in swing and your life has returned to business as usual, it’s time to ask yourself, is this exactly what you want? Life as usual?
If you’re really ready to take your year and your life to the next level, it will require change.
As Einstein is often quoted as saying, “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
If you want different results in your life, here are 3 areas to explore:
Now that January is back in swing and life has returned to business as usual, it’s time to ask yourself, is this exactly what you want? Life as usual?
If you’re really ready to take your year and your life to the next level, it will require change.
As Einstein is often quoted as saying, “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
If you want different results in your life, here are 3 ideas to explore:
1. Making New Habits Means Breaking Old Ones
One of my goals for 2016 is to be more visible on Social Media but that means I actually have to go onto my Twitter account, Instagram and Facebook.
I have to change my habit from perusal, from when I “feel” like it to actually scheduling it into my day and making a point of connecting to people.
My habit of scrolling lazily through my Facebook feed as I lie in bed is what I’m used to, so I keep doing it but it won’t help me achieve my goal. That requires me to foster a new habit.
What habit are you ready to change?
2. This Place is Familiar and Comfortable
So many people are unhappy in some area of their lives – with their bodies, relationships, careers, yet there is a comfort in that discomfort.
We’re used to feeling it. We’ve felt it for so long, it’s familiar. Sometimes that suffering even helps define who you are. And yet we also yearn to be free of it.
How would it feel to be without that pain?
To be in your dream body, relationship or job? Can you imagine yourself living a life of true joy, with a partner who absolutely supported you, in a body you embraced? What needs to change?
If you can imagine it, you can step into it!
3. The Upper Limit Problem
I first heard this concept in Gay Hendricks’ book, The Big Leap.
Essentially, what he explains is that we all have an unconscious set point for how much good, success, power, money, health, etc. we’re willing to accept into our lives and when we hit that threshold, we get stopped.
Think about it.
Have you ever had a huge breakthrough in one aspect of your life, maybe you got a great promotion, were ecstatic about that, came home and got in a huge argument with your spouse? That’s an example of the upper limit problem in action.
Or maybe you’re finally ready to launch your first webinar and you wake up feverish with the flu.
We upper limit ourselves because we don’t believe we deserve everything.
So when something goes well in our lives- we become super fit, publish a great article, hit a sales figure- something else in our lives has to suffer.
The first step in overcoming this is awareness that it exists at all! Then, it’s a dive in to understand what and why we hold ourselves back.
Is it an old story from childhood? An unconscious belief that is no longer true for you?
You deserve everything and Source/the Universe/God (whatever name you like) wants to give it to you.
Are you ready to receive it?
What habits and old stories are you ready to let go? Where do you see the upper limit problem manifesting in your life? Ready to break through?
Take some time to ponder these three issues. Dive into them and see what comes up. Use them as questions to ask while you meditate.
This is your time, claim it!
Let me know how it goes - leave me a note below.
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STOP Before You Jump Into 2016
For many of us, this was the first week back to work-school-life-as-usual after the holidays as well as the first week of the New Year. Happy New Year!
Maybe you’re like me, and want to eagerly jump back into life.
But before you leap back into the craziness and chaos of your wonderful life, do yourself a favor and stop.
Stop and get clear about where you want to go this year, what you want to accomplish and how you plan on doing that.
For many of us, this was the first week back to work-school-life-as-usual after the holidays as well as the first week of the New Year. Happy New Year!
Maybe you’re like me, and want to eagerly jump back into life.
But before you leap back into the craziness and chaos of your wonderful life, do yourself a favor and stop.
Stop and get clear about where you want to go this year, what you want to accomplish and how you plan on doing that.
Here are 3 simple and easy ways to launch your 2016 so that you manifest all that you desire and rock your year!
1. Purge & Organize
The New Year is a great time to clean out the paperwork.
If your desk looks like mine, it has a huge pile on it of stuff that needs to be filed. Take an hour (or two) and get your personal space organized, cleaned up and ready. Not only will you feel better when you look at it, but you’ll start your year out with a clean slate.
This task is also super helpful for tax time (which, if you live in the United States, is just around the corner.)
2. Write It Down
Once your space is neat and tidy, take another hour to really contemplate this year – all twelve months of it. What do you want for yourself in 2016? What goals do you have for your future? What would you like to accomplish?
When you do this activity, think holistically.
Don’t only focus on your relationship to money and career but think about your relationships to your body and health, your family, romantic partner, education and spirituality. How would you like to evolve this year? What do you want to manifest?
3. Choose A Word
For three years now I’ve chosen one word to contemplate, explore and delve into for the year. This word – whatever it may be – becomes an overriding theme for your year.
Two years ago, I chose trust.
I had just started a business and was putting myself out into the world in a more personal way. This required me to trust in new and different ways and deepened my relationship to myself, to life and to spirit and allowed me to more fully embrace the notion that I am divinely loved and protected at all times.
In fact, about three months into that year, I made a pictorial representation of trust to remind me of free falling into God. On it, I wrote this line from the poet Rumi: “Stop acting so small. You are the Universe in ecstatic motion.”
Last year, my word was love and the exploration was vastly different.
It was subtle and gentle and deeply internal. It taught me about self-love and opened me up to more clearly understand how to love myself completely and wholeheartedly. My inquiry into love helped me see that I am healed and whole and deserve everything. Pretty cool, huh?
This year, I have chosen receive. Or perhaps it has chosen me.
I look forward to the exciting adventure!
So do yourself a favor, and take a couple of hours to stop, organize and plan out your 2016. It will be well worth it. And if you’d like a little help with that, Click Here to Download my FREE 2016 Vision Planner. Enjoy and have fun!
Share one of your 2016 goals with me!
Leave a comment below!
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Are Your Beliefs Holding You Back?
Since it’s the middle of January I’ve still got resolutions on my mind. Last week I wrote about turning those resolutions into goals and then taking action by identifying the: what, why, how and when. If you need help with that, download my FREE Goals and Action Step worksheets at :
But if you’ve already done that and are still struggling to get going, it may be time to dig a little deeper and uncover any negative beliefs that might be getting in your way.
What is a belief?
In the simplest definition, a belief is an idea or concept that we believe is true about ourselves, others or the world at large.
Since it’s the middle of January I’ve still got resolutions on my mind. Last week I wrote about turning those resolutions into goals and then taking action by identifying the: what, why, how and when. If you need help with that, download my FREE Goals and Action Step worksheets HERE
But if you’ve already done that and are still struggling to get going, it may be time to dig a little deeper and uncover any negative beliefs that might be getting in your way.
What is a belief?
Stated simply, a belief is an idea or concept that we believe is true about ourselves, others or the world at large.
The first time I heard that definition, I was at a weekend workshop about money and wealth lead by Harv Eker and a light bulb went on. I suddenly realized my beliefs weren’t set in stone. They were just ideas I had decided were true for me. Instantly I got that I was in control AND could change them! It was exciting, thrilling and aweing.
If you’re like I was before I attended that workshop, you probably haven’t spent a lot of time thinking about your beliefs. But here’s the thing, what we believe is dictating how we feel, what we think and how we show up in our lives.
So it’s time to dig in and figure yours out.
How are your beliefs hindering you?
Is the Universe benevolent or dangerous?
Do you deserve success?
Are you loveable?
Your answers to these 3 basic questions can help you identify some core beliefs that may be keeping you stuck.
For example, I used to think that the world was an unsafe place. This belief was developed over years, starting from when I was a young girl. My sister and I went to boarding school the year I turned 8 (and she 7). I had to take care of her. I was scared all the time. Every weekend we traveled from a small town in Connecticut to Manhattan. I constantly felt afraid and alone.
My belief that the world is an unsafe place arose as a response to what I was experiencing.
I decided that I had to be vigilant because no one would be there for me, that there was danger everywhere. These beliefs got solidified over the years every time I was unsupported or rejected.
Since I took that money workshop, I’ve come to see how this basic core belief has severely hindered my ability to trust, take risks, make deep connections, and instead propelled me to hide or check out using food, drugs or alcohol.
Changing Your Beliefs
So, I decided to shift my belief. I wanted to have hope and not fear, feel supported not threatened, be accepted not rejected.
I worked on this using self-reflection and awareness. When I noticed that my body felt anxious or my mind was tense or nervous, I calmed myself with breathing, meditation and positive self talk using affirmations such as: “I am safe in the Universe and all life loves and supports me.”
I also talked about what I was experiencing and feeling with a life coach. I wanted to understand where this belief came from and actively pull it out by its emotional roots. When that process was completed, I had to replace it with a new belief.
If you’re ready to dig in, start by answering those 3 Core Questions from above:
Is the Universe benevolent or dangerous?
Do you deserve success?
Are you loveable?
If you answered any of these in the negative, take a closer look.
Why is it that way?
What happened in your past that lead to this belief?
Are you ready to let those old stories about who you were go?
What can you tell yourself instead?
The process of delving into this might seem scary but it will change your life. The only thing limiting you is you and that starts with your beliefs. So jump in, have fun and reach out if you need any help!
Let me know how it goes by leaving me a comment below or sending me an email.
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Nail Your New Year’s Resolutions In 4 Easy Steps
On some level, I think all of us dread one thing about the New Year… resolutions. What we think is lofty or even good for us can soon feel obligatory and for some, even oppressive.
This is why I’ve taken a new attitude on the resolution. We all know that it’s easy after a few glasses of champagne on December 31st to make loads of promises we may or may not keep, right?
So here’s my idea: Turn those resolutions into goals and create some action steps using this
4-Step Process.
On some level, I think all of us dread one thing about the New Year… resolutions. What we think are lofty or even good for us can soon feel obligatory and for some, even oppressive.
This is why I’ve taken a new attitude on the resolution. We all know that after a few glasses of champagne on December 31st, it’s easy to make loads of promises we may or may not keep, right? So here’s my idea:
Turn those resolutions into goals and create action steps using this 4-Step Process.
Step 1. Choose a few resolutions/goals that you really want.
I’ll use an example that many Americans decided on New Year’s Eve - to lose weight.
The first thing I’m going to do, though, is qualify it. What does lose weight mean to me? Do I want to lose 10 pounds or 100 pounds?
Look at your resolution. If it’s too general, make it more specific. I’m going to turn – to lose weight – into:
My Resolution/Goal is: To lose 20 pounds
Step 2. Why did you choose this resolution/goal? Examine your motivation, reason or rationale.
For Step 2, I need to decide on my why. Why weight? Why 20 pounds?
Ask yourself why you want to make this change in your life. The truth is that if we don’t have a good reason, we aren’t going to do it. So dig in, find out what your motivation is!
My answer is because I feel unhealthy.
I can’t fit into my clothes and I’m tired all the time.
I want to both feel good and look good!
Step 3. Implementation – Now that you’re clear about the what (resolution/goal) and the why, the next piece to answer is the how.
a. How are you going to achieve this goal?
b. What specific actions will you take?
c. Do you need to enlist anyone’s help?
Step 3 is critical because this is what needs to occur in order for you to get results. These are the actual steps you will want to take in order to achieve the goal. So in my example, I have to figure out what I’m going to do to really lose 20 pounds. Here are some of my ideas:
Stop drinking sugar drinks (like soda)
Cut out junk food – no fast food, chips or donuts
Walk after dinner with my partner (here I’m enlisting help)
Drink more water
Step 4. Create a timeline – Chunk out your action steps and put dates to them.
The last step is putting it all in motion because it won’t get done if we don’t plan and make time for it, right? Think about your entire year and the benchmarks you want to see over that time. It can be monthly or quarterly. Then think about each and every week, every day and what’s going to happen.
For my resolution, I have a year to lose 20 pounds and I want to do it slowly so I will keep it off.
For Step 4, I have to put my ideas from Step 3 into a timeline.
Weekly:
Starting today, I will stop drinking soda but allow myself one a week.
I will pack lunch instead of buying it except on Fridays when I'll treat myself to lunch out (but not fast food)
Walk after dinner at least 3 times a week – on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays
Everyday, I will drink 8 glasses of water
This week I will buy a water bottle I love and carry it everywhere
Over the Year (Quarterly):
By March 1, I will have lost 5 pounds or I'll start walking 5 times a week
By June 1, I will have lost 10 pounds or I'll stop drinking soda altogether
By September 1, I will have lost 15 pounds or I'll pack my lunch everyday
After school or work today, sit down with those resolutions. Choose the ones that really matter and then walk them through this 4-Step process. What can you start doing this week to make your life better? Change is doable but we need a plan and a timeline. Once you design action steps that work for you, you’ll be amazed at the results! So, grab a paper and pen or sit down in front of your iPad and have fun!
Let me know how it goes. Leave me a comment below.
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Time to Manifest! Make A 2015 Vision Board
For the past several years, our family has had a New Year’s tradition. We decided to make our own, because- here's my confession- I always hated New Year’s Eve. From the time I was a teenager, my sister and I would look at each other mystified. All everyone seemed to do was get drunk and then watch a stupid ball drop. What was the big deal?
So a few years ago, we modified our evening to make it work for us. As a family, we enjoy a celebratory meal, something special, because it is a holiday after all. We even have a bottle of champagne or Prosecco along with sparkling apple cider, (known in our house as kids champagne.) After our leisurely meal, we all gather in the living room and get to work making… vision boards.
For the past several years, our family has had a New Year’s tradition. We decided to make our own because -here's my confession- I always hated New Year’s Eve. From the time I was a teenager, my sister and I would look at each other mystified. All everyone seemed to do was get drunk and then watch a stupid ball drop. What was the big deal?
So a few years ago, we modified our evening to make it work for us. As a family, we enjoy a celebratory meal, something special, because it is a holiday after all. We even have a bottle of champagne or Prosecco along with sparkling apple cider, (known in our house as kids champagne.) After our leisurely meal, we all gather in the living room and get to work making… vision boards.
What is a Vision Board?
It is a pictorial representation of your year, what you would like to manifest or be inspired by in the upcoming year.
We buy poster board, and canvas panels, glue, sparkly markers, have lots of magazines and scissors and start cutting out images, words, and phrases that speak to each of us.
Often before I start, I spend some time making a list of goals and intentions I’d like to manifest for my year. I think about every aspect of my life from my career, to my health, finances, family, spirituality and, importantly, fun!
Then I tease out each idea. For example, if I want to be more successful in my career, I try to specify what that means. I qualify it by stating a certain amount of money or a specific number of transactions, appointments, sales or closings.
With these clear ideas in mind, I get to work digging for words, and pictures that will best remind and inspire me. Maybe for my above goal, I’ll put the phrase “cash in the bank” as a reminder or find a photo of someone shaking another person’s hand to represent a sale. Perhaps I really want to see humpback whales this year on vacation, so I’ll look for a picture of them to add to my board.
Other than that, the look, design and outcome are all up to you and your creativity!
It’s an opportunity to both have fun with your family and work toward manifesting your dreams in 2015.
If you’re in Vero Beach, join us on Saturday, January 3rd as we’ll be making vision boards together! Click here for more information. Otherwise, here’s what you’ll need:
Supplies for Vision Boards:
Poster Board or Canvas Panels (These are canvas-coated cardboard and can be found at Michael’s)
Rubber Cement – This is the best glue even though it’s smelly, because it dries flat
Magazines - A wide variety is best
Photographs – Take some time before New Year’s Eve to print any photos you’ll want to add
Scissors – One for each person is ideal
Anything Else Fun – Markers, stickers, glitter, ribbon, stencil lettering, craft paper...
This is a great activity with people of all ages. Kids especially enjoy it and are incredibly creative.
When you’re done, post your boards below so I can see them!
Happy 2015!
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What’s Your One Word for 2015?
Last year, right after 2014 had just begun, I was listening to Dr. Robert Holden on Hay House radio. He shared an idea he’d been doing for awhile of choosing one word for his new year. Then he would meditate on it, delve into it, and explore it for the next 365 days.
Inspired, I decided to do the same, choose one word for the year.
My word for 2014 has been trust.
Over the past twelve months, I’ve allowed myself to simply be with this word and see what happens. At one point, around March, I had a serious crisis with trust. I became super afraid of the future, and about what might happen. That experience invited me to go deeper with trust and prompted me to create a visual representation to both remind and inspire me to open up more to trust.
Last year, right after 2014 had just begun, I was listening to Dr. Robert Holden on Hay House radio. He shared an idea he’d been doing for awhile of choosing one word for his new year. Then he would meditate on it, delve into it, and explore it for the next 365 days.
Inspired, I decided to do the same, choose one word for the year.
My word for 2014 has been trust.
Over the past twelve months, I’ve allowed myself to simply be with this word and see what happens. At one point, around March, I had a serious crisis with trust. I became super afraid of the future, and about what might happen. That experience invited me to go deeper with trust and prompted me to create a visual representation to both remind and inspire me to open up more to trust.
As part of my pictorial representation, I have a few quotes from Rumi. Here’s one of them: Knock, and He’ll open the door.
Vanish, and He’ll make you shine like the sun.
Fall, and He’ll raise you to the heavens.
Become nothing and He’ll turn you into everything.
When I see this, it helps remind me to let go and… trust.
2014 is coming to a close and as I reflect on my relationship with trust, I am pleasantly surprised to realize that I’ve embraced trust at a deeper level than ever AND am experiencing it in a new way.
In fact, I don’t even think about trust (or lack of it) in the same way. The constant uncertainty or questioning I always had before has slowly fallen away. Now trust is a given, it just exists. It’s my divine right. I know the outcome is assured and I trust that my life will unfold in the right and perfect way.
But over the past 12 months that wasn’t always the case. I’ve felt insecure and scared, uncertain and fearful.
To me, trusting in life is trusting in the unknown. Often when I have those hiccups of faith, those moments of anxiety or lack in trust, they occur right before some kind of transition or change. Maybe it’s me moving into doing something new, taking a risk or challenging myself. Each time, it’s like I have to jump into the void. I see myself standing on a cliff having to leap off into the unknown. So of course my visual representation depicts a cliff with the word trust spanning it.
Over a decade ago, I had an astrologer tell me that I was so taken care of, I could relax back into the hammock of God’s love, that this energetic web would completely support me no matter what. Of course at the time, there was NO WAY I was doing that-- relaxing, trusting. The world was too unsafe and uncertain.
I couldn’t trust any living person, how could I trust something I couldn’t even see?
Yet it was almost like my astrologer planted a seed, a reminder of what was there for me. Over the years, I’ve allowed myself to try it out, to lie back into that energetic hammock and feel supported.
Fifteen or so years later, I’m capable of doing this more and more, especially after this year, my year of exploring trust. And you guessed it. I can look at my picture of trust, hanging over my desk, and see the golden hammock.
Today I do feel that trust. I know that I am being held and supported, that only good lies before me, that I am loved and guided. My only job is to show up, be present and loving.
Now I have to choose a word for 2015.
I have so enjoyed my exploration into trust. It has opened up a new way of being for me and I can honestly say that trust is a permanent part of me. I carry it with me always, like I own it.
Since I more fully understand the power of choosing a word and its significance in my life, I have to find THE word for 2015. Simultaneously, I know I don’t really have to go in search of it, because just as trust showed up loud and clear as my word for 2014, I know the right and perfect word will appear any day now.
This new word will invite me to contemplate it for the upcoming year with thoughtfulness, intention and insight. And I’m looking forward to it!
Do you know what your word for 2015 is?
If so, share it with me! If not, sit with this idea and ask, “What’s my word for 2015?” Invite your word to come to you. How will you then spend your year exploring and delving into it?