Are you feeling the pressure?
With the holidays behind us, are you feeling that you need to somehow have it all figured out and be well on your way to a successful and thriving 2018?
I certainly feel like that and we’re only in month ONE. **Sigh** How did it become that way?
Full disclosure: after having just returned from an extended three week vacation from Patagonia with 13 other family members, I was NOT in the mood to be back in the cold. Not in the mood to work, not in the mood to wake up early, not in the mood to be social, not in the mood to be loving and certainly not in the mood to inspire and lift others up.
Somewhere along the way in serving others, I forget to extend the same compassion towards myself. I had lost my way. I felt the urgency when I returned home. To perform. To get back into the game. I convinced myself that after a three week vacation, I had no excuse. I stopped listening to my body and my signs and instead, tried to propel forward only to land back into a zone of poor productivity. It didn’t matter how much I tried to motivate myself, all I wanted to do was to crawl right back into bed.
I thought to myself: this is so NOT me.
So I did what I knew would work. I reached for my Word for 2018.
FLOW.
It was always right there, in front of me and I had completely looked past it. Of course it’s FLOW. And this is exactly what was happening. I wasn’t attending to the FLOW of the season. I was being called to cycle, to self soothe, to adjust into my routine with self compassion and most of all, to give myself permission to hibernate during this cold, nasty, winter season.
I had forgotten that during my three week vacation, I was single parenting all 3 of my boys, alone, in a confined space paying very little attention to my own self care. So not only was I sharing close quarters with my 3 boys over the course of 21 days with compromised sleep in unfamiliar environments, I didn’t have the energy nor the time or space to practice my self care routines fully.
I was depleted.
Don’t get me wrong-my trip was EPIC but I had very little time to nourish my self. And what did I do when I returned? The very first thing? I unpacked all five suitcases, put in a load of laundry and logged onto work.
Don’t try this at home.
I didn’t practice what I preach. I got lost along the way. And I noticed it-Big Time. I was reminded about my WHY and why I choose to make my morning routines a priority because when I don’t, my mood plummets, I’m anxious, lethargic and just a terrible person to be around.
Back to FLOW.
My Word for 2018 kept inviting herself back into my sphere and I’m so glad she did. And do you know why that happened? There is a bit of science behind all this so called “woo woo” stuff because there always is. Let’s see if I can break it down for you into the most simplistic terms.
The minute I set FLOW as my Word for 2018 (a.k.a. an intention), my brain secured that information in a special spot because I gave it extra weight. The amazing part of all this is that now whenever I see, hear or experience the word FLOW, my brain’s action centers are easily trigged which translates into movement.
So when I was down in the dumps and wasn’t feeling at all motivated to create any movement, I pulled out my journal and wrote about FLOW. I read about FLOW. I went to my chalkboard in my office and visualized around the word FLOW. And the best part was, my nine year old son added “Go With The FLOW” to my chalkboard version of FLOW. He clearly knew I needed the extra boost.
Now what?
With that level of intention and creation, I am here now, writing excitedly to you about the power in setting a Word for the year ahead.
Here’s what FLOW did for me.
FLOW:
Renewed my faith and lifted me up
Reminded me to reach out and connect
Encouraged me to breathe into the cycles of the season and surrender
Assured me that I should expect my best year yet. 100%.
Pushed me to ask for what I need and to be very specific
Gave me permission to hibernate and to enjoy every minute of it
Re-ignited my creative spark
Without hesitation, I jumped right into Facebook Live a few days ago to share this process and especially to publicly honour how very difficult this week back had been for me.
You see. When you live a pretty good life like I know I do, social media has a tendency to magnify all of that. That’s great and all but at times, it leaves me feeling that anything less than perfect is unacceptable when the truth is that the beauty is in the messy process.
I want you to know that.
So when life gets a bit messy, it’s important to find your way back in instead of checking out. And this year, my way in is through FLOW.
How are you celebrating and inviting in 2018?
Who do you have by your side?
If you’re looking to take 2018 up another notch, may I suggest that you consider joining me on Saturday January 20 ONLINE for “Call in Your Word for 2018” virtual workshop from 10-11:15 EST?
For a low price of $25 (USD), this workshop is a no brainer. Heck, you should share it with your girlfriends and make a virtual play date out of it! This way, you’ll also have each other to keep yourselves accountable throughout the year with your WORDs!
And the best part is that if you can’t make it live, then a recording of this workshop will be emailed to you so you won’t miss a beat! In fact, if sitting in your PJs, with warm fuzzy socks, your favourite hot drink, a journal and tunes in the background is your thing, you’re gonna love this even more!
Jump onto the sign up here! You’ll be SO glad you did!
My wish in creating this process was for other women to experience the magic that I’ve been experiencing year after year for the past few years with my WORDS of the Year. Words have resonance and are beyond powerful. Once you engage in this process, there is no turning back.
See you on the other side. It’s a whole different world.
xoxo
