Sweet 2014. It had plenty of lessons for me. It offered me some great growth opportunities and it allowed me to get more clear about what I am meant to be doing moving forward. All good things that I tried to capture and better understand in my end of year personal summit recently.
Now, that I’ve looked back, though, I want to look forward and really consider what I want out of 2015 in a New Year Personal Summit. Why a personal summit at the New Year? Because the first step to getting the life we imagine is having clarity about who and how you want to be in the world. The thing that matters most in our growth is articulating how we want our lives to feel, how we want to feel, really assessing who and how we want to be in the world. Because when we know that, we can build a life that allows us that feeling and then every day feels like we are living in our true calling. A New Year Personal Summit is about getting clear about what you want for yourself which may or may not, ultimately, end up having something to do with resolutions or goals. A New Year Personal Summit gets you quiet at the beginning of each year so you can get clear on what intention you want to have in the new year– what focus, truth you want to guide you actions.
Here are the details of the process in case you want to do the same for yourself.
Step 1. Figure out what you want to feel in 2015.
Intention is about having an internal resolve, a desire to move towards something that will serve you better as you move forward. It is claiming the desire to live your life in a certain way so that things happen on purpose rather than by accident. After setting an intention, you can claim your vision, and then it is after that vision has been formed that you can begin to move into action.
What feeling do you want to have most regularly in 2014? What feeling does your life most need right now?
What would feeling like this add to your life?
How would your life change with this feeling? What would your life look like if you were living with this feeling?
What behaviors are needed to live this feeling?
Get as clear as possible about what feeling you want in your life and what intention you most need to focus on for that to become real. Then, if the idea speaks to you, you can choose your word for the year- the one word that will be a grounding and inspiration guide to you as you move through the year and embrace your possibilities (I will be blogging about words for the year on Monday, January 5th if you want more perspective on that).
Step 2. Figure out your yeses and your nos.
Now, that you have a sense of your intention, it is time to captures your vision for the year and one way to get started with that is by getting clear about your yeses and nos.
How will your life be different at the end of 2015 if you are able to make the concept from step one more present in your life throughout the year?
What do you want or need your life to feel and look like to live that concept/feeling?
What do you need more of in your life to bring this concept and feeling into clarity?
What do you wish to be doing more often in your life?
What do you need less of in your life to realize this feeling? What are the experiences, interactions, and responsibilities that strip you of what you need?
Let your yeses and nos from this exercise be a guide for your new year.
Step 3 Name your priorities. Design your action plan.
What is your biggest dream for 2015 (think in terms of all areas of your life: professionally, relationships, sense of wellbeing, personal development, spirituality, etc)?
How do these dreams align with how you want to feel in life? Do they take you closer to what you feel will bring you happiness and congruence in your life?
What growth opportunities do you need to explore? What beliefs or behaviors might need revision to lead you closer to your dream?
How ready are you for this dream?
What first step are you ready to take?
What do you need to begin (this could be resources, training, support, time, etc)?
What is the scope and reality of taking that step?
When can you begin and how?
What is your next step?
And, as a gentle and motivating reminder, what do you want to be manifested for yourself because of actions you have taken?
Some thoughts about action plans: I have several areas where I would like to devote some intention and attention this year. And I could try to do them all starting January 1st but then that is a whole lot of action all at once and is more likely to lead me to feeling overwhelmed. So I like to look at my intentions and the actions they suggest and then prioritize for future success in living my intention and vision.
If an all-or-nothing approach to resolutions, goals, and/or intentions has been your downfall, loosen your grips on the absolutes. Instead, give yourself a range. Aim to make the choices you wish to make for 80 or 90 percent of the time, for example. Or aim to do one thing at a time– just for this week, I will go to bed at 10:30 and then next week you can add the sixty ounces of water a day and the next week you can add the fifteen minutes of reading daily (or whatever is on your mind). Then, you have built grace into how you experience and create your life. Knowing you don’t have to be perfect (and you know how I feel about perfect) can often be the impetus you need to move you closer to the life you desire. Your resolutions, intentions, dreams, desires do not have to look like anyone else’s.
Step 4: Celebrate. A New Year isn’t a tool to make yourself feel bad or to shame yourself. It’s an opportunity to remember that all of life is journey and we can choose our journey.
♥
Wishing you all good things as you say good-bye to 2014 and welcome 2015.
