Several years ago I created a three pronged approach letting go of the year that just ended and creating awesomeness in the year to come…by honoring the past in order to set the stage for the future I desire.
And since I heart you and want you to have an awesome 2017, I present them to you.
Prong 1: PURGE
You know that I’m all about the celebrating (and we’ll get to that, I promise)…and yet being human involves regrets, unfinished business, challenges, and other less than ideal stuff.
And really, pretending that those things aren’t true, that bad stuff didn’t happen or that we don’t have regrets SIMPLY DOESN’T WORK.
Ergo…we need to purge it out.
Purge out things like…resentments. Sadness Regrets. Relationships. Money. Career. Health. Love. Unachieved desires. Fights with people you care about. Frustration at the political landscape. Spirituality. Creativity. Social life. Stuff.
I know we’ve all got at least 20 things on that list—I definitely do too—so get out a piece of paper and write ‘em down. Purge it out. Acknowledge it and mourn it so you can let it GO!
Your mission: purge out and list at least 20 things that you regret or are bummed out about from 2016. (Do more if you’ve got ’em.)
Write a paragraph for each one about what you would have wanted and what it means to you.
And at the end of each paragraph (note: this is very very important), write: AND I LET IT GO.
So you can let it go, and create room for the awesomeness to ensue in 2017.
Note: you can do this for stuff too! If it doesn’t bring you joy, let it go.
Some things on my own list:
Losing my grandmother. The presidential election results. Not advocating for myself fiercely enough with the Antarctica company. Not prioritizing my fiction writing. Eating too many biscuits. (Damn you, Asheville!) Being inconsistent with my newsletters and blogs. Hiding. Too often, hiding.
How about you? Purge that out and let it go so you can move onto…
Prong 2: CELEBRATE! (Of course!)
Now that you’ve purged out all the ick from last year, you’ve got room to truly and deeply CELEBRATE the awesomeness that was 2016. Phew!
Because even though in many ways 2016 was a human dumpster fire of a year, there was immense awesome too.
So take out your anachronistic pen and paper (it’s preferable to write by hand rather than on a computer), and write down all the good stuff about…
Relationships. Money. Career. Health. Love. Achieved desires. Connecting with people you care about. Spirituality. Creativity. Social life…and everything else!
Your mission: List at LEAST 50 things that you want to celebrate from last year! I KNOW you can do it…and you can probably do even more.
How to do this:
Step 1: Grab your calendar or planner and review 2016. Write down every smidgen of awesomeness that happened last year. You went to the doctor on July 18th? Sweet! Celebrate that.
You went to lunch with friends on March 31st? Awesome! Celebrate that!
You had a Fierce Cheerleading session with me on June eleventy-third? YAY! Celebrate that!
And so forth.
Step 2: Look through your photos on your phone or wherever you keep them. What were the moments and experiences you want to honor and celebrate?
Step 3: Look through your credit card and bank statements. (YUP. I’m making you do this.)
What did you spend your money on that you want to celebrate? And…did you have debt that you paid down? Did you create new savings accounts and/or contribute to savings accounts? CELEBRATE THAT SHIZZ, because that is awesome.
And: super important: celebrate every cent that came into your presence last year…and every cent you spent.
Step 4: Look through your journals, your various social media accounts, and wherever else you might have info stored about the year. Maybe you wrote something on a piece of paper and stuck it on a bulletin board. Maybe you keep a jar of pieces of paper where you write down what you’re grateful for or what you received (that’s highly recommended, btw).
Note them all down.
Step 5: Close your eyes and tap into your memory. We tend to remember the harder, less awesome stuff more easily than the good stuff (oh human nature), but with your mind primed by those prior steps, you might actually be bursting with memories of awesomeness that you need to celebrate. Write all those down too.
FINAL STEP: read through everything you’ve written down. EVERYTHING. And when you’ve done that, say to yourself…
“I celebrate that all of this awesomeness happened in my own life and my own world.”
Really take a moment and pause to honor that. Because it’s true. It’s SO TRUE. All of that awesomeness happened in your life and in your world, and honey, it is WORTHY OF HONORING.
Breathe in the awesomeness. I mean, YOUR awesomeness, so you can be ready to…
Prong 3: DREAM!!!!!!
Now that you’ve purged and celebrated, you’ve created the space and energy to dream!
How do you let yourself dream?
Take some time and space over this weekend, get out your journal or some paper and ponder these questions:
~ What do you want for your life this year?
~ What do you want to experience?
~ Where do you want to go—either travel-related or personal-growth-related?
~ How do you want to feel?
~ What do you want to do?
~ What do you want to set the stage for?
~ Did you desire something last year and it didn’t happen? Well, maybe you still desire it for 2017!
No dream or desire is too big or too small…it just has to be YOURS!
Your mission: dream! Dream big, dream small…just dreeeeeam!
This is where you create your intentions and your roadmap for this year, so give yourself the time and the space to deeply go inward and consider.
NOTE: Do. Not. Worry. About. “How.” Just allow yourself to desire and dream!
Most of all, let yourself have fun with this! If it starts to feel not-fun or it’s anxiety producing to write down your dreams, take pause. Jump around, listen to some energizing music, drink some water. Celebrate a few more times, and THEN come back to desiring and dreaming!
And that’s how it works! Now you know what you want for this year, so you can figure out how to make that happen.
If any of this is hard or you want to go deeper, reach out. You’re worthy of support and making your life and year as amazing as possible.
xoxo
Eryka
Musings 