Welcome to a new decade. Regardless of what has happened thus far in your life, today is a new day ready for you to create your new future.
In fact, today is 01022010 – a great day to consider looking at everything backwards and forwards!! Today I'll be sharing thoughts about my own past year, offering a free report to help you tie up the pieces from last year and move into this new one, and finally, asking you to make a decision about remaining on my mailing list.
Conscious vs Habitual Thinking
As a result of various experiences this past year, I've recently been spending considerable thought on being fully conscious. Of living fully in the moment – in terms of consciously choosing everything I do instead of just giving in to habitual thinking and/or habitual activities.
Now don't get me wrong – habits are very useful. They make our personal world understandable and consistent. Habits tend to keep us safe and reduce the sense of chaos that frequent change can bring.
On the other hand, unexplored or unquestioned habitual thinking or habitual actions can keep us stuck. When we apply conscious thought to the things we do, even the little things, we get to be in control of the choices we have made. That gives us the opportunity to improve, remove or continue – whichever serves us best.
Discovering My Next steps
At this time last year I "retired" from working in corporate America. Over the past year I have made some wonderful new friends who have opened up many new ideas and opportunities for me. Along the way I explored new ideas and directions, looking for the bridge from my prior endeavors into the platform of my current life.
In January my husband and I visited friends and family in Florida and took a cruise to the Caribbean. After we returned, I met up with friends in Boise, Idaho. Then in April my daughter and I returned to Boise for training and more friends and family. In June and July, hubby and I went back to Idaho – this time on vacation to Priest Lake – and drove the Selkirk Loop into British Columbia and Spokane before flying home. Interesting that I had 3 unrelated visits to Idaho last year!
In July I drove my daughter to Los Angeles for more training and reconnecting with friends. During the Los Angeles trip I made a business decision to begin an apprenticeship with someone I thought would help take me to the next level in the direction I had chosen. Unfortunately due to lack of follow-through, it was necessary for me to withdraw from the program and I spent the rest of the year negotiating for the promised refund of funds I had paid upfront as a condition of apprenticeship.
By October, as a result of my experiences in attempting to get back on my own track, I came to the realization that although I'd been exploring options to discover whatever was next for me, I was still using the same filters as before. In other words, I had let my own habitual thinking and processing get in the way of my exploration, and this was actually limiting my options.
Consciously Questioning
So I decided it was time to reconsider *everything*. It was time to question each habitual action, belief, thinking process, decision, and to reaffirm it, modify it or replace it. I decided to take each moment and simply do what needed to be done based on what was in front of me at that time, and to observe what arose.
To say it's been interesting and educational would be an understatement! Perhaps the most profound result for me has been an increasing clarity surrounding my own life purpose. This in turn has led me to new processes and insights in developing career and life strategies. If you decide to stay with me, you will hear more about these as the year progresses, and you will be invited to participate as I develop some of them further.
De-cluttering My Life and Mind
During this time I've recognized the need to de-clutter all the areas of my life which no longer serve me – a reflection of my desire to get back to the essence of what is important and empowering and to eliminate the distractions. I've written about this in the past, of course, and you're sure to hear more about this soon.
As a result, I will be utilizing ebay, craigslist, freecycle and the local thrift stores to help me move out the physical items I no longer need or want.
I've also begun removing myself from several of the email newslists currently cluttering my mailbox.
Completing Your Past and Moving into Your Future
This time of year most people go through the process of creating lists of resolutions for things they want to change. I don't often write resolutions, but I do like to do my own strategic planning around the time of my birthday – which in essence is the beginning of my own personal New Year.
There's power in completing tasks and projects. When we have incomplete items in our lives they require time and attention that could be better spent on activities that move us towards our current goals. That is especially true for activities and projects that have become irrelevant and outdated, but which we haven't yet released.
Each year around this time I send my coaching clients a list of questions designed to help them assess how far they've come in the prior year and consider where they want to go in the next year. Most clients find the questions a useful start for creating their new plans.
If you would like a copy of the questions, simply click on this link and you will be able to download it. No obligations, no opt-in, my gift to you for the new year.
Here's to a prosperous decade, beginning with the coming year.