How to make 2023 the best year EVER!

Happy New Year. I wanted to come on for a short solo episode to say Happy New Year and share some new news with you. And I will be doing more of these solo episodes in 2023. Based on your feedback, I will start doing these podcasts every other week. Many of you, along with myself, have several different podcasts that I like to listen to, and you guys have shared that doing it less frequently will allow you to catch up and enjoy all of the shows you want to listen to.

So, in addition to episodes every other week, I'll probably be doing more of these solo episodes coming on more often throughout the month. Thank you so much for your fantastic reception and support of Live the Width of Your Life. The book I wrote went out at the end of the Year on December 27th.

We had our official live date. And I cannot tell you how excited I am. The weekend of the launch and the day itself, we hit international bestsellers in several categories, which is amazing. And I'm so grateful that you are reading the book and posting and sharing, and for all those who have written reviews, thank you.

Thank you, thank you. So grateful for it. I also wanted to share some other things that many of my clients and friends and I were talking about, which is, you know, our New Year's resolutions dead. Should we set resolutions, or how do we approach the New Year? So I wanted to share what I love to do, and um, maybe there's something here that resonates with you, but I also want to hear what you enjoy doing in the.

So I started doing a year-end recap or a reflection exercise a couple of years ago. So the end of December, usually the week right after Christmas, before New Year's, I spent some time, extra time in meditation, doing breath work, just in quiet time with myself. And I ask myself a couple of questions, and it's essential to do this before I even set any new intentions or resolutions for the upcoming.

So I ask myself a couple of questions: How did I spend the majority of my time this year? I look through my calendar, and I take a look at what my calendar looks like because I put everything in there. I put in my self-care, trips, and time that I block to do things that bring me joy, daily joy, and all the work meetings, client calls, and everything else. So I asked myself, where did I spend most of my time? And I include all my social stuff on my calendar as well, as in my planner, which gives me a good sense of how much time I spent and allocated to different areas of my life.

And then I say, how do I feel right now? Am I energized? Am I excited? Do I feel well rested? Am I tired? Am I stressed? And that's a really good gauge to say, is where I spent my time, does that align to how I want to feel and the energy, frequency, and vibration that I bring into this. And then I take a look at the photos on my phone.

I look at photos taken throughout the year and see who I spend time with. What were the relationships that were most meaningful to me? Did I spend enough time with my family, friends, husband, and children? Did I spend time doing things that I enjoy, time in nature or the beautiful outdoors, et cetera?

And if the answer is no, that is a good gauge for me to make changes in the upcoming year. So I look at if how I spend time aligns with my life goals. I look at my mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being. I look at my relationships. I look at my career, travel, growth and development, finances, and everything.

And that gives me a good sense of any adjustments I need to make where I was doing a good job and where I want to make some changes in the upcoming year—no judgment, but just being able to get a good assessment. So, I then focus on what I am releasing. We have coping skills or little saboteurs limiting doubts, beliefs, stories we tell ourselves, things that keep us stuck, or playing small things that sometimes just don't service any longer.

And sometimes it's even relationships that maybe. They don't serve us like they used to. So I let go of that stuff, and I ceremonially. I write it down, and I'll either burn it, I'll cross it out, or whatever feels right in the moment, but I release it and just kind of shed myself of those things and say, these are not the things that I'm carrying forth in the upcoming year.

So we had two pipes burst during, um, during the break, the Friday before Christmas Eve, and it made me think of a Bible verse that I enjoy. So the Bible verse is from Mark 2:22. It says "No one pours new wine into old wine skin. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins. "

And this made me think about how we want to change something; we must first change. We have to do the work for ourselves first. So if I want to make room for new blessings, I have to remove the things and release the things that don't align with that energy.

So with the pipes bursting, not much was damaged, but it did give me an opportunity, because one of them happened in my closet, to go through and say, are there things here that don't bring me joy anymore? How can I release them? And we can do the same thing with emotional stuff. The other thing that I love to do is to write myself a letter.

So this was like a best practice, and I am trying to remember if it was Marie Forleo or Mel Robbins, someone who did something a couple of years ago on end-of-the-year work. And I loved it so much, but writing a letter that I will read for myself on December 31st, 2023. And it's an aspirational letter addressed to me from, from me.

And really about how I want the year to unfold.

What are the things that I'm grateful for?

What are the things that I've made time for?

How I've given back service to my community, et cetera.

All the things that are most important to me are aspirational, but it's written in the present tense.

And I love the idea because it allows me to articulate to myself the things that are most important, those intentions that I want to set forth in the upcoming year. And there's something about writing them down or typing them that makes them real, and I know it's there. And so, I don't usually read it after I write it until the end of the year, which is nice.

And so it was great going back to the one I wrote for myself a year ago and seeing how many of the things I intended for my life came true. And the other thing I love to do is to create vision boards. I've been doing this for years, and what I do is I make a vision board, and I frame it, and I have it directly in front of me.

So right here, in my office on my altar where I meditate, I have my vision board. And, I love putting pictures and words, things that just make me happy, and elevate my energy and vibration when I look at it and having it there and seeing those images and reading it every single day right before I meditate.

And as I'm working, it allows me to stay focused on my priorities and my intentions, the things that are important. We have distractions that come up all the time. And, for me, a vision board allows me to stay focused on what I said was most important. So last year I turned 50.

So when I did the vision board, I had 2022 as the year I wanted to write my book and publish it. I tried to launch a podcast. I wanted to have a big 50th birthday party. I wanted to travel a lot to go back and see my grandfather and to spend time with friends. So it was very action-oriented, very driven, very masculine energy in specific ways.

And this year, as I started working on my vision board and after spending some time checking in with myself, I feel like this year is going to be much more about feminine energy, more about being in flow, allowing recommitting to my health, optimal health, mental, physical, spiritual, emotional, and, just giving back a lot of.

Spending time with the people I care about, making time for my self-care, the most important things, making room for daily joy and abundance, and, So on, more reading. I love to read, but just more, more time in yoga, more time in meditation, even more, breath work, hikes, things that I enjoy.

And I encourage you guys to do the same thing. It's so wonderful to have a visual representation of the essential things. Thank you all for being a part of this community. Thank you for tuning into the podcast and supporting me in so many ways in purchasing the book.

And if you are ready to make 2023 the best year ever, and you still need to purchase the book, take a look at it. Of course, you could look at it on Amazon and read the available reviews. But I created a book. This is because I wanted to read one that my clients want to read, and it has 365 daily posts with a journal prompt and a challenge.

All focus on helping you create a life of intention and purpose with more passion and peace, but in ways that it's very actionable and digestible every day. So I hope that you take a look at it, and I am so grateful that you tuned in today as well. I wish you the best new year, and next time; I'll see you next week.