Creating Your 2012 Compass
I began replacing “resolutions” in 2007 with guiding words for focus. I chose three little words in 2007 and they changed my whole life. My world opened up. I transformed. Every year since that time, I have chosen one to three words to serve as my guiding principles for the year. My life continued to become richer, fuller, and more focused. I blossomed.
I discovered and embraced the real me, not the me I was expected to be.
I broke the rules I had written for myself. And I began to create my life on my terms. I discovered that it was perfectly wonderful outside the box that I once believed I must live in. I believe in the power of giving things up to God and the Universe.
Let’s face it. Resolutions are typically guided by a desire to fit in with outside expectations: lose weight, eat healthy, get organized, etc. Choosing a guiding focus for the year has everything to do with what you desire from the depths of your soul.
In my experience, the outside falls in line when you focus on your insides.
I don’t want you to make resolutions in 2012. I want you to choose YOU and your innermost desires to fuel your most amazing year yet.
Let me be perfectly honest here: I am incredibly blessed. I am happy and live an amazing life.
Choosing a guiding focus got me here.
When life became scary and challenging, returning to my guiding principles of the year grounded me and guided me.
It served me through multiple changes in my business life. It guided me as I began to finally heal from my divorce and embraced my power as a sexual being. It comforted me through the devastation of my mother’s cancer treatment and the grief of her death.
It led me to take a huge leap of faith, risk heartbreak and immerse myself into a loving and healthy relationship.
I gave myself an incredibly powerful gift. I am living a life that far surpasses what I once dreamed of.
That gift can be yours. You are going to choose your focus for 2012.
((If you haven’t yet downloaded your own copy of Three Steps to Sailing Into Your Best Year: Creating Your 2012 Compass check out these three ways to get your very own copy.))
Over the last three weeks, I’ve written about seeing your life as a ship. In order to live the life of your dreams – the life you were meant to live – you lovingly and joyfully create a compass to guide you.
The first step was “Naming Your Rudder”. Your rudder represents your personal values, and guides the direction of your life. There is tremendous power in discovering and living according to our highest values, and experiencing inner peace as the natural consequence. If you are working through “Three Steps to Sailing Into Your Best Year”, you “Named Your Rudder” by you reviewed a list of more than 375 values, creating a personal guidebook of values and then got clear by reducing your number of personal values to nine or less.
The second step was “Dropping Your Anchor”. Your anchor is how you want to feel. The quiet whispers of your heart’s desires define that anchor. If you are not clear on how you want to feel, then you have no way to determine if your actions are congruent with your hearts desires. If you are working through “Three Steps to Sailing Into Your Best Year”, you took a list of more than 385 emotions, creating your heart’s map of desired feelings and then got clear by reducing your number of personal desired feelings to five or less.
The third step was “Hosting Your Sails”. Your sails are the action to propel you. You embraced the fact that in order to journey upon the oceans, your ship needs power. And the power for the life of your dreams is action. If you are working through “Three Steps to Sailing Into Your Best Year”, you took a list of more than 300 power-action words, defined the sails for your soul’s work and then got clear by reducing your number of power-action words to six or less.
Now it’s time to create your create your compass by drawing upon the clarity you’ve obtained in the last few weeks. Review the list of choices from each category. Read them out loud and check in with your body. Meditate upon them. Pray. This is not a time for judgment or guilt. This is the time to tune into your heart. You are going to choose one word from each step to create your compass. (In the book, we work through methodically together to drill down to what is most valuable to you in 2012.)
Your compass is comprised of a Value, a Feeling, and an Action.
Together, these three little words will create tremendous power in your world.
You’ve now built your ship for 2012. You’ve named your rudder by clarifying your values. You’ve dropped anchor by listening into your heart and defining how you want to feel. You’ve tuned into your soul and have sewn the sails to hoist. And now, you’ve taken one of each of these critical components to living life in the zone to create your guide:
Your Compass for 2012.
Now it’s time to seal the words with your heart and mind. Email or Call a trusted friend or mentor and share your guiding principles for 2012. Sharing helps you seal your intention. ((I’d be thrilled for you to share your compass with me – share your personal compass here in the comments or drop me an email.))
Write about them in your journal or blog. Post them to Facebook or Twitter. Write them on post it notes and place them in your office or your closet door or on your bathroom mirror.
Meditate and pray upon them. Embrace and celebrate.
Trust that God and the Universe will help guide you along the path.
And if you want help for your journey, I’m offering specialized Compass Coaching Plans, which will provide you a year of support and accountability at a phenomenal rate.
All my love and joy to you and yours.
A very happy and safe New Year.
PS – I’ll be sharing my compass with you in next week’s blog post.
PSS – A side note about timing: I am encouraging you – and desiring to hold your had – as you go through the process to set your guiding principles for 2012. That doesn’t mean you have to have this decided by January 1 or even February 1. (In 2010, I didn’t solidify my guiding principal of the year until March, and it turned out to be the most transformational year of my 43 years on this planet.) Download the book and work through it in a few hours, in a day, or over a period of several days or several weeks.
There is no deadline or due date. You are not behind. You are right where you need to be. Be gentle with yourself. Find your own beautiful rhythm that fits your life in this space and time.
