02 Jul Manifest Your Growth with Three Words
Every January since 2016 I choose three words to represent how I want to FEEL at the end of the year, an idea inspired by coach Shasta Nelson. This works better for me than New Year resolutions to encourage growth and results.
In 2016 I chose VIBRANT, JOYFUL, and RENEWED. How did I achieve these feelings?
- I left a plum corporate job for the uncertainty—and thrill—of launching my own business.
- I tried several new lines of work.
- I made a lot of new friends and reinforced my relationship with old friends.
- I wrote more.
- I was more present for my son and my husband, and I felt less stressed.
In 2017 I chose FOCUSED, COMMITTED, and BRAVE. And how did it go?
- I committed to my path as a writer. I wrote blog posts, book reviews, short memoir pieces, long-format memoir, letters, Facebook posts…
- I was brave enough to share my voice consequences be damned, and got my first pieces published in literary magazines.
- I worked purposefully at deepening my friendships and my family ties, committing as always to love.
Through all that, I felt anything but focused. I was walking too many different paths, both in my business and my writing. Everything was progressing, yes, but it seemed that nothing advanced far and faster enough.
I wondered where I should focus my business: online classes, live classes, ghostwriting, editing, public speaking, medical interpreting? Well, just in case, I did all of the above and a few other things, just to see what would take off.
For my writing, I tried blogging about multiple topics, later about how to write well, and finally about how to write memoir. I started blogging in English, in Medium, then I switched to Spanish in my own website. For my creative writing I focused on short memoir pieces, all the time missing the long format memoir and still dabbling in it.
November came around and I felt stretched as if my limbs were attached to four horses, each pulling in a different direction.
One month later, I finally felt grounded and focused. How did I do it? I decided to focus on just ONE thing for both writing and business.
- For writing: My long-format memoir.
- For business: Helping others write their stories as a ghostwriter, coach and editor.
What a relief!
So I really ended the year feeling FOCUSED, as well as COMMITTED and BRAVE.
In 2018 I added a new layer, a foundation of VALUES, which guided my actions to feel the way I had chosen. I chose the words CONNECTED, PROUD, and LIBERATED.
Connected in a deeper way to the people I loved, to the foster kids I helped as a CASA volunteer, to new friends, colleagues and clients. Proud of my writing, my work and everything I do. Liberated from fears and the hurdles I imposed on myself (sharing my writing helped me demolish those hurdles.)
These are the VALUES that firmed my foundation:
INTEGRITY
EXCELLENCE
CREATIVITY
KINDNESS
JOY
Joy is the biggest challenge, because I tend to obsess with work, and forget about play and fun, but I’m training myself to be more aware of the present and find joy in cloud shapes, bird songs, and every bit of lightness and warmth that comes my way.
If you were to choose how you want to FEEL at the end of the year, which three adjectives would define it?
Image by Stas Ovsky, via Unsplash.
