Is 2023 Your Year for Change?

2023 is here.  I hope you had a wonderful holiday season, whether you celebrate any of the traditions or not. 

As we enter another calendar year, it’s a good time to do some planning. It’s all well and good to create a resolution that you may or may keep, but I’m talking about planning in the bigger sense.  

What does the next decade or even the rest of your life look like? 

If you don’t take time to consider this question the years go by and before you know it you are in your final hours looking back and wondering what if…

Don’t be that person. 

We are all part of nature. The only constant in nature is change. This means that your life changes whether you want it to or not. What matters is how active you are in shaping that change. 

You must be the architect of your life. You have the agency to shape your future even if it doesn't seem plausible. 

There are many ways you can make change, starting with planning.  You'll need to identify what your overall goal or goals are for the next decade or even more broadly for the rest of your life. Set aside some time for this activity. Maybe do a yoga practice and meditation before to clear your mind.

Once you have your goal or goals identified take time to reverse engineer how you will achieve them. For example, if you want to change career paths and require additional training, what is the training you need and when and how will you get it? Are there mentors you can work with or groups you can involve yourself in that will facilitate the journey as well?

A good way to do planning is to start with a mindmap. This is a non-linear way of brainstorming ideas that can produce rich results.  

Write your main goal in the middle of the page within a circle. Then set a timer for 3 minutes and start identifying various supporting subgoals. Write these on lines extending from the circle. Do this quickly without a lot of stopping or editing, simply identify an item, draw the extending line and write it down. Within each of these, there may be further extensions or subgoals as well. 

Once you're done, look at your mindmap and experience all the possibilities with awe. Now prioritize the subgoals you’ve identified and determine when and how you’ll tackle each. You need not use all the subgoals you identified in the activity. 

Once you’ve mapped out your plan another important step is to identify how you’ve self-sabotaged in the past. Many of us fail to achieve things in life because of old beliefs or patterns of behaviour that keep us from achieving our full potential. 

Make of list of ways you self-sabotage. Then identify how you will prevent each of these from happening.

A powerful tool to help with manifesting change and avert any self-sabotaging is to share your plans with others. When you articulate them your plans become more real. You can ask family and friends to provide you with support to make the change happen. This can be as simple as having them check in with you from time to time to see how things are going. 

You may also want to seek out support groups from people who are doing similar things. You can find online communities where participants support each other in their endeavours. 

To stay motivated you will want to identify benchmarks along the way. Each time you achieve one of your subgoals it’s important to celebrate that win. Life can be hard and we can be hard on ourselves, so make sure you remember this important element of your evolution. Rejoice and celebrate!

One last thing, consider the timeframe. If you’re like me you may have a tendency to want to rush things, to get them done. This isn’t always the best approach. It’s okay to take your time, to work at a manageable pace and be kind to yourself along the way. There will be setbacks as well as advances. That’s all part of the journey. 

In the last six months, I’ve experienced a sea change. The plans I’ve created are manifesting. I’m open to their evolution and modification as they take shape. Remember, you and the universe are co-creating here so what transpires may look somewhat different than what was originally in your mind’s eye, and that’s okay. 

I wish you a great 2023. My hope for you is that you make it a year of positive change. 

If this is going to be the year when you commit to regular meditation practice check out my Meditation Fundamentals course. 

If you need some assistance with planning your future, my 60 to SUCCESS Coaching Program will steer you in the right direction. 

I’d love to hear what your plans are. Share in the comments below.