Let Go…

In the course of reorganizing and rearranging my place, I ran across a note I had written myself sometime in 2008.  I did it with a dry erase marker, on what was supposed to be a dry erase board, but it wouldn’t ever wash off the board.

Over the years, it has been on my refrigerator and in various places, but it never made it to the throw away pile because it seems to be so meaningful.  It was around the time I wrote this note that I was really starting to grasp just how much I had a say in what happened next in my life.  It was a time of empowerment and that was only possible because I let go of my old ideas of how things “should” be.

It seems a bit fitting that I should run across this at a time when I not only feel empowered, but confident about where I am and how I am in this life.

Perhaps it will speak to you, as it does me…

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3 Things to Remember into 2015

The holidays are over and we are on the eve of the first full week of 2015.  Are you ready to start accomplishing your goals for the new year?  Are you open to something new happening next in your life as you turn the page on the book of your life?

There are three basic ideas that I like to keep in mind as I start something new.  I would like to share those with you as it might relate to the goals and such you have set for the year.

The first thing is that no matter what you encounter (in terms of challenges or barriers or unexpected), it can be simplified.  Everything can be broken down to the very basics of it, and sometimes that is how I manage it the best.  One piece, one part at a time.

The second is that no matter what you have a choice.  If you have set a goal and decide that isn’t at all what you really want, then you can make a different choice.

Lastly, since I seem to be working in three’s lately, is that no matter how many times you have tried to accomplish this same goal or achieve whatever you have set for yourself is moot.  What you did in the past is moot because this is not then.  This is now, and you do have the power to do it (albeit differently from having learned from those past experiences).

It is inherently exciting to start a new year because it is fresh and new, so bring as little of the past into that newness as you can and embrace the opportunities, challenges and new memories to come!

ReNEWal: My Theme for 2015

Image from http://www.namaste.tv

Happy 2015!  Ready or not, we are in a brand new year, full of wonderful opportunities to learn, grow and test our limits!

I am really excited to be heading into 2015!  I usually share my theme for the upcoming year sooner than January 2^nd, but I honestly had some trouble honing in on just one theme.

After much thought and deliberation, I have decided to theme 2015 ReNEWal.

I am as excited for the new, as I am refreshing the existing parts of my world.

Unlike last year, I don’t anticipate much major drama or trauma, with the exception of my Dukie turning 14.  So far he seems to be holding his own, so I don’t even want to throw that out there.

As the calendar turned, I have been putting fresh paint on my walls, purging old things, repurposing things and switching as much around as my living space allows.

I feel renewed, hopeful, refreshed and absolutely ready to rock the year 2015!

Did you theme your new year?  Did you create a vision board, or set goals for 2015?

Creating a Better 2015 #3 of 3

In my last two posts, I have given you a question to ask yourself with the end goal of creating a better 2015 than 2014.  To recap, the first one was “If you could change one thing about 2014, what would it be and why?”  The second one was, “What stopped you from meeting a goal you set for yourself in 2014 that remains a goal in 2015?”

Now for the final of The Tawny’s top three things to ask yourself to make 2015 better than 2014:

What will 2015 look like, feel like and be like if it is better than 2014?

And the loaded part of the questions…

We have to know what 2014 felt like, looked like and was like first, so we have to figure out a way to measure that.  Is your quality of life (genuine happiness and gratitude) different (good, bad, ugly)?  Do you feel better or worse about yourself, your future, your life, the things in your life (spouse, job, whatever)?  Where is 2014 compared to where you wanted 2014 to be?  How is it compared to what your “idea” of it was going to be before the year began?

These are some heavier questions, but we cannot know if 2015 will be better or how to make it better if we don’t know how 2014 impacted us, can we?

I will give you an example:

My 2014 started out pretty scary and sad.  I lost a dog companion of 13 years, lost medical coverage, was handed a huge debt to the government.  I anticipated some of that happening throughout the year, but not all in the first quarter of the year necessarily.  From there, 2014 seemed to only get better.  By the end, I not only feel like the quality of my life is better but also that my confidence in all areas of my life is better.  My 2014 was a quite a bit better than I expected it to be in spite of the first quarter trauma.

For 2015 to look better than that, I will have to do much the same to deal with any traumas or monkey wrenches.  2015 holds with it opportunities to really impact a lot of people, so I will have to make sure that I take extra good care of myself along the way to implement a new program and continue with what I am already doing.

I know these three questions are not quite as simple as they seem and quite honestly make us take a closer (perhaps hard) look at stuff we might have rather not.  These are the things I ask myself at the close of a year because I always believe there is room for growth and improvement no matter how good or not so good a year has been!

I would love to hear your thoughts on how you plan to create a better 2015 for yourself!

#2 Creating a better 2015

What does it take to create a New Year that is better than the last?  In my last post, I gave you the first of the three questions I propose can help you to do just that.  It was “If there was one thing you could change from 2014, what would it be and why?”

Here is the second one:

What stopped you from meeting a goal you set for yourself in 2014 that remains a goal for 2015?

Again, this is a loaded question!  What are three barriers that were in your way for meeting that goal?  Were these barriers within your control or were external factors at play?  Was it really a realistic goal? What overall toll did not meeting your goal take on your confidence in completing it in the coming year? For example, if you said you wanted to lose weight in 2014 but didn’t and still want to, consider that losing weight is not a goal, but the result of several goals.  Did you have an exercise goal or healthy eating goal?  How can you restate the goal so that it is more realistic and more achievable for 2015?

I will give you an example:

The goal I didn’t meet in 2014 was to completely finish and self publish my book.  I allowed distractions to prevent me from accomplishing that, although I did make progress toward the goal.  The distractions seemed to provide me with some great learning opportunities and were still enriching just the same.  I have one last chapter to redo before getting the back cover and formatting for Amazon done.  I will likely break those goals into smaller, more doable steps for 2015.

Feel free to share!  Stay tuned for #3!

Want to create a better 2015?

Many people like to make New Year’s Resolutions, others like to make overall goals for the New year, while still others, like me, like to simply theme their year ahead based on previous years.

What does it take to create a New Year that is better than the last?  In the next few days leading up to 2015, I will give you my top three simple questions to ask yourself to figure out how to do just that.

Here is the first one:

If you could have changed one thing from 2014, what would it have been?

This is a loaded question because now I will ask that you consider why you would have changed it?  What did you potentially learn from it anyway?  What role did you play in doing it the way you did it (particularly the part you would have changed)?  How would you have done it differently and why do you think that might have changed it?

If you selected something like my dog wouldn’t have died, then that is not something you have any control over, so back up to look at something you chose in your life that you would change.

I will give you an example:

I had several instances where my gut and intuition told me one thing and I did something different.  My gut was right, as it almost always is.  I am not sure I would have changed those times I didn’t follow it since they turned out to be enriching just the same, but I would have changed how quickly I listened or shortened the duration of time I chose to ignore it.  I think I could have still gotten the lesson from the situations, but could have averted much unnecessary drama.

Feel free to share!  Stay tuned for #2!