Goodbye 2017, Hello 2018 !
Welcome to 2018! I hope you had the most meaningful, joyful and inspired first 3 days of the year...
I spent all my holidays back home in Italy and I was blessed with the most beautiful sunny day in Rome where I took this photo from Castel Sant'Angelo and walked around with my mum and my sister.
Now that we stepped into this NY is the perfect time to decide how you want to show up this year and what are the intentions you want to grow and develop in 2018.
Yesterday I watched this awesome "2018 Workshop" led by one of my very favorite mentors Vienda Maria and she reminded me to think of the new year intentions with two key questions instead of using the old-fashioned "goal setting and resolutions" way which let's face it, never works. The key focus is on feelings, because that's why we do things, to feel a certain way, so why not start from there instead ?
Here you have the powerful questions :
- How do you want to feel ?
- What has to happen in your life to feel that way ?
Have fun scribbling on a big paper all your feelings and then think of ways you can bring them into life this year.
In 2018 I want to feel :
Confident, light, loved, open, supported , sovereign, present, expansive.
The WORD that I chose to express this mix of feelings is :
Confident adventure !
In the last few years I grew and evolved in many ways, but I realized that by raising my awareness I also became fearful in many different ways. By learning how to feel more grounded and settled I also feared moving freely and having fun in silly ways. I let go of my adventurous side a bit and I'm craving to have her back, but with confidence. I want to try new things being confident about my limits and the way I want to explore the world. These two words are the perfect combination of how I want to feel.
This year is all about UPGRADING to my adult self. I'm 28 so I'm definitely an adult but only recently I felt the inner shift to adulthood and to really being sovereign of my life, owning my identity and choices fully and 2018 is all about that. Also in astrology the period roughly between 27 and 30 is what is called the "Saturn Return" that delineate exactly the moment in which we really define who we are as adults and I'm totally feeling it.
In practical terms it will look like :
FINDING A NEW HOME OF MY OWN
I'm super excited about this project because I know that having an apartment I can choose and transform into my safe nest, decorate in my own way will be such a fundamental step to support more freedom, lightness and adventure in my lifestyle. When we have strong roots we can really expand.
GROWING MY BUSINESS
This year I experimented and slowly found my groove and especially in the last trimester I felt like I was showing up fully for my business. And I want to continue this way. I will set 3 monthly goals and week by week, day by day I will work towards them to create a strong foundation for a bigger vision for the future. I would like to create more digital resources, ebooks, and maybe e-courses in the future to support people to find their passion and not only serve a handful of them 1:1 like I'm doing now. Go back doing some in-person workshops now that I feel more comfortable being in front of an audience. Learning from the best mentors and continuing my education with some trainings that are calling my name since last year and they resonate with my idea of wellbeing , like taking my Reiki 2 certification ( after almost 4 years of Reiki 1 I took in Singapore while I was still a Master student) and a Yin Yoga certification as well! I believe gentle tools can be so healing and profound.
FINANCIAL SAFETY-NET AND A NEW PART-TIME JOB
Money is another adult topic I'm facing now. I played around this year and discovered I can make money in a heartfelt and authentic way, but the instability of being an entrepreneur is significant at the beginning and it forced me to look at my financial situation to make it more stable and really support my dreams. In my case at this point it means looking for a part-time job that can give me a safety net to grow smarter, and I'm actually really excited to find something that I can do a couple of days/week and it can nourish my growing little business !
BETTER SELF-LOVE AND CARE
All the things I listed above are BIG and require all my energy. And I can only make them happen by taking exquisite care of myself. Last year I lost a lot of energy by saying Yes to many social activities that were fun but not necessarily nurturing my bigger vision and this year I'm ready to say No a bit more to take better care of myself physically and mentally and embrace the way I am and what I need to feel good much more. I experienced a lot of anxiety and my nervous system was shaken up and I spent lots of time wanting to be the kind of person that can thrive by sleeping 5 hours/night, eating in a messy way, partying hard, but I'm not and I have finally found some peace about it .
This will look like creating a SELF-CARE AND ANTI-ANXIETY TOOLBOX which includes : gentle yoga for myself, meditation, doing things as slowly as possible when I can, mindful cooking and eating at regular times, switching off from technology completely often, nature, sacred sleep by going to bed early at least 3 times a week.
I would also love to go on a Vipassana Meditation Retreat to really experience switching off completely for a few days, I can already imagine how beneficial it would be for me! And cherish my home time with relaxing activities like reading beautiful books and watching awesome movies, which I hardly did in 2017 as well as my new hobby of knitting !
PLAY AND ADVENTURES
And by that I mean exploring my own kind of fun and adventures, which I still don't know how it will look like but I'm open to try new things that make me laugh and feel good. A part of me have been strangely calling for mountains and snow which I have never been a big fan of but this winter seems so attractive. Exploring also some physical activities which make my body feel more free and spontaneous like jumping on a trampoline, dancing, skateboarding and who knows what else. Connecting with kids and pets which are the masters of spontaneity and play whenever I can !
LOVING WITH MY WHOLE HEART
Finally loving more and more. The word of last year , LOVE, gave me so much. It helped me build rocking relationships and deepen my capacity for loving others. I saw I'm not alone and I don't have to do this human thing all by myself and that even if I'm a lucky girl it's ok to ask for help. I want to grow my capacity for intimacy and vulnerability in all my relationships, and being more comfortable with vulnerability and intimacy than before. An affirmation I chose for this goal is "Be open and surrender" which means being present for people passing by my life, and open up to unexpected connections too instead of trying to control them and closing off.
Now it's your turn. What are the feelings that you're craving this year and that you didn't feel enough last year? What will you do or be to make them happen in 2018?