Last week I wrote about making a list of your accomplishments for the year. Today we are going to focus on writing out what we are ready to let go of. This is a powerful exercise and should not be taken lightly. In order to start fresh and manifest our dreams in the coming months we have to get clear on what is no longer serving us and become willing to release it.
Writing out what isn’t working in our lives isn’t about beating ourselves up or having a pity party. It’s about taking an honest inventory of what is holding us back. When I shift my perspective and see it as an opportunity to grow beyond my fears and faulty beliefs things start to open up in unexpected ways. We must face even the not-so-pretty parts of ourselves— this is how we learn who we are and what steps we need to take in the future.
It’s important to remember this is the first step in this process of letting go. Setting aside the time to write out our list helps us gain clarity. From our list we can hone in on a couple of areas that we are going to work on in the coming year. I like this practice of writing because I start to see my patterns and from my patterns I can pick out the themes and areas of my life that I want to devote the most attention to.
We must be transparent with ourselves in order to make our dreams real. If we are stuck in negative beliefs about who we are, self-sabatoging our plans, or allowing distraction to take hold over and over, we will not thrive. It is important to know that just because we write our list of what we want to let go of doesn’t mean it will magically happen. Some things will gradually fall away on their own. Others we will have to diligently take action on and that is okay. Sometimes the work is as simple as taking a few centered breaths and reminding ourselves that we have everything we need and that we can get through whatever presents itself.
I’m going to share part of my list with you so you can get an idea of what it can look like. Anything can be written down. Nothing is too big or too small. Try to keep your list as specific as possible and make sure each item is something you connect to on a gut level. I don’t recommend going all out here, keep your list to 20 items or less. When we do much more than that it is easy to get in a negative spiral ;)
- Devaluing remarks, devaluing myself through my speech.
- Beliefs that don’t reflect who I truly am or what I am capable of.
- Comparing myself to people on the Internet.
- Beliefs and thoughts that keep me small (not being ______ enough).
- Fear of dreaming really fucking big.
- Checking out with Hulu.
We are all busy and have many obligations. Carve out one hour for yourself to do this writing. Take out your calendar now and schedule it. Make the promise to yourself and stick to it.
Create Your Vision for the New Year, part 3.xoa
Photo: Lani Trock
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