1. Looking back – rear view mirror
The first step is the rear view mirror – having a look back at last year.  This is a time for listing your achievements, large and small, and noting any undesired outcomes or things you don’t wish to continue with.  Celebrating the year that’s been is the best way of paving the way for your new and continuing goals.  And acknowledging that everything did not go quite as planned can bring a new perspective, sometimes including unexpected benefits.  See previous post.

You can make this as simple as a list, or as attractive and visual as you like, but don’t skip the powerful sense of completion and achievement it brings.  It’s very likely you’ll surprise yourself with how much you did in 2011!

2. Looking forward – wide angle view
Start with the big picture – what would your ideal life (business, relationships, family, home etc etc) look like.  This is where you get to imagine and dream, and to decide which things are most important to you.

For example, if it’s important that your business or career fits around your family, this key value gives you a foundation on which to build your career goals.  Doing this “wide angle view” first means you can avoid having conflicting goals later.

During this process, look at what’s already working for you, so you can keep that going.  And if there are things not working so well, note them for review in the next stage.

3. Getting closer – zoooming in
To borrow another metaphor from photography, now you need to zoom in a little on the individual aspects of your life and identify your big goals for the coming year.  They may be parts of longer term goals, and that’s fine.

Don’t get too detailed at this stage, that comes later.  Just work on identifying the three to five most important items on your agenda for this year.  They may be from different aspects of life.

The only rules are: the goals excite and inspire you; they feel like a stretch, but not to snapping point; and you’re willing to make a commitment to them.

4. Feel the love – attaching emotion
As just mentioned, goals that really mean something to you, and that you will stick with, are the ones that have positive emotions attached to them.  Even if you have a few anxious thoughts, the prominent emotions will be excitement, anticipation, inspiration, exhilaration, eagerness etc.  Basically you can’t wait to get started.

Take some time now to create a vision board, or another visual representation of your goals for 2012.  While you do so, really get into the zone of how it will feel as you achieve your goals, adding this positive intent to the images.

Put your visual goals up somewhere that you can see them often, to remind you and refresh the enthusiasm you feel.

5. Up close and personal – the detail
Now we come to the details.  Maintain the excitement you created in the step above while you break down your bigger goals into smaller chunks.  This does two things: it prevents overwhelm; and gives you managable tasks to work on.

It’s up to you how much you need to break your goals down and how detailed you want your task list to be – absolutely a personal preference based on how you work best.  This may take more than one session to complete, or you may choose to fill in the detail as you go, but do give yourself a basic map to take you forward.

6. Lights, camera, action…
The ground work is laid, now comes the action and commitment.  If you do one thing every day to progress your big goals you’ll be amazed and delighted at how quickly they start to move for you.

The “just one thing a day” commitment is almost magical, giving you the sense that you are stepping closer and closer to the outcomes you desire.  You’ll attract people, events and circumstances that you could never have predicted or even asked for, that will help you reach your goals.

It also shows that once you are moving forward, it doesn’t take much to keep you on course, and small changes in direction add up to major results in the end.

I’m sure there are as many variations in planning and creating for a new year as there are people reading this – so feel free to take any or all of these suggestions to use in your own way.  Most of all, enjoy creating your map, then watching your year unfold!

In 2011, this occurs on  22 December, and is the longest day and shortest night of the year.  From then until the winter solstice on about 21 June, the days slowly get shorter and the nights longer.  At the mid-point, about 20 March, is the autumn equinox, when the hours of light and dark are equal.  The spring equinox is about 21 September each year, again with equal hours of daylight and dark.

This is the natural rhythm of our planet as it moves through the seasons, and one of the deep connections that many of us have lost in our lives of urban living, technology and busyness.   In the southern hemishere, many of the ancient festivals that now have a place in our commercial reality, are based on northern hemisphere timing and are completely out of sync with our seasons.

From the winter solstice to the summer solstice, as the strength of the sun gets stronger, our natural inclination is toward growth, expansion and looking outward, right in tune with the energy of spring and early summer.  Conversely, from the summer to the winter solstice, our inclination is to become more introspective, consolidating the lessons we’ve learned in the growth cycle and assimilating them internally.

Whether we are consciously in tune with these natural cycles or not, they affect us at our very core.  Becoming more aware of the  ebb and flow of sunlight hours can help us to be grounded in the most fundamental way.  And that doesn’t have to be difficult!

As we approach the summer solstice, and the end of the calendar year, it’s a good time to reflect on the year that’s past and make a note of your achievements.  Looking at what went really well, what had a few sticky bits, and what you have learned is also helpful.

This does three things: it helps you close the year with a sense of accomplishment; it allows you to let go of anything you no longer wish to give energy to; and it provides a platform on which to build your dreams and goals for the coming year.  The summer solstice is an excellent time to write all the old stuff you wish to release on pieces of paper and burn them, providing brain space for all those ideas, dreams, goals and inspiration you wish to continue.

I’m not a believer in “new year’s resolutions”, but I do like to create a mind map, vision board, or other visual reminder of my plans for the coming year.  How you do this is very personal, but it’s an opportunity to assess where you are, where you’d like to be, and how you might get there.  Keep it somewhere you can see it often.  More on this process in another post.

This is just another simple way of getting connected with the primal cycles of life, and tapping into the energy that becomes available to you when you are in alignment with them.  Find joy in closing your year, and celebrate all you have achieved!

So how can this be changed?

First, be careful who you share your ideas and work in progress with.  Choose those people who you know will look at your strengths and help you build on those.  Avoid like the plague those petty minded individuals who like to correct typos, run down your infant ideas or tell you your dream is impossible!

Second, when someone asks you for feedback, ask them what they are seeking.  Do they simply want a sounding board, or a “mid-wife” to help them birth an infant idea?  Do they actually need a proof reader or editor?  When you know this, you can be honest in the spirit of their request.

Third, consider the notion that if you aim to build on strengths, either your own or another persons, there is encouragement and development and over time the weaknesses will diminish or disappear.

The unthinkable alternative, all too common, is that someone’s dream, idea or budding interest is stopped in its tracks, never to be aired again.

The answer: be a builder!

The cure for this paralysis of fear is to gather up our courage, take a couple of deep breaths and calmly say what our truth is.   Pick up the phone, stand up in the meeting and have the strength to be honest and authentic.  Keep breathing, remain calm, stay centred and speak.

It can be scary as hell.  Your throat can suddenly try to convince you that you’ve lost your voice.  Your gut can clench and your heart can pound.  But you will survive with your arms and legs intact, and the sense of relief and achievement you get will outweigh the perceived horrors you were sure would bring the world crashing down around you.

We spend a lot of our life trying to please others for various reasons, and some of us spend considerable time digging ourselves out of situations we would never have been in if we had been prepared to stand in our own truth up front.

This especially applies to the dread of saying “no”.  We can, and we should if that’s what our gut is telling us is right for us.  We may scoff at “gut feelings” or “gut instinct” but learning to listen to this very physical inner knowing can be a valuable way to quickly assess what’s going on around us and what is the right way forward for us.

So give it a go.  Next time you’re making a decision, or want to say something or need have a conversation you’re bouncing off, let your trusty gut guide you.  Then just do what you need to do to stand in your truth, with quiet strength and calm and see what a difference it makes.

There’s something about planting seeds, tending seedlings and harvesting produce and herbs that brings out the happy little kid in me and keeps the inspiration alive.

We are blessed with a very temperate climate, with no frost, so planting is risk free from quite early in the spring.  By well before Christmas I hope to be harvesting garlic, potatoes (planted in the winter), tomatoes, carrots, chillies, capsicums, eggplants and zucchinis.  Not to mention the huge quantities of perpetual spinach, parsley and other herbs we are already enjoying.

That’s just the vegie patch, and projects abound in the rest of the garden with transplants of non-thriving shrubs to different locations, dividing up big clumpy plants, mulching and a multitude of others.

My point in writing about this seemingly mundane, domestic adventure is that it helps to create and/or strengthen my connection to the earth and the natural cycles of the wheel of the year.  I find the more I notice and align myself with these movements the more content I am, and the more success I have in the garden!

It also means that life follows a steady rhythm, linked to seasonal changes, that flows with ease and grace.  Even though I don’t see very obvious seasonal changes in the vegetation, given our almost entirely evergreen environment, I find delight and comfort in observing the subtle changes in the plants, animals and birds, along with the differences in sun angle and day length.  It’s a family joke that I run on solar energy, so it’s not surprising that I have lots more energy as we move from winter into spring, and it feels great to take advantage of that natural increase in enthsiasm.

If you are not in the habit of this quiet observation, why not give it a try for a few moments a day in coming weeks and start to feel yourself align with the primal rhythms of life.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

At last, my favourite time of chilly nights to cuddle down under the quilt and sleep like a baby.  And those stunning golden mornings, misty and cool with the promise of sunshine later.  Absolute bliss!

With this fabulous weather has come a cascade of shifting energy, clarity and direction – at last.  This may lead to a new cycle of reducing things to their foundations, to rebuild a more structurally sound and aesthetically pleasing mansion upon them.

An exciting time indeed, one to be savoured, unhurried and calm.  No rushing of in ten directions chasing yet another idea down a rabbit hole.  Time to enjoy the process and the journey of renewal.

The groups we feel comfortable in can be many and varied, from acquaintances to close knit groups of friends, but we know from the deep feeling of wellbeing that we can be ourselves.  Whilst we may not reveal our inner most selves to our acquaintances, we certainly share friendly camaraderie that makes us feel relaxed.  A tribe with whom we can share our deepest feelings is much more rare, and a prized treasure when found.  Whether it’s overt or not, being part of a tribe can give us support when we need it, and in turn we provide support for others – it’s a mutally beneficial situation.

Our tribes can wax and wane, so while we might stay in contact with our close school friends for many years, we come and go from others groups through time as our interests, locations and life stages change.  Sometimes we may be without a tribe, and it’s likely that we’ll find ourselves another when we least expect it.

We also innately know when we are in a group that is not our tribe, if we are willing to listen to our inner voice and our body.  There is a certain sense of vague malaise, something just not quite right, and you never feel totally comfortable.  The stakes might be high in extracting yourself from some of these situations, but take heed and take steps towards having as many aspects of your life in alignment as you can.  Some, like a work place, may be more difficult to change, but you can look for individuals in your environment with whom you do feel a bond.

Take heed then, especially when you feel that you don’t belong in a particular group.  There’s nothing wrong with that, you just aren’t a good match, and hanging around will not be healthy or productive for anyone involved.  Treat non-tribe groups a bit like clutter, moving out the old will make way for the new, and a whole new world of possibility may be opened up to you.

By the way, if you have a tribe with whom you have that special bond, don’t forget to say thanks once in a while!

I’m writing this post because that’s where I am right now, and it’s a good way of giving myself advice.  I imagine it’s going to be helpful for lots of you too!

First, take back control.

When we feel overwhelmed, it’s easy to bounce off what we really have to do, feel that there is too much to do in a given time, and struggle to use our time effectively.  Before we can do anything to extract ourselves from our (usually self created) situation, we need to look at the big picture.

It can be hard, but just take a moment to sit quietly and BREATHE.  Two or three slow, deep breaths just makes you feel more settled, then you’re in a better position to be objective.

Then, make a quick list of the all the things, real and perceived, that you have to do, and give each a priority.  At this stage, be ruthless in culling any tasks that either don’t belong to you (especially other people’s emergencies) or can be postponed to another time without it causing a problem down the track.  A good way to do this is to highlight three tasks you WILL do for the day, and make them the ones you’ve been avoiding.  Once they are out of the way, move on down your list.  You’ll have a real sense of achievement at the end of the day.

Remember that whilst you may have to tackle some urgent and important tasks right away, it’s a big trap to put off the important and non-urgent, usuall larger tasks, that will become urgent later.

Needless to say, put off any “busy work” tasks until you get all the priorities handled.

Now comes the one bite at a time.  As a chronic multi-tasker, procrastinator and easily distracted as well, I can tell you this is where the discipline comes in.

Do one thing at a time!!!  And for your top priorities, keep at it until they are complete, then move on to the next.  You will get more achieved this way.  There are times this can be difficult, for instance I’m waiting on some phone calls to be returned, which means I have tasks hanging and I will be interrupted when the calls come in, but at least in the meantime, I’m working on my priorities.

Even when you have a lot to do, remember to take regular short breaks, and especially to stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water.  Even slightly dehydrated brains don’t work so well, and a break gives you the chance to stretch your body, and sometimes allows that spark of inspiration to ignite.

Finally, don’t be too hard on yourself if you’re running close to a deadline with lots left to do.  It’s not helpful, and doesn’t get it done!  So put that energy into regaining your poise, and you’ll find yourself back in the flow.

Underlying that though is a situation that is almost to find you running like a computer with an overloaded processor.  And that’s having a back log of decisions, whether they are small, big or interelated.  If or when this happens, it’s like a Rubik’s cube that seems too difficult to solve.  Like the Rubik’s cube, getting out of the deadlock requires that we make a start.

Sometimes we can be so paralysed by our log jam of pending decisions that we don’t believe we’re capable of making any decision, not even what to have for lunch.  At this point, choose the easiest or lowest impact decision and make a choice!  Then move on to the next easiest, and make another choice.  And then do it again.  Pretty soon, some of the low consequence issues are out of the way and you have brain space to think about those with higher impact.  If this seems simplistic, try it, and see if it doesn’t give you the momentum you need to start moving forward.

Importantly, remember that doing nothing is still a decision – the decision to do nothing!  And in some cases that can be a perfectly legitimate decision, as long as you’ve made it consciously, not just become paralysed in inaction.

It’s helpful to remember also that a decision that is absolutely right, may need to be adjusted or changed at a later date.  In the meantime, at least you’re moving forward rather than living by default at the mercy of the flows of energy and events around you.  That feels very disempowering, just the opposite of the feeling of in command of your own choices.

If you feel your choices are limited, you may be correct, but you DO have choices, every moment of every day.  So make those choices with mindful attention, and see your life change!

And so it’s been these last few weeks, so much so that I felt I was losing interest even in the simple pleasures I normally enjoy so much: a walk on the beach; coffee and a chat with a friend; breakfast on the deck.  Eventually, when the shouting from the inner voice became too loud to ignore, I stepped back and had a good long look at what was going on.  This is what I found:

• I have been sitting at my computer for many hours each day for several months – work I enjoy but creating a new website and business has meant little time for anything else.
• I haven’t had time and space for myself for a few months – by this I mean time away from home, which is wonderful but always has the tug of cleaning, washing, gardening etc.
• We are renovating our home – fun, but can sometimes feel overwhelming when it’s in your face all the time.
• I’ve created so much recently that I feel my well of creativity needs replenishment.

All this probably seems pretty ho hum, in a life where I am priveleged to set my own hours and place of work, and live in paradise by the beach!  However, there are times when we all need to remove ourselves from our regular environment, no matter how good it is.  This is how we reconnect to our inner wisdom, find new fuel for our creativity and simply recharge our batteries.

So I’ve taken action to break this pattern, by changing my daily routine and arranging a short trip away in a few weeks.  This will be a time to catch up with old friends, visit some galleries and museums, do some retail therapy, and soak up the big city vibe.  There might be a bit of self indulgence of the ice cream variety fitted in there too!

On a daily basis, I now set a timer for 50 minutes while I’m working.  If I need or want to keep working, I’ll take a short break and come back to it.  This makes me check the time and I’ve become very aware of how long things are taking me, and how long I’ve been in front of the computer.  The big difference is that now I make time to be in the garden, walk the dog or have a cuppa in the sun – this resets my brain, gets me some fresh air and guess what, my productivity then rises and I get things achieved more quickly and in better humour.

My big lesson is that I need to be a better listener to my inner voice, and take heed before it has to shout or scream to be heard.  That way, my well will be replenished regularly, my overall wellbeing will be enhanced, and I will never run short on creativity.