Are you making plans for the New Year? Take the opportunity to consider what you want, but please don’t go so hard on yourself. Maybe it’s the year to do something different – like following your joy!
In my typical New Year ritual of reviewing the year past and considering where to focus my intentions going forward, something else surfaced. Lee started it – he said, “We are always working, we need to have a just us, fun day every week”. That seems obvious, but it hasn’t been happening with work at home blurring the boundaries these last 2 years. “Yes, Yes”, I said.
But there is more to this than having fun. It’s about understanding the role that feelings, energy and spirituality have in what you want for yourself. When you do what gives you joy, you actually make good things happen across all aspects of your life. See if this explanation helps.
WHAT GIVES YOU THE MOST LIFT?
Look over what you have been doing this last year and ask yourself what you have enjoyed the most. Where you have you felt happy and excited. What’s given you a rise in energy, this is where joy’s been involved. Then ask how you can carry this forward.
When you follow your joy, you are ensuring that you are moving into things that have meaning and resonate with your deepest self. It’s a way to warrant your success. Move away from what creates dread and boredom – it’s the opposite of how you want to feel. Travel and doing for others come to mind for me. It’s what motivates and inspires me, so my joy and my work are closely connected. In making plans, I’m following what gives me a lift.
WHAT SPARKS YOUR CREATIVITY?
Where have you been putting your creativity? Look for the big and little ways this has been true for you. Do you notice that there is a current of excitement and pleasure underneath it that propels you forward? This is where your true nature finds expression.
WHAT ENHANCES YOUR SENSE OF PURPOSE AND SPIRITUAL CONNECTION?
Equally important in this equation of following your joy is noticing where you have a sense of living your purpose. There is a spiritual aspect to this that gives you deep satisfaction – a conscious or unconscious knowing that you are on the right path. When you sense you are making a difference in other’s lives or in the world, your purpose becomes more clearly defined.
Your purpose can be anything that is closely attuned to what brings you and others joy. Lee feels it when he writes music or helps others record theirs. I certainly feel it when helping others find their way. For you, the deep satisfaction for what you do is a sign that your purpose and spirituality are attuned to one another. Let your sense of purpose and spiritual connection help define your new year.
This year, let the New Year be defined by what gives you joy. Understand that the things that give you a lift are the things that are best to carry forward because the energy of it is so positive. Know that when you are creative, you are putting the spark of yourself in it that will make it meaningful and successful. And when you are attuned to following these principles of joy, you are likely living your purpose and spiritually attuned. Let these things define your New Year!
How does this fit for you? If you’d like help matching your joy with your plans for the New Year, reach out. It’s the focus of my Transformational Coaching and Therapy. Go to www.spectrumtransformation.com and use my Free Consultation link to reach me. I’d love to hear from you.
