It’s New Years Eve and it’s time to get stoked on 2014 being only hours away.  If you’re like me you get a bit excited, anxious, and scared all at the same time when you think about a new year being right at the cusp.  There’s both the excitement of a new start but the feeling “shit, I could totally fuck this up.”  That’s OK!  We’re going to kick ass in 2014, I promise!  That’s what brings me to a list of 14 things that I think will make 2014 amazing!  Many of these are things that helped me make 2013 a huge standout year in my life, so see what you can use to boost your new year.

 1. Don’t make resolutions, just change!

For a long time I was a big advocate of new year’s resolutions.  Then last year I was somewhere in Texas {I think} on New Year’s while Kevin and I were yet again moving back to San Diego and I decided “screw it, I’m not bothering”.  I was going through a lot at the time and decided that picking resolutions was one of the least helpful things for me to be doing.  I had so much to resolve to change I decided that instead I would just focus on making baby steps toward change rather than big declarations that fall flat in a week.  So don’t make resolutions this year and instead declare that for the year you’re going to just focus on change at every turn.   You’ll be less disappointed with how it works out, I guarantee!

 

2. Begin your day gently.

One thing that I’m so glad to no longer have to deal with is loud, screeching alarms to wake me up.  I’m also pretty lucky to be able to wake mostly on my own whenever I feel like waking up these days.  There are times that I do need to get out of bed early and I’ve moved to gentle alarms for those times rather than anything really loud, beepy, or annoying.  If you do need an alarm to wake you, try switching to something a little less jarring, for the sake of your energy body!  Also, wake up 5-10 minutes earlier in the new year and spend those couple of extra minutes each morning meditating, centering yourself, and getting your intentions for the day clear.    Remember, meditation doesn’t have to be a big ritual and can easily be done sitting up in a bed for a few minutes each morning before your feet hit the floor.  You’ll find that after a few days of doing that, the whole tone of your day shifts because you’re starting it out calm, centered, and focused!

 

3. If you don’t love it, don’t do it!

Seriously, if you have things you’re doing in your day-to-day light that you really dread, STOP!  And I don’t want to hear how hard it is or how it’s just “what you do” so you’re going to keep doing it.  If it makes you miserable or totally turns an otherwise good day into a shitty one, you DO have the power to change things.  YOU have the power to change things…not someone else.  Don’t wait for permission from someone else, just CHANGE THINGS!  Don’t like your job?  Start looking for a new one.  Don’t like where you life?  Start the steps to moving.  Don’t like your relationship?  Find a way to work together to change it or plan an end to it {yes, sometimes we do just have to part ways for everyone’s benefit}.  Sometimes you may need some help figuring out how to fix things, or how to empower yourself to make change, and that’s OK!  Knowing when you need outside help {not someone do it for you} is still a step in the right direction.  Maybe a Goddess Activation Session is what you need in the New Year?

 

4. No More Excuses!!  Meditate!!

I kind of touched on this already, but I have to tell you, the list of excuses I hear from people about why they don’t meditation despite having a desire to is crazy to me.  The problem seems to be people have really big ideas of what they need to do in order to have a “proper meditation”.  Meditation doesn’t have to be “proper”.  Meditation can be daydreaming about a goal, looking out the window and softly gazing a tree swaying in the wind, or simply closing your eyes and taking a few deep breaths.  The idea of meditation is to slow down, close out the distractions of the outside world and listen instead to your inner voice.  It’s about getting centered.  If you want a real kick in the pants to shift your view of meditation, check out davidji’s book Secrets of Meditation.

 

5. Be the bouncer in your life.

Stop letting people into your world that do nothing but drain your energy, frustrate you, and turn you into your worst self.  It’s time to put your foot down and treat your whole life like an exclusive nightclub.  Only the very best people get past the velvet rope around you.  Decide what you want the energy around you to be and create a dress code that people have to abide by if they want in.  Do they have to be cloaked in fun, creativity, authenticity, or love?  What do they need to bring with them and what do they have to leave at the door?  You have the right to decide who gets close to you and who doesn’t….and you have the right to eject people from your garden party when they’re mucking up the place!  Take a stand this year by simply keeping in mind that you are a reflection of the company you keep.

 

6. Be creative!

It doesn’t matter if you don’t think you have a single artistic bone in your body.  Creativity is all about expression and there are a million ways to do that.  You can go the traditional routes of drawing, painting, and crafting but you can also get creative with your words or how you keep your home.  Redecorate and express yourself with colors and patterns that are very you.  And I’ll bet you have a camera on your phone!  Right there you have with you almost 24/7 a handy creative device!  I’m planning to spend a lot more time sharing on Instagram this year and doing a lot more sharing my day-to-day.   That leads me into my next thing…

 

7. Be more open to sharing your world with the world!

We all spend a lot of time on social media attempting to be social, but really we’re never being that social.  We’re sharing each other’s meme posts and new of the weird style articles.  We’re always sharing other people’s stuff and often not taking enough time to share what’s going on with ourselves in our own lives.  You might feel like you don’t want to open yourself up to sharing too much with people you don’t know.  I get that.  But how much are you sharing about your world with the world now?  How can you share more?  When you share your world you inspire others {far more than another Sad Keanu meme will inspire anyone}.  You may be surprised at the things you have in common with others in the world.

 

8. Know you don’t know what you think you know.

It’s time to crack the books.  No, I don’t mean hunt down your college philosophy books or anything like that.  Make it a habit to spend a certain amount of time each day, like an hour or so, reading or studying a topic that either you want to explore deeper or that you think you’ve learned all there is to learn about.  It can totally be a spiritual topic too, it doesn’t have to be learning how to build you own canoe or anything {though I am planning to read Nick Offerman’s new book very soon}.  I’ve made a plan for in 2014 to spend one hour every day reading a book on wealth consciousness and law of attraction.  I have books all lined up on a shelf ready to go…Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by T. Harv Eker, Money and the Law of Attraction by Esther and Jerry Hicks, and Creating Affluence by Deepak Chopra are currently waiting to be devoured.  If you want to create something in your life you have to study it like you’re cramming for an exam and then use that knowledge.  So even if you think you know all there is to know about something, chances are if you still need to create it in your life you’re missing something from your knowledge base. Study it!

 

9. Take time off.

Whether you work one job or two, or even if you own your own business, you HAVE to take time off for yourself.  Not just the day or two you might normally get each week but also extended time during the year for a full vacation, even if that means you’re camping out on your coach and binge watching Game of Thrones or something.  You need time to decompress and unplug.  We work too hard today and we don’t value time off like we should.  Our bodies let us know all the time by getting sick at the drop of hat or always feeling exhausted even when we’ve had 8 hours of sleep.   Time off and away from work and all your major worries is essential for your mind, body, and spirit!  Make an effort to give yourself this much needed rest this year.  All that work will be waiting when you get back, I promise.

 

10. Say NO!

Stop saying yes to people when you really want to say no.  You’re dishonoring yourself by doing things for others or agreeing to things that you really feel in your soul are not in your highest alignment.  It also doesn’t do any favors to the people you say yes to because you’re whole heart and soul isn’t really into whatever you’ve agreed to.  They deserve your full dedication just like you should be agreeing only to things that are in alignment with your authenticity.  So start saying no more this year and put yourself and your values first.  That’s not what being selfish is about, that’s what being authentic and true to you is about!

 

11. Just have some fun!

And I’m talking guilty pleasure, I don’t give a crap kind of fun!  Sometimes we take ourselves so seriously and take the world around us so seriously that we almost forget how to just let go and enjoy things that are ridiculous.  Everything you do doesn’t have to be a momentous statement about something deep and meaningful.  It’s OK to sit back and take in guilty pleasure TV {for me that would be Mob Wives}, read silly books, or sit outside and blow bubbles in the bright sunlight of a Thursday afternoon.  Find fun and pleasure this year where you are called.  Don’t force it and don’t deny the things that really make you happy.

 

12. Create your daily habits and stick to them.

Creating simple and sustainable daily habits that will help you fulfill your goals and desires are key to seeing things manifest around you.  By having daily baby steps to take toward your big goal you’ll actually see things happen rather than get lost in the bigness of whatever it is that you wanted to do.  Plan out the 7 to 10 things that you want to do every day to bring you the desired feeling or state you want to live in for 2014.  That could mean 10 minutes of yoga every day to keep you feeling relaxed and in touch with your body or it could be spending only 1 hour a day on Facebook because you want to spend more time being creatively productive.  Set your habits now, know why you’ve picked the ones you’ve picked, and stick to them for a whole year.

 

13.  Meet your future self.

Who is your future self?  How do you see yourself 10 years or even 20 years from now?  What have you accomplished?  What lessons have you learned?  What amazing things have you manifested in your life?  Do a shamanic journey or other meditation to meet your future self.  This future self already exists in the astral realm and by meeting your wiser, more experienced future self, which is an extension of your all knowing and infinite Higher Self, you will be able to gain insights and wisdom into your life and your journey now.  This relationship and connection to your Higher Self can dramatically change your new year!

 

14. Give a crap about your health!

Put down the Ben & Jerry’s!  OK, maybe just don’t eat the whole thing in one sitting.  Care more about your body.  Your physical body and your energy body are connected while you’re here living and breathing.   They impact one another.  Eat poorly and you’ll suffer from low energy.  Move less and you’ll have a hard time getting your energy up when you need it.  I learned these lessons in a big bad way this year and 2014, for me, is all about going back to a healthy lifestyle full of natural living, healthy eating, and exercise.  As I write this I have a huge back injury that’s being made worse by weight gain.  Top this off with a repeated ankle injury from over a decade ago that I worsened a few years ago and I can hardly move around right now without a problem.  Don’t become a prisoner in your own body!  Give a shit about what you put it in and how you use it!

 

And that, my friends, are my 14 things for 2014 that I want to challenge you with.  What are you plans for shifts and changes in 2014?