How To End 2023 On A Positive Note
To give this year the proper send off it deserves I’m showing you how to leave behind anything that doesn’t serve you spiritually or emotionally and go into 2024 ready to kick names and take ass (Guardians of the Galaxy anyone?). You’ll learn to wrap up the most unusual year through my end of year exercise where we’ll focus on gratitude, releasing negativity, and creating your vision for the new year which includes choosing your word for 2024. Get ready to feel aligned and renewed!
Note: This podcast and post were originally created in 2020 but the exercise is timeless. No matter what year it is that you’re reading this you’ll benefit from it.
We’re heading towards the end of the year and today’s post is going to help you make the transition as smooth and inspiring as possible. I took myself through the process I’m going to show you before recording this and will share some of my answers as examples for each step.
To say this year turned out different than most of us expected is an understatement. In 2020, we’ve had to deal with national emergencies like the Covid-19 pandemic which is still raging as of this recording. We had to change our life completely by adjusting to quarantine which meant no restaurants, commuting to offices, or traveling. Feeling the panic as grocery shelves became empty and the tension in the air skyrocketed. Not to mention toilet paper becoming as valuable as gold. The world was literally forced to pause and hunker down.
Then we had the fault lines of social movements slip into earthquakes of change. Black Lives Matter being a big name this year among others. The grand finale, so far at least, was the presidential election. It was heated, intense, and gave us the chance to learn how to love our neighbors when we found out they voted differently than we did.
And what I hope we can do after this life altering year is to give it greater meaning. A higher meaning that’s helpful and purposeful. Every incident we’ve experienced is a chance to go deeper, more authentic, to check in with how we’re living our lives, and to make changes as needed.
But first real quick...
Moving On From 2023
After everything that’s happened this year, you’re here. You’re here because you’re hopeful for the new year, and know that your mindset matters. Good for you. The world is lucky to have you. So, let’s wrap up 2023 together and leave 2024 wide open for possibility, hope, and new beginnings. Many times it’s not the situation that causes our life to feel a certain way but the meaning we give to it. That’s one of the most powerful lessons I’ve learned this year and hope today’s exercise can help you create the closure you need and give you the peace to look forward. Rituals and transitions give us a way to process better and when we take them away it’s harder to really feel connected to the moments in our lives.
Make sure you can be in a quiet place away from kids or pets and allow yourself to relax into each step. Preferably you can be at home, light a candle, and crack open a notebook. Consider this your personal sacred ritual to thank this year for what it taught you and to release anything that won’t serve you in the new year. If you prefer taking walks then have a fresh note open on your phone to write down your responses to each step.
Clear your energy by Doing The Zipper of Light exercise.
This was one I spoke about in a previous episode on energetic shielding. This will help you clear your energy so you’re more open and receptive to releasing and receiving. Sit comfortably, take a few deep breaths, then close your eyes.
Step 1: Imagine you have a shield around your energy field. Like a solid ring of light being zipped tight around you with no holes in its boundary.Step 2: Say to yourself, “Release anything that may have latched on to me, that I’ve taken on, that’s not mine and that doesn’t serve me. Release it back to be recycled for the greater good.”
Step 3: Then, say to yourself, “Please bring back to me anything that I may have lost today, or disconnected from for some reason, and bring it back to me and make me whole and complete” or whatever feels good to you.”
Step 4: Imagine yourself zipping up the solid ring of light again.
Now that you’re clear and aligned let’s move to the next step.
What are you grateful for from this year?
Write down anything good that’s happened. What accomplishments are you proud of? What new things did you try? It could be a mindset change, an obstacle you overcame, a risk you took, or a moment you felt stronger and more loving than you expected. Feel free to pause this for a minute or two to write then press play once you’re done.
How do you want to feel in 2024?
Are there any results you want to create with God/Universe? Take the time to really envision what you’ll be like a year from now and what you hope to be feeling or saying.
Having really captured that vision for next year what from this year do you want to release?
Think of anything you’ve resisted, feared, tried to control, feelings or situations you avoided. Think of feelings or mindsets you can’t bear holding onto any longer. What can you adjust or change in your life to actually make it happen?
I felt overwhelmed for most of this year and it wasn’t until my coach asked, “Why? How can you make it so you’re not?” For some reason that felt like an obvious question but one I didn’t take seriously until that moment. That’s when I realized how stuck in fear and victimhood I’d been. Instead of asking how to fix my situation I accepted it as my life and kept wallowing in the loop of overwhelm. Sometimes all that is stopping us from making aligned, life-changing action is asking the right questions. So what’s stopping you? How can you work to make it different?
The idea is to write down anything you believe won’t help or serve you to design the life you envision in 2024. Anything that would stop you from fully embracing and engaging in 2024.
Receive
Now that you know what you want to release let’s decide what we want to receive. This is when we’ll choose our word of the year. A word that helps you feel aligned and focused on making the deeper change you crave the most. I find it’s more easeful and flexible than making new year’s resolutions. Psychologist Amanda Tobe has an excellent exercise you can do to create your word of the year. Check it out here.
We often don’t know exactly what we need or the best path so we have to allow ourselves the flexibility to listen to our inner wisdom and make changes as needed. I’m reading President Obama’s newest book and it’s so interesting learning about how he never planned to be in politics but found himself there after trial and error in other jobs. You could say his word has always been community. His goal was to bring people together and make positive change.
He tested doing community organizing, being a lawyer, and on and on until he landed on politics. Had he forced himself to have unwavering goals he may not have made the difference he had. You can probably find similar themes with other people as well. The idea is to know what’s most important to you, staying focused on that, and ebbing and flowing until you feel most aligned.
Here are some example words of the year: Flexibility, surrender, feel good, ease, peace, simplicity, release, bravery. Once you pick your word, have it written down on a post-it or printed on nice paper and keep it visible. That way whenever you come across a situation that challenges that word you can challenge yourself to either say yes or no.
As of this recording my spirit is leaning towards release for my word of the year. Letting go of control, of needing to seek approval or advice, and letting my intuition lead the way.
Celebrate
Once you’ve gone through this it’s time to celebrate. Give yourself a hug or dance or place your hand on your heart and feel what you’ve just done. We don’t pause and celebrate enough.
I hope this ritual has allowed you to release what you no longer need, align to a vision that feels good, and receive what’s meant to be yours in the new year. I’d love to hear your responses and what you felt after doing this. Leave a comment in the show notes or email me :)
Affirmation
I release anything that no longer serves me and choose to follow my intuition to unlimited possibilities.
Do This Today
Complete this exercise and share what your word of the year is in the comments below!
Writing Prompt
What habits, thoughts, or beliefs would your most ideal self have? Which habits, thoughts, or beliefs do you have now that won’t serve that hihger version?
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