This year, I’ve decided to do things differently. Ha! How original, right? I bet you’ve heard that a thousand times already, and chances are you yourself might have thought it just a few days ago! Well, isn’t it what new years are for? An opportunity for change, new beginnings and transformation?
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2016 has been such an amazingly rich year when it comes to transformation and new beginnings that I want to do it all over again. Ha. Some of it. Not all. Transformation is not always easy and I have to admit some parts were tough on me, but the good parts, ah, the good parts were good! There’s been a lot of stepping out of my comfort zone, trusting and having faith, and most of all, connecting with my intuition. And that’s what I want to take to the next level this year.
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I’m very passionate about things I like and things I believe in. So when I’m working on something, I usually make sure I do everything I can to make it work. Creating an offer, for example, does not only mean creating it, but also very often, spending 20 hours on my website creating a new page to promote it, spending a few hours in canva working on the graphics, then more hours on Facebook to write posts and share them in the 10,000 groups I’m in, then one or two hours writing an email to my list and a few other hours personally emailing clients about it. All this in just a couple of days, because I want everything done as fast as possible.
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So if I told you now that my Core Desired Feeling (see Danielle LaPorte’s Desire Map), the vibe that I want to feel and emanate to those around me is PEACE, you’d either look at me with a confused look or laugh in my face. Or both. Saying that my actions are not aligned with Core Desired Feeling would be an understatement. But I strongly believe in learning my lessons from experience. In fact, it’s quite the only way for me, I’d say.
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I spent the last part of 2016 away. I was on my own, with no social media, my email on autoresponder, and limited social interactions. I spent my days writing and my evenings relaxing. I skipped all the Christmas and New Year celebrations, but you know how that made me feel? I finally felt I had reached my goal. I had finally arrived to the peace-full place inside of me and it felt so good that I didn’t want to leave. That feeling I had been longing for was finally mine and I wanted to savour it for as long as possible.
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So, when the time came for me to go back to work, all the pressure, all the hustle I was previously used to, didn’t feel right anymore. Suddenly, my time mattered. Suddenly, I realised that I didn’t want to give my time away for things that weren’t essential. And suddenly, I found myself treating my time as I would treat my money: like a valuable resource. Every time I had to do something, or felt tempted to read, watch, or click on something, I found myself asking the same questions I ask before spending money:
– Do I really need this?
– Do I really need this now?
– How will spending (time) on this impact the rest of my other (time) expenses?
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And suddenly, spending three hours to create social media graphics for a post seemed too much. Spending time scrolling down posts in twenty Facebook groups to comment and connect with people felt like more than I could afford, just like so many other things I thought I needed to do. And suddenly, being perfect or doing things in the best way possible didn’t matter as much and doing things in the best way possible FOR ME.
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That feeling of inner peace inside of me was too precious to be mined by my need for perfection. THIS was my new perfection. And it felt definitely much better. “Doing the best I can” shifted to “doing the best I can with what I have NOW“. And by that, I mean doing the best I can within the amount of time or energy that feels right to me. Because feeling aligned with my peace vibes is my new priority.
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I have decided that my new perfume is peace. And I am not going to run around chasing perfection, ending up all sweaty and smelly. No, I have decided to spray on my most delicate Peace fragrance and gracefully go about with my daily tasks, letting my skin absorb it and exalt its soothing notes to all those around me and everything I touch.
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So for this beginning of 2017, my new perfume is Peace. What’s yours?