It’s a new year! While the turning of the calendar from one year to the next provides a natural pause to reconsider who you are and how you are moving through the world, the truth is each new day is a fresh opportunity to return to your true center. With the advent of 2020, we have moved into a new decade and a new cycle of change.
This article will give you five ways to step into 2020 and live from your true center. If you want to be wholly connected, begin by getting centered. We’ll set the stage with a quick look at life’s constant, then take the “Step into 2020” actions below to prepare for a year that is connected and filled with authentic expression.
Getting Centered and Prepared for Change
Change is inevitable. It is the only constant. The Greek philosopher Heraclitus is credited with pointing this out first. Turns out the nickname used to refer to the great thinker who lived around 500 BC in what is now the country of Turkey was “The Obscure”—not exactly the chosen moniker of a thinking man.
Heraclitus must have been frustrated with this, just as many of us can bump up against unfulfilled or dashed dreams and disappointment when we assess where we are and where we want to be.
Living from your true center provides us with a fresh perspective and prepares us for the constant of change in the year ahead. When we navigate from this inner place of authentic power, we are able to move forward with greater ease and confidence. It’s also more likely that we won’t get bogged down by what others think of who we are.
When you remember who you are, reclaim your voice of truth and restore your connection to wholeness, you pave the path to thriving in the year ahead.
Pausing for Reflection and Review
Before you move forward, pause and reflect on the year past. You may want to get a journal or paper and pen and create a regular process for reflection and review throughout the year ahead. Begin by looking at the last year. Rather than focusing first on what didn’t get done or losses, consider these questions:
- How connected have you been to you?
- How happy and healthy have you been?
- What did you create for yourself that feels aligned and authentic?
- What felt good to you?
- Where did you find joy?
STEP INTO 2020 #1 It’s time to celebrate you—not just what you accomplished or achieved, but who you are and how you have shown up fully in the year or decade past. Reflect on ways you’d like to show up differently in the future. Take time to note what you have learned from perceived failures and successes. You may even want to list your lessons learned as a reminder as you move forward with confidence.
Letting Go
Each year brings its share of challenges and unexpected change. Naturally there have been things that didn’t feel great, losses or lost opportunities we didn’t recognize when they came knocking at our door. Finding a way of honoring and then letting go of these events is vital.
Letting go creates a space for the new. It allows us to move forward without being weighed down by critical thinking and heavy emotion. It frees us for what’s next.
STEP INTO 2020 #2 Take time for a ritual of release. Make a list of the year’s less joyful occurrences. Your list might include things you would consider losses, challenges, missed opportunities or connections, “failures” or a series of unfortunate events. Before you release them, give thanks for all that was learned or came clear because of them. Forgive yourself and others for perceived shortcomings. Find a way to release burdens associated with your list. For example, you might safely burn your list or say a prayer of release.
Knowing What’s Possible
Now that we’ve taken time to assess the year past, we turn our attention to all that lies ahead. We begin by becoming fully present to what is. As we center ourselves in the here and now, we can begin to dream a new dream and see all that’s possible for our lives. Consider these questions:
- Who do I want to be in the year ahead?
- What would like to be expressed through me?
- How might I share my gifts with the world in new ways?
- Where do I feel the most energy for my life?
STEP INTO 2020 #3 Choose a notebook or journal where you will record your dreams for the year or decade ahead. Write your answers to the questions above, then paint a picture of how you want to experience each new day. Plan now to return to the practice of reviewing and assessing where you are on a regular basis, once each quarter perhaps. Record this in your calendar.
Setting a Clear Intention
To intend something is to have a course of action. But setting a clear intention is not just about action. It is equally about preparing the space within you and around you and setting the energy for what your desires to be made manifest in your day-to-day experience.
What is the essence of what you want to feel or experience? Is there a word or phrase or feeling that might remind you to align with the qualities that support your dreams for the year ahead?
STEP INTO 2020 #4 Gather up a compact-sized reminder notebook, an index card or a post-it note pack. Write your intention (word, phrase or affirmation) or variations of it. Place these reminders of your 2020 intention strategically so you will be reminded of it often. Some ideas: the refrigerator door, the bathroom mirror, a bedside table, in your car, in your purse.
Stepping Forward
Pausing for reflection and review, letting go, knowing what’s possible and setting an intention only mean something when you step up and step out into the field of the unknown. Vow to take one step this week into your authentic truth. While you may not yet know everything about what or where your true center is, start with a single step. Some ideas for how to move forward in the year ahead:
- Explore a topic of interest and learn something new
- Try a new creative activity or pick up a new hobby
- Develop your skills and talents or nurture your gifts
- Think about sharing your experience through a workshop or a book
STEP INTO 2020 #5 Consider the questions above. Record your answers; then choose one to focus on for this step forward into 2020. Break that single goal or forward movement you chose as your focus into several smaller steps. Commit to taking action on one small movement in the direction of your dream this week. For example, if you want to explore music, you might look into options for various instruments or find your old guitar and find a video channel, pick up a book or look into options for local lessons. Do this every week and you will have taken at least 52 steps to living true center!
Happy New Year and welcome to the 2020s! Stay tuned for new ways to get wholly connected from True Center in the year ahead, and be sure to get your copy of Eve’s new book, Wholly Connected!
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