Happy New Year! What are you grateful for?

December Thirty First, Twenty-Fourteen.

Today, the last day of this year, means it’s time for new beginnings, new resolutions, thoughts of what’s to come in 2015 and to say goodbye to 2014.

Do you write out a list and stick it to your bathroom mirror, daily journal or diary?
Perhaps it’s a dream board with lots of pictures to remind yourself of what you want in life.
Or maybe you have a place in your head that you keep those treasures stored.

It’s time to dust it off! Unless you have been a good “daily doer” that is.
If you have nothing but your imagination, grab a piece of paper. I dare you.
Write down a couple of things that were great for you and your last year, and 3 thoughts to challenge your next year. Even if it’s in the bathroom, find 10 minutes just for you.

Ask yourself:
What should be added or changed for the next year?
Have I accomplished what I set out to do in 2014?
How should I celebrate my successes?
What should I transfer over to next year and have more focus on. What am I aiming for?
What am I comfortable removing or letting go of?

Now LET GO! Really, just let it go.
What is my 2015 FOCUS WORD?

I was taught a valuable lesson a few years back; Helen Burns of Relate Church challenged the Relate Women to find ONE WORD and focus on it for the next year. That small idea carries LARGE ideas behind it!

2011 my word was BELIEVE. In myself, in my dreams, in my finances, my children. Where I believed and thought about, I saw change.
2012 — GROW –When I look back over my word GROW and my focus around it, and saw how much I grew in all the areas of my life that I wrote down, I realized this actually works! Time to CELEBRATE!
2013 — BRAVE — I stepped out into my fears and started to educate my brain again. I challenged myself and noticed I did more than I thought I could! Now I can try a little harder, challenge myself with more confidence and belief that I could do all the things I set out to accomplish.
2014 — GO – “Go do something for the first time” – After 13 years of running my business 7 days a week from my home, 5 days a week with office staff, weekends filled with event crews, I didn’t think it was possible, but on July 1, 2014, we were fully operating from a warehouse! WOOHOO! GO get ‘er done!

2015 my word is INSPIRE.

I will be working on this new word for my new year.  I want to INSPIRE others and be inspired to BELIEVE in myself and GROW my team. Be BRAVE and GO into the unknown. This is still a work in progress. I will share it with you once I have it complete. Even if it’s 10 minutes in the bathroom, I will get it done!

Since I started my focus word challenge in 2011 and saw such great results in my life, I challenged my Franchise and office team to do the same. My office girls are doing a great job with it! They already have their words, and what they mean to them. Some have added pictures to assist what they are aiming for, some have designed it creatively to suit what they feel good with, and that’s the beauty. You can do it how you want to, no rules!

I gave my office team one more challenge this past month. I challenged them to write down and say aloud every day 3 things that that they are grateful for. It is kind of amazing how such a small action has made such a big difference for us! Even on your worst day there are things to be thankful for, so this year we’re moving into 2015 full of gratitude! We hope you are too.

To keep track of our 3 grateful things we’ve been writing them down in our day planners, but there are plenty of different and creative ways to keep the gratitude going in the coming year.

When you get started, it can sometimes be difficult to think of things to be thankful for. But that’s okay! Writing and saying your gratitudes is training your mind to look for the good in life rather than focusing on the negative. If you really sit down and think about it, we all have so much to be grateful for!

Top 5 Tips for Giving Yourself GRATITUDE:

 

 

1 — Write your gratitudes down on slips of paper and save them up to reflect on next New Year’s Eve.

Daily journals work great, or if that is a big step try writing it down on anything you have at arms reach and put them in a “TIME CAPSULE” so to speak. Just think, if you wrote 1 thing every week that you’re grateful for, by next New Year’s you would have 50 things (because I’m bound to miss at least 1 or 2) to remind you that this year was a good one!

2 — Keep it simple. Don’t make it so that you disappoint yourself. We can be very grateful for our senses, the fact that we can taste, smell, see and hear, walk where we want to and communicate with words (not just pointing to pictures, but actually saying how we feel for real) is not something to be taken for granted!

3 — Be thankful for the little things. I am grateful I woke up today. I am grateful to see blue sky. I am thankful to my mother birthing me so I may be alive!

4 — Of course you may actually have amazing moments to celebrate as well. My son cleaned his room without being asked today – I am so THANKFUL! My daughter scored her first goal in soccer!

5 — Do it daily or weekly or whatever works for you. But however often, make it important and make it a routine. Then you must promise once per month minimum you will look at your FOCUS WORD and read it.