What's Your 2018 Theme or Focus?!

Since I was a little girl New Year's Eve has been my favorite holiday ever. I don't know if it was because of the excitement my grandmother and her sisters would create by following their tradition of cleaning and prepping the house for the New Year or the preparation of their NYE meal-  collard greens (to signify a financially prosperous year) black eyed peas (signifying good luck) and pig's feet (eewww). Or maybe it was the thrill of watching the ball drop in Times Square and seeing the multitudes dancing, jumping, hugging and kissing. It all seemed like a great big celebration. Whatever it was it made a lasting impression that made me love the time frame from December 26th through January 2nd. 

This time of the year can be bittersweet for most. Reflecting on what you haven't accomplished over the last few years can offer quite a blow to your self-esteem. To not experience positive progression can actually add to the cyclic negative thoughts, feelings and patterns that sabotage change for most of us in the first place. 

This time of the year is important to me and I am one who loves the excitement that comes with the fresh limitless possibilities a new year can bring, however it can also magnify feelings of lack, limitation and failure. Because of that I am one who chooses to deliberately focus on the positive as I can tend to be hard on myself.

I started prepping for 2018 during the 2nd week of December, earlier than I have ever started. I had already made up my mind that I was going to try a different approach other than the mediocre New Year’s Resolution bit.  I started slowly purging items I no longer needed or used. I purchased a neat business planner and daily success tracker to assist with keeping my affairs organized in 2018. On a sheet of paper, I started a list of all I wanted to do or accomplish this year and I included everything from “buying a new sink top alkaline water filter” to “Joining new networking events and meetups”. I did not separate anything initially, everything from small basic “to do” items were listed as well as big time goals that effects would be seen far beyond NYE 2018.  I put tentative time frames on some where I found the timeframe was relevant. On the other side of the paper I created a quadrant with the following categories in each box; Spiritual, Physical, Emotional & Mental and finally Financial. Categorizing my list by putting them in one of the four boxes helped me to see my goals more clearly to further breakdown my approach to each. I was super stoked a few days before Christmas. Not so much because of the actual holiday but more so because my determination, repetitious review of my goals and anticipation of witnessing their fruition this upcoming year really revved my engine.

On New Year’s Eve my energy began dwindling as I hadn’t finished my home purge which was the pre-game to my 2018. That’s when it dawned on me that the controlling judgmental energy or thought process of that white knuckled grip on circumstances had to go out with 2017. As I meditated and began to explore my feelings about accomplishing what I wanted to, when I wanted to accomplish it, my thoughts were Divinely intercepted with an idea that I found could be an antidote to the above feelings so I decided I would make that  my 2018 theme and focus to go along with my goal list.

My theme and focus for 2018 is GRATITUDE and HOPEFUL EXPECTATION. My explorative meditation brought back to my remembrance how it is impossible to be consumed with thoughts and ideas of one’s lack, limitations and failures when you are focused on what you’re grateful for. I started thinking about how grateful I was to have gotten started and more than halfway done with my “purge project”. That thought boosted my self-esteem as I had done more “purging” in December of unnecessary items in my home, than I had the previous 11 months of 2017! Being grateful for that then opened my consciousness to what else I was grateful for. I started listing out the things I DID accomplish in 2017; I finally became an investor, I paid off a debt and I finally started a business that I was initially inspired to start over 12 years ago! Boy did I feel grateful! It was never ending; I started thanking Source energy for everything from my recent ridiculously short commute to work to how my needs were always met! The awesome thing about thinking about things you’re grateful for is that you just keep going and suddenly realize how blessed life really is when your attention is on the blessings! The natural high of me thinking of everything I was grateful for led me to thanking Spirit for those things I have requested, the things I am working on and currently manifesting. I immediately began feeling a hopeful expectation that the time these things materialized would be the right time and my job is to simply take my inspired action and then be grateful that THEY ARE GOING TO MATERIALIZE not a second later than necessary for my overall highest good. Although I would practice gratitude as often as possible making it my theme for the year helped me commit to making it not just a daily focus, but an all throughout the day focus.  So every day now I take a moment to express gratitude for what I got going on right now. Even if it isn’t the best of circumstances I acknowledge that it isn’t the worst either. In addition to being grateful for what already is, I now am grateful for the greatness that is destined to come, especially when I leave the low vibrating feelings of judgment, control, worry and anxiety out the equation. Feeling hopeful actually acts as a catalyst to get things moving as you will feel happy and motivated enough to take action. Expectation is a perfect law of attraction tool that magnetizes to you the things you’re requesting and working towards. Feeling grateful and expecting my good has had me in a peak state that has encouraged needed movement in my mind, body and affairs.  I put my focused intention on what I’m grateful for and what I’m expecting in the morning and before bed by listing out what I’m grateful for that has occurred and what is occurring.

What is your theme for this New Year? Pick something that resonates with you and something you can easily give your attention to every single day. Make sure it is uplifting and not something that negatively focuses on past events or something that breaks your spirit. Write it down and look at it as often as possible. If it is something profound and daring enough you may not need any other goals or resolutions to have that happy New Year millions strive for every year. Happy New Year! May your year be filled with abundant health, wealth, love, joy, fulfillment and success.