How do you want to BE in 2019?

2018 was emotionally intense for me and most of my family, friends and clients, but one thing that helped me get through this period was my quality for the year: KINDNESS (read more).

I don’t have to tell you that most New Year’s resolutions have fallen by the wayside come March 1^st.  The idea of a fresh, crisp new year awaiting us like a much-anticipated, but not yet read book, IS exciting. I’m all for tapping into the energy of potential and “anything is possible!” that starting anew offers us.  But between work, family and all that comes with living a full life—a resolution can feel like one more thing to add to our to-do lists.

My challenge for you, as you step into this new year and window of opportunity, is to think about how you want to BE (as opposed to what you want to do).  Why? Because our state of being affects EVERYTHING.

What quality do you want to embody and fully inhabit this year?  Perhaps it’s a way of being that will help you build fortitude, one that will help you be more open and accepting or a quality that helps anchor and calm you?  Here are three ideas for helping you bring your 2019 word/theme alive and into your everyday life:

1. Put it everywhere: as a graphic on your cell phone, up on your fridge, taped to your laptop in your work space or make it  your new phone and computer password
2. Take time to share it with friends/family in an intentional way so they can hold this vision for you, too
3. Ask yourself: what can I do each day to celebrate and renew my dedication to my quality and new way of being?

While there were many times I could have been kinder to myself and to others over the past year, seeing this word every time I left and entered my home, reminded me of my 2018 intention and helped me anchor back to how I wanted to BE (the last words my often annoyed 16 year-old heard every morning as he headed out the door were, “Be kind to yourself and others”).

If I had a second word for 2018, it would be GRATEFUL. During my hardest times, I pause often to count my blessings and voice thanks for all the goodness, support and abundance flowing into my life (read more about the science behind being grateful). My primary work now as a life balance teacher/speaker traveling across the U.S. and beyond, speaking and creating transformational workshops for companies, organizations, conferences and teams around how to come into balance is deeply fulfilling. I am incredibly grateful for the chance to do work that is in alignment with my core values and to help others find alignment as well.

I’m taking my time this week to let my 2019 quality come to me and I encourage you to do the same. How successfully we parent, lead, connect, teach, manage, relate and create is based on our current state of being. Who do you want to BE in the new year?