[New Year #4] Conscious creators: What's your word for 2018?

What if all you needed to remember this year - instead of lots of goals - was just one single word?

Did you know that getting clear on how we want to feel is the single most important thing when it comes to changing our lives and creating our reality?

We base every single decision we make on how we think it will make us feel: buying that item, dating that person, taking that job, going on that trip - absolutely everything is based on how we believe we will feel once we have it.

Of course hardly any of that is a conscious process. That's why we will eat that muffin even though we're on a diet. Because we're unconscious in that moment. We're basically "remote controlled" by our subconscious, which wants to feel good NOW, whether our conscious mind agrees or not.

So, getting clear on how we want to feel, helps us make more conscious choices, and become the actual directors of our lives. Life won't just happen to us, but now we are making things happen.

Doing that also cures comparasitis - rather than comparing yourself to other people, all you have to compare things to is your desired feeling - does it feel like that or not? If not, course correct.

If you did the exercises of Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3 and review them again, it will be easy for you to come up with a list of words / feelings.

From there, see if you can narrow it down to just one word, by asking yourself, what they all have in common.

My compass word for 2018 is EMBRACE

I asked myself, how do I want to feel this year? And the answer was:

Welcomed. Appreciated. Respected. Listened to. Valued. Connected. Supported. At home.

It took some meditation :) but after a while I noticed that all of the above is encompassed in the word embraced to me.

I have not felt that way for a long time. Mainly because I moved countries, which turned my business and social life upside down. I started completely from scratch in Berlin 3 years ago, and making new friends and finding a solid social circle (or clients) simply takes time. It's only since summer 2017 that I began to feel more settled and almost a little at home in Berlin...

Now that I'm more grounded again and feel stronger, I want to say Yes to more things, even slightly scary ones. Most things are only scary before we try them out anyway. So "saying Yes" also means embracing them.

There will be loads of new things coming towards me this year. To all of us. We have some rocky times ahead of us, I'm sure. But rather than "bracing myself" I want to embrace them. That's a much healthier approach.

Also I love hugs. People, trees, animals, I don't care. Everyone will be embraced by me :)

And maybe this will be my sound track this year...

So with EMBRACE as my compass I think I'm all set for 2018.

I believe a compass is much more important than a list of goals (even though I made one for this year). All we ever need to compare ourselves to is if we are in alignment with our compass. If we aren't, then we make a slight course correction, no big deal.

Whenever something comes towards me this year, that I initially want to say No to, I can now ask myself: "Didn't I want to embrace everything? Might this be an opportunity that will help me grow, even if it seems scary? Or is this really something I should say No to, because it's absolutely not aligned with my values?"

And at the same time I will be able to stop things that don't make me feel good much faster - whenever I do not feel embraced. This is all "weeds in my garden", and now that I have a compass I can pull them out much quicker, and make space for things/people/situations/opportunities that do make me feel the way I want to.

So,

What's your word for 2018?