Your Best 2010!

The best way to begin the New Year is with this little ritual.

This is the second part of the New Year Ritual from my friend and executive coach Margarita Rozenfeld, founder of YES!Circle and Incite International. 

This ritual is a fun and powerful exercise that can be applied to any and all aspects of your life.  I covered the first part of the exercise, Reflecting Back on 2009, in an earlier blog post.  This second part is about achieving your best 2010 – which can be whatever you want it to be!

As an Ironman triathlete trying to survive the short days of a cold and icy winter, completing the ritual makes a huge difference in my attitude and motivation plus gets me thinking about what I really want to do.  I also share this exercise with my coaching clients as well.

Your Best 2010!

What will your theme for 2010 be? Not necessarily just goals with dates. Rather, what is your vision or dream for the upcoming year? What do you feel energy or excitement around? What can you really connect with that engages your imagination and feels totally compelling?

This ritual can be as linear or “right brained” as you want to make it! Some clients make lists; others crate collages, pick theme songs and even use menus as their theme. It can be as full of creativity as you desire. Following are questions and suggestions on creating your unique New Years Ritual. Use some or all of them, adding your own to the mix!

• My New Years Intentions that I am committed to…
  • Imagine ahead to December 2010
  • Write a list of your Wins, Successes and Breakthroughs for 2010 from that year-in-the-future perspective. Be specific and write them as though they have already happened
  • Look at each area of your life and make the list as long as you like.
• Name the upcoming year (e.g. Year of Abundance; Year of Commitment; Year of Yes; Year of No, etc.)
• If your vision were a piece of music, what piece would it be
• If your vision were from nature, what would it be? Perhaps it would be a tree, the ocean, a babbling brook, etc.
• What does your vision taste like; smell like; what color is it? What other senses can you use to develop your vision?
• What if your vision were a thousand times bigger? Describe what it would be.
• What metaphor can you use to describe your vision?
• How would a 6-year old describe your vision?
• Add one outrageous or wacky element to your vision.
• Consider writing a newsletter to family and friends from the perspective of your one-year-in-the-future-self (New Years 2010/11): What did you do, where did you go, what was new/exciting/different in your life? How are you different as a person? Don't worry, you don't have to send it to anyone, it's just something for you to create, celebrate and strive toward!

Use these questions as a springboard to jumpstart your theme creation. Be as free, wild and inspired as you'd like. It's your theme, something for you to create and watch it take shape and evolve over the coming months. This exercise is meant to be a fun and productive way to start your New Year.

Thanks, Margarita!  If you found this exercise helpful be sure to visit Margarita on the web at: YES!Circle and Incite International.

Live life richly and boldly!

David

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David B. Glover
Triathlon Coach, Athlete and Writer
Author of Full Time and Sub-Nine: Fitting Iron Distance Training into Every Day Life

© 2010 David B. Glover