Happy New Year and I offer you an inspired 2007, filled with prosperity, peace, personal happiness, and the fulfillment of your goals for the year.
Traditionally the new year is devoted to reflecting on the past twelve months and stating intentions for the year ahead. I encourage you to consider the following aspects of your life, which Marily Mondejar of the Filipina Women's Network has titled "12 Life Areas of Empowerment":
| 1) Community | Participating, volunteering, helping others in our community (youth, politics, schools) |
| 2) Finances/Economic Security | Managing personal resources, income, budgeting, savings, investments, insurance |
| 3) Environment/Safety | Caring about your physical surroundings, e.g., recycling, pollution, waste removal |
| 4) Family/Kinship | Caring for life partners, marriages, children, parents, extended family |
| 5) Health and Well-Being | Mental, emotional and physical health, feeling good about yourself and others |
| 6) Home/Shelter | Caring for and improving personal space – home, office, car, desk, etc. |
| 7) Learning | Acquiring and applying new knowledge, skills, and abilities to different areas of life |
| 8) Leisure | Diversifying interests and renewing energy through sports, hobbies, entertainment |
| 9) Social Relationships | Getting along with all types of people, nurturing friends, making new acquaintances |
| 10) Spirituality | Exploring the meaning of life through philosophy, religion, humor, the arts, nature |
| 11) Transportation/Mobility | Moving from place to place to take care of our needs as well as our families and friends |
| 12) Work/Career | Choosing a field, feeling satisfied, contributing to society, creating balance |
Here is how I approach the planning process for the new year, and believe me, in my personal experience, it works! Whatever you measure will improve.
For example, in 1999, I started tracking my net worth with the express intent of getting out of major consumer debt and building an asset base: I set some goals which (at the time) seemed kind of high, like "save $20,000" or "pay off my student debt" or "buy a house."
Every six months, I took a "snapshot" of where I was and placed it into a special box that I keep for these purposes. Since then, I've accomplished or surpassed every goal I set and I also feel a great deal of pride and happiness in my successes. Looking forward, I continue to set higher, more "big hairy audacious goals," and I continue to track on a weekly, monthly, and yearly basis.
I've also realized that much of where we are at any given moment is the result of choices we made at some fundamental level way, way back. Somewhere in your past is an agreement about where you are now. Additionally, somewhere in your future is a life that is based on an agreement you are making with yourself today.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Making new choices means dropping habits, friends, or behaviors that don't support your chosen path.
So, for 2007, I encourage you to consider all twelve fundamentals and think about what you want to accomplish this year. Write out how you want to be living in each of these Fundamental Areas for January through December of 2007.
Write your affirmation down on a notecard, e-mail it to yourself using futureme.org and post your notes in prominent places throughout your dwelling (near the kitchen sink, the bathroom, the noteboard).
As you place these notecards all around you, you will constantly be affirmed in your intentions for each of these areas.
For example:
Health: I am mindful of my nutrition and food choices. I support my healthy body and my healthy mind: I stretch every day, walk/run/bike/swim at least forty minutes a day and I sleep well at night.
Keep your affirmations close to you and accept them, live them, and believe them. And this time next year let's check in!
Here's to a wonderful 2007 for you and yours.
NOTE: For San Francisco/Bay Area Participants
Envisioning 2007: A Goal-Setting Workshop with Coach Christina Sanders
Hosted by Young Women Social Entrepreneurs - San Francisco
Date and time: February 15, 2007 from 6 to 8 pm
Where: Women's Building, 3543 18th St., Room A, San Francisco, CA 94110, (415) 431-1180
Cost: $15 non-members, FREE to members
RSVP: Space is limited, so please write us at info@ywse.org asap to reserve your space or to ask questions
Happy New Year! This is YWSE-SF's first event of 2007 to kick off the year from an inspired place. We will have a follow-up event in December to support each other's progress.
In this workshop, Christina will lead you in a guided meditation to identify your dream for 2007 and express your vision through a creative art project. Participants will then translate their visions into specific, attainable action steps, commit to their plan, and develop methods to track their progress and remain accountable to their plan throughout the year.
About Christina Sanders: Christina is a certified personal and professional coach with a diverse background combining human rights law, non-profit development, and Eastern healing arts. She's passionate about helping women powerfully connect to their innate strengths, visions, and purpose and express them fully in their lives. She found her work coaching individuals and nonprofits to clarify and achieve their visions, while honoring their own wellbeing and values.
New Membership Price! With this event, we are taking the opportunity to announce our new, lower membership price of $50 per year. Membership allows you to come to our regular events free, and to special events and the annual retreat for a discounted price. Join YWSE as a member online: https://www.123signup.com/enroll?Org=ywse
Mission: To cultivate young women social entrepreneurs in the creation and maintenance of sustainable, women-led ventures. To promote young women's leadership by providing training, access to resources, and networking opportunities for our membership.
YWSE members are women in their 20s and 30s, who are committed to influential positions as founders of or leaders within business, not-for-profit, and political organizations. Their backgrounds are diverse with regard to race, culture, socioeconomic status, and level of education; these women are similar in their leadership, ambition, and socially conscious agenda. If this description sounds like you, please join us as a member!
Posted by: Anonymous | January 23, 2007 12:21 AM | Permalink to Comment