BIRTH & The brain-based way to actualize what you deeply desire

Happier YOU with Amy?Letter:?BIRTH.

May 13th, 2022

Happy Friday! How has your week been and what has your brain focus on thinking these past seven days since we last connected? For me, it's BIRTH. It's the birth of the bell-like flowers from the blueberry tree I brought home from a farmer's market and planted in my front yard?last summer. It's the birth of our new kitchen which took us?nearly a year to design and renovate. And it's also?something else, something that gives me a huge sense of purpose, something that excites me every day...?

So every year, I give myself the word of the year. This is also what I guided a group of women / mothers to do as well as part of a half-day?Happier YOU in 2022 Online Retreat back in January this year.?

You may wonder why. Our brain can easily get distracted and it takes a lot of energy to manage those distractions while the amount of energy in each human brain is really limited. This explains the majority fo those who set the new year resolutions often soon forget about them. Another reason is when we set intentions or goals, if they do not create the new maps in our brains and?evoke in us strong emotions, chances are we don't well remember them, let alone the motivation to work on them.

A brain-based way that works is of course to create goals that bring such emotional resonance and that reflects what you deeply, not superficially,?desire. Often, it takes my clients and me a good one hour with focused thought work.?

An enhanced version is to create the theme word of the year that reflects those goals. Since it's just one word, and since it gels with your well thought goals, it is much easier to remember and therefore motivates you to take action towards it. It then also helps you make decisions on how you use your precious limited time and?energy budget as well as financial investment?by eliminating the millions of nice-to-have / almost invisible / zero to low impact / non-necessary and non-urgent?things nagging at your door every single day. It helps you stay focus on the right things that truly matter so you achieve happily and elegantly, so you feel really fulfilled and satisfied instead of experiencing burnout and self-blaming for getting nothing important done.?

My original word of the year is HATCH which is about creating a beautiful lovely nest by tending to our new home, and with this nest,?hatching a book and ideas for a movement supporting mothers around the world to defy traditional career paths, find their life purposes and unique gifts, and living them everyday while having "their" all.?

Then in January, another word just came. All by itself.?It didn't compete with HATCH. It was indeed in sync with the original one and just got expanded more boldly,?filled with even more joy, and infused with so much energy. It is BIRTH: A little cutie baby boy has been growing in my belly!

Indeed, it took me a while to really think further?about a word that is strong enough yet tender and loving enough and that reflects my top priorities for the year. And when I got it, I felt so happy and connected with it immediately. Birth for me means giving birth to a healthy baby with another successful VBAC. Birth also means giving birth to the book that I've been working on for the past two years. Last but not least, birth means giving birth to an update to my business model since I've been with it for five years now. All these require a process, not an overnight fix, of nurture, love, and care.

For the first, I hired a doula and maintain a pregnancy diary that tracks my nutrition, movement and mood. For the second, I organized my calendar to reflect the time I need to write, and enlisted a few friends who could read my draft. For the third, I carved out incubation time, look at the data, and do reflection on a weekly basis (sometimes, the "aha" just came as once you have the "sticky enough"?intention, your brain will quietly work on it for you without you knowing it).?

Everything beautiful in the world, either it be work, life, creativity or business,?needs a birth process, doesn't it??This?is also the expert advice I recently shared on?Forbes.?

In a recent check-up, my midwife asked me how I was doing, and I said,?"I eat well, sleep well and feel good," making her put on a really big smile. And I know my boy eats well, sleeps well?and feels good in his motel too.

For a happier YOU:

So yes, success doesn't mean you have to achieve all the time (if you are an achiever like my past version, this sounds hard to comprehend). It is about being in tune with the season in our lives, embracing the special wonders each year offer, knowing what truly matters during each stage,?while always holding the vision of who you want to become close to your heart in that happy dance, while knowing that whatever you need to tend to most in that season / each year lays the foundation for the actualization of your bigger "why". Because success is not about external validation but rather about meaning, impact, fulfillment and a deep authentic sense of happiness.

Now is your turn. What's your theme word of the year? Hit reply and share with me and I will cheer you on.

Onwards to Happiness Infinity,

Amy Nguyen

P. S. If you love this newsletter and think your friends may benefit from it, I'd like to invite you to spread happiness and share?this subscription link?with them.

Photo: Taking a writing class by Anne Lamott on?last Saturday afternoon while my husbands and kids were watching Marvels. It seems like the weather also wants to dance with?this inspiring class: it rained :)