Empower Yourself by Setting a Theme for the New Year.

A few years ago, I started going on "intention setting" hikes at the beginning of the year. Having an overall theme to anchor my personal and professional lives in helps me stay focused. As I learn and grow throughout the year, I revisit the theme to make sure it continues to feel authentic.

I go alone to tune out distractions from the world and listen... I listen to what's in my heart and let my mind wander. Mind-wandering is a powerful and often neglected tool! Research shows that mind-wandering can help maximize creativity and productivity.

Researchers found that 20% of the creative ideas occurred during mind wandering, or more precisely, spontaneous task-independent thinking. A deeper analysis suggested that mind-wandering was particularly helpful when people struggled to overcome an impasse in their thinking. (Erman Misirlisoy, PHD)

As I walked around the beautiful canyon park (and indulged in occasional snacking), the theme that kept popping up over and over again was... drum roll... "Radical Acceptance".

What Radical Acceptance means to me.

Once I knew the overall theme, I found a quiet place to journal and started scribbling, expanding on the theme - what it is and what it isn't.

Radical Acceptance is:

• Embracing my whole self (love the strengths/talents and integrate my shadow)
• Making room for unexpected adventures and embracing new possibilities
• Suspending judgment and having compassion towards self and others
• Challenging my self-limiting beliefs and knowing my worth
• Letting go of perfection and focusing on what I can control
• Holding space for self and others

Radical Acceptance is NOT:

• Complacency or making excuses
• Arrogance or selfishness
• Abandoning emotions
• Being stuck or avoiding difficulties
• Holding on to what no longer serves
• Apologizing for who I am

The next step is to set goals that support my theme.

How can I demonstrate radical acceptance in both personal and professional settings? What support do I need from my network? What resources can I leverage? What obstacles might arise and how do I plan on dealing with them?

Now, your turn! Whether it's going on an intention setting walk or creating a vision board for yourself or your team, I invite you to explore this year's theme, set your intentions, and gain clarity on how you would like to show up as a colleague, leader, parent/caregiver, partner, friend, your own cheerleader, etc. Have fun and let me know if there is ANYTHING I can do to support you with bringing your vision to life!