My ‘word of the year’ and closing out 2016…

Happy New Year’s Eve! I hope you and your family had a wonderful holiday season and you are refreshed and revved up for 2017! Today I am sharing my end of the year ‘closing ceremony’,  my ‘word of the year’ for 2017,  a video rant about ‘doomsday’ news and why watching your thoughts is SO important, and I have a ‘Love Warrior’ workshop update too!

We had a wonderful Christmas, complete with family, friends, and a bit too much good food (of course!). I unplugged from social media and news for a few days and it was a breath of fresh air!

 

Over the break we also went on our first ever family snowshoe trip. It was snowing heavily and way more of a work out then I thought it would be but was so much fun!

 

Shifting to the New Year

Although our tree is still up and the kids continue to get mileage out of their new Christmas gifts my thoughts have shifted to the New Year and being mindful about what I want to feel and create in 2017. The power of your thoughts is KEY my friend and it pays to monitor what you are thinking and what vibes yu are picking up from your environment. Here’s an example;

The other day I popped into a coffee shop and was confronted by a glaring newspaper headline all about how 2016 was the WORST year ever.

Then I returned home, sat down at my computer and read another news piece about how 2017 is going to be EVEN WORSE. This style of reporting got me steamed so I made a video. (Link to the video is below if you want to watch).

 

Year End Closing Ceremony

Here is a brief rundown of the questions I reflect on for this closing ceremony and my answers:

Top highlights of 2016? 

The talk I created for UBC Interprofessional Continuing Education 5th Health and Wellbeing in Children, Youth and Adults with Developmental Disabilities Conference this past November where I spoke about my ‘heroes’ journey’ in regards to my son Oliver’s diagnosis (Autism / Fragile X) and how my life became richer for our struggles. (*We are ALL the heroes of our own journey’s fyi).

Another highlight was the 7 month Power Posse ‘Make It Happen!‘ group coaching program that I facilitated with a tremendous group of women. I learned so much from them and I hope they learned a little from me…

…and of course the addition of Mr. Rebus to our family! Our now 8 month old Cairn terrier- how could I forget him!?

 

Lowlights of 2016? 

The U.S. election and the election results. The long lead up to the actual election was nasty and the realization that Trump had won knocked me for a loop (and still does!). But life rolls on right?…

Changes for 2017?

In the last couple of years I have for the most part focussed on my family and then my coaching training / business. Health and wellness has taken a back seat I am sorry to say. During the months the kids are in school I workout 1x – 2x per week but have realized that this isn’t cutting it. Since my youngest was born (8 years ago) my weight has been steadily creeping up 🙁

For the coming year I have resolved to put more focus on my health, improved food choices and losing weight. The plantar fasciitis in my right foot which I have had since August is a total drag and I can no longer run but at least I can walk, swim and bike (and snowshoe!).

A couple of things I have started doing post Christmas is imposing a ‘no eating after dinner’ policy,  adding more fruits and veggies to my meals,  and regular exercise including riding the stationary bike we have at home if I can’t make it to the gym. Last night instead of watching Gilmore Girls on Netflix I hopped on the bike in our garage and listened to a good podcast (Gary Vaynerchuk if you are curious).

I’m also feeling called to get back into yoga which I first started way back when I was 17. I fell off the yoga wagon when I had my kids and I would like to get back on!  Not sure what that will look like yet but will keep you posted.

Below I share my ‘word of the year’ and you will see how it ties into my health goals for the year ahead.

 

So what about you?

What were your highlights for 2016, and what were some of the challenges? Is there anything you are planing on changing in the upcoming year?

Have you chosen your ‘word of the year’ yet? (WOTY)- the word that best captures how you want to feel in 2017?

 

My ‘word of the year’ for 2017 is…

I have been humming and hawing for a few weeks now about what my WOTY for 2017 will be.

I went back and reviewed my previous ‘WOTY’s’…

2014- FREEDOM

2015- EASE

2016-CLARITY

Hmmm. I think I achieved a sense of freedom for 2014 as that was the year I quit my job, started my coaching business and got a story published in a national newspaper. That was a breakthrough year for me.

Ease – 2015. NO WAY did I achieve that!  In fact it was probably the exact opposite. I hustled like a demon in 2015, simultaneously running my business, finishing my coaching certification alongside everything that goes into being a Mom and wife. I will have to take a ‘re-do’ on that one!

Clarity- 2016. I think I did achieve clarity or the feeling of being clear in most areas but for sure there is still work to be done,  particularly in regards to my business – because it is always changing it is a challenge to continuously be ‘clear’.

When I thought about my WOTY for this year the word that kept coming up for me was ‘less’.

As in, I want less;

-clutter

-weight

-stuff

-waste

-news (unless it’s good)

-negativity

-plastic bags (plastic bags stress me out as I know they cannot be recycled and the great Pacific garbage patch is growing bigger everyday!)

-busyness

-friction

-mean people

 

 

How Can You Feel ‘Less’?

But how can you feel ‘less’? You can’t really- you can feel ‘light’ but that word didn’t resonate with me. I narrowed it down to ‘lean’ ‘fierce’ and ‘joy’.  Can one feel lean, spare, pared down, streamlined?  I think that would work. I liked the energy that came with the word ‘fierce’ but it felt too aggressive in this context. ‘Joy’? Well joy always works! If you really think about it ‘joy’ could be your WOTY year after year because it doesn’t really get any better than feeling joyful does it?

However, I wanted to make my ‘word of the year’ be relevant to what I am experiencing in my life right now so I went with LEAN.

Yep – my ‘word of the year’  for 2017 is lean,  as in a lean, capable, strong, flexible body with no excess weight, as well as a lean, pared down, focussed business (no overwhelm) and a lean life / home with excess clutter, distraction, busyness and negativity eliminated (as much as possible).

So there you have it. A tall order I know but I want to set the bar high and I want to set it high publicly as it will make me more accountable to you all!

 

 

 

Your Turn!

If you really want to be actively creating your life I think choosing a ‘word of the year’ is a good start as it forces you to be mindful about how you want to feel and the things you would like to see come to fruition in the year ahead. If you haven’t already done so I hope you can make the time over the next few days to reflect on the lessons you learned in 2016 and feel inspired by the blank slate before you which is the new year.

 

Lastly…

For you local ladies I have chosen Sunday, January 22nd for our workshop based on Glennon Doyle Melton’s best selling book ‘Love Warrior’ so mark the date if you intend on coming.

It will run 9:30-3:30 in Ocean Park. I encourage you to read the book (whether you are planning to come to the workshop or not -it’s that good!)

I’d love to see some new faces coming out also so don’t be shy! If you are reading this newsletter you are part of our tribe already and you will love the energy and learning that comes from a group experience like this one!

More details about the LW workshop coming soon!

 

…and here’s my rant if you are interested (and apologies for my giant face! lol – I can’t seem to shrink this!)  

Happy New Year!

xo

Eliz

‘We live in an abundant universe and even when we feel loss and limitation, our choice to affirm what we know to be true – that we are limited by nothing – brings rewards.’