AMY HANSEN

Most of your attention is not in the present moment.  It’s either focused on the past of what’s already happened or looking towards what might happen in the future.  But, the present is what creates the future.  It’s not your past and what has happened back then.  It’s what you do today.  It’s the choices and actions you take today that ultimately determine your future.  It’s not using your past to determine your future life. 

Past Experiences

When you look to the past to determine your future, you’re often operating out of fear.  You’re worried about the unknown future and you want to know what to expect.  Your brain uses the past memories, experiences, and even traumas to help predict what will happen in the future.  Logistically, it has no other means to do so other than to use the past.  However, the future is anything but certain.  Just because you experienced one outcome in the past does not mean that it will happen again in the future.  This is because there are so many var...

Think about your life and the moments where you’ve felt some resistance come up.  Maybe you’re resistant to change, doing something different, new experiences, etc.  Resistance is a sign that you should pay attention.  Resistance is your body’s way of letting you know you should be cautious because all it wants to do is feel safe.  However, resistance can also keep you stuck in your comfort zone.  Learning how to take action through resistance is going to help you achieve your goals in life.

Check In

Resistance often comes up when you’re stepping outside your comfort zone.  It’s evidence that you’re being challenged with an opportunity to learn and grow.  Resistance is not always bad.  It’s a clear sign to check in with yourself.  Ask yourself, are you safe in this moment?  Is this going to cause you physical harm?  If not, ask yourself if you’re just afraid or if there is another possible outcome?  Maybe taking action through that resistance can actually lead you to something ...

You are just a few days into the Chinese New Year, which is the year of the fire horse.  This is a rare, once every sixty-year combination where fire meets the horse.  In Chinese astrology, there are five elements that change every two years and twelve animals that rotate each year.  This creates the comprehensive sixty-year calendar cycle.  Let’s take a look at what the year of the fire horse means and how it can help you achieve your goals this year.

Year Of The Fire Horse

The year of the fire horse symbolizes intense energy, passion, and big transformation.  It’s a time for pursuing your goals, taking risks, and making big life decisions.  It is considered to be a time for bold, fast paced action.  This is a period to break old, stagnant patterns and finally go after your goals.  It’s time to step into the year of the fire horse and stop letting your old habits and limiting beliefs hold you back from living the life you’ve always imagined.

Action

One of the key themes t...

This is the month of love.  Whether you’re in a romantic relationship or not, love is an important quality to have in life.  Love isn’t just for another person, it’s for yourself, it’s for the little things in life, the growth you’re experiencing, and a love of life itself.  Love is defined as an intense feeling of affection with a great interest and pleasure in something.  Learn how you can experience a whole new perspective on life when you choose to see life through the lens of love.

Love

When you love something, it’s with your entire heart.  When you love something so much that it brings happy tears of joy to your face, that’s when you know it is real love.  Sometimes that can be difficult and heartbreaking because you love something so much, but it causes you pain.  That pain is emotional turmoil.  Such as, grief from the loss of a loved one.  As Alfred Lord Tennyson quotes, it is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.  Unfortunately, sometimes it t...

You are not who you were 10 years ago.  You’ve grown and learned a lot along the way.  Now, consider where you’ll be in another 10 years.  Probably miles away from who you are now.  But, there are still core values that you hold real and true about yourself.  These are the things you never want to lose sight of.  These are the important things in your life that make up who you are, what you stand for, and believe to be true about yourself.

Core Values

Your core values are what make you – you.  Think back to growing up and what key traits or characteristics you held onto.  Maybe that was being adventurous, curious, honest, a good listener, or a powerful powerhouse, etc.  These are the traits that you tap into when you’re struggling, down, and need extra encouragement or motivation.  It’s the traits that help you keep going when life gets tough.  Whenever you encounter a challenge, you can rely on your core values to help you navigate and get through it.  Consider what these core...

One tool you can use to help you achieve your goals this year is to create a mood board.  A mood board evokes a certain feeling within you.  This feeling can motivate and inspire you to take action towards your goals.  It acts as a reminder of what you should be focusing on.  This is especially helpful when you’re feeling lost, stuck in negative thought cycles, or needing a gentle nudge to get yourself back on track.  Here’s how you can create your mood board.

Feeling

Begin by deciding how you want this year to feel.  Maybe that’s light, peaceful, happiness, confident, stress free, etc.  Perhaps that’s the opposite of how you’re feeling right now.  Or, maybe it’s to empower you to keep going with what you’re currently doing.  Think about this year and how you want to feel.

Who You Are Being

Next, consider who you want to be this year.  Maybe you want to be more patient, kind, etc.  Perhaps you want to be more driven, confident, determined, steadfast, ambitious, etc.  Think...

Achieving your goals takes a lot of dedication and hard work.  It’s not always easy.  It’s challenging, trying, and sometimes you feel like giving up.  You might stop making progress towards your goals, sit on the sidelines and take a beat, questioning everything you’re doing.  But, if you realize deep down that this goal is something you truly want to achieve, then you’re going to have to find the discipline to achieve your goal.

Definition

Discipline is defined as training yourself to do something in a controlled and habitual way.  It’s being disciplined to follow through on completing the action items to work towards your goal.  It’s not to discipline yourself in a mean way for getting something wrong.  Instead, it’s to teach you to be disciplined in taking continual action towards your goal each day.  It’s having processes, habits, routines, and set boundaries so that you can prioritize your goal related activities.  Having the discipline to achieve your goal means focusing...

In order to achieve your goals in the new year, you usually need more time, money, or resources.  Finding ways to acquire more of that will be one of the biggest things you can do to help you make progress and actually achieve your goals this year.

Time

You have 24 hours in a day.  How you use that time is what’s important.  A third of that time is usually spent sleeping.  You need to get an adequate amount of sleep each night so that you don’t wake up groggy.  Set aside time to sleep so that you can rest and recharge.  You want to have a clear mind and enough energy to take action towards your goals.  Sleep is super important so don’t short change the amount of sleep you’re getting just to try and have extra time to work on your goals.  Instead, focus on the other remaining time you have to fill.  This time is filled with some tasks related to achieving your goals, daily routines, good or bad habits, hygiene, and other non-goal related tasks.  If you need more time to achieve ...

To start the new year, take inventory of your life by completing a life assessment.  This will help you get clear on where you are and what you want to work on this year.

Assessment

Complete an assessment of where you currently are in your life by rating 7 areas of your life on a scale of 0 unhappy, needs work to 10 happy, completely fulfilled in this area.  These 7 areas will be detailed below.  Then, choose one area that you want to work on in the new year.  There will be ideas about how you can improve each area of your life in the descriptions of each area below.  Let’s get started!

Environment

Your environment is your surroundings to include your house, car, office or workspace, etc.  You spend a lot of time here.  If you want to improve this area of your life in the new year, you might decide to redecorate, remodel, move, clean, organize, get something new that brightens your space and makes you happy.

Mental Wellbeing

Your mental wellbeing is all about your min...

It’s the first day of the new year.  This is page one of the next chapter of your life.  Think about how you want this chapter to go, what you want to do, see, feel, experience, etc.  If you could write your next chapter word for word, what would that entail?  Maybe you feel like your previous chapter isn’t quite done being written yet.  Or, perhaps you’re ready to start a fresh new page.  Either way, this is the beginning of your next chapter.

Hero

In writing stories, there is often times a hero.  You get to be the hero in your own story.  Consider how you can be brave and courageous this year.  Maybe that’s stepping outside your comfort zone more often and trying new things.  Perhaps that’s standing up for yourself, setting boundaries, and saying no when you would have otherwise said yes to adding more to your already full plate.  Think about how you can take care of your mental, physical, and emotional wellbeing this year.  This is the hero’s journey.  Get ready to write abo...