Every year, I pick a word or a phrase that becomes what I call, my “Power Intention” for the year.
My Power Intention guides me in getting clear on how I want to be, feel and act. I’ve been doing this ritual for almost a decade and I find this practice to be really grounding and enlivening. This year, courage found me as my PI.
I define courage as the ability to act with love in the face of fear. Fear is biologically meant to hold us back in order to keep us safe. But a lot of the time, the mind creates fabricated stories about what to actually be afraid of.
For instance, many people are fearful to post on social media because they are concerned what other’s may think of them.
People are afraid to speak up in a meeting incase of sounding stupid.
Fear based stories of rejection in the mind prevent people from applying to that job or asking that person out on a date.
I face my own trepidations in many areas of my life and I am ready to courageously face them. For instance, I have battled my own mis-guided beliefs of publishing a book for the last decade due to the fear of it “not being good enough.” I am so done with feeling imprisoned by the limiting thoughts.
When I launched this Substack, Noticings last year, I wanted it to be a space where I could play and express myself. Giving my inner dyslexic child a creative outlet where I could let go of perfectionism. I can use my writing as a spiritual playground to share ideas, connect with others and hopefully help someone else feel seen in their human experience.
Launching this blog gave me enough courage to declutter the cobwebs off of a interactive journal guide I created in 2015! The publishing date is coming soon so stay tuned to meet by baby, 100 Mindful Moments to Balance & Energize!
I realized that publishing this interactive journal is part of a commit to honoring myself—something I learned last year when I leaned into my PI of SouL.
When I shut down my inner wisdom with “not good enough” criticism, I stay frozen. This year, I get to move through the fear with love and mightiness.
Courage this year has also inspired my husband and I to rip the band aid off of a discussion we’ve had for the last decade of how can we spend a substantial amount of time living abroad.
I am excited to announce, I writing this post from a cafe in Amsterdam where I just arrived yesterday!
We courageously swam through the details that felt overwhelming in the past to create different results.
Our house is decluttered and rented.
Our minimal bags are packed.
The world feels like our oyster as we have a one-way ticket.
My planner-brain and control prone nervous system would love to have our trip fully booked; however, courage is supporting me stepping into the unknown and trusting we can “build this plane while we fly it.” And let me tell you, it feels so good!
On the Centered in the City Podcast this week (comes out tomorrow), I share more behind the scenes details about prepping for this abroad adventure so make sure to tune in and take a listen. I share both the internal and external actions that courage supported me taking.
I love the invitation
just shared in his Substack to take more risks. He reminds us “most people are too risk-averse and would benefit from taking more risks.” For me, that is one of the reasons I am excited for my PI of courage. It feels like I have a best friend’s hand to hold as I take more risks this year. Life is too short to stay small and sit in my comfort bubble of protection.
It can feel easier to keep things as they have always been, but sometimes easier is not better.
Sometimes the easy road is actually not what feels aligned to the life I want to be creating. Different choices doesn’t necessarily mean harder. But we need to choose differently if we want to create different results in life. And I am very ready to shift things up.
How about you?
If you are wanting to take risks this year and want your own Power Intention to support you in taking intentional action, I welcome you to join me for a workshop I do every year called the Intention Setting Party (happening virtual on Jan 25th).
This is an interactive space where I walk you through:
guided meditations
journaling prompts
movement release practices
mind-mapping exercises
All designed to help you get clear on where you want to focus your energy this year. I promise you will not regret saying yes to yourself in this way.
This mode of setting goals is more effective and sustainable than any 30-day challenge or resolutions you may have set. I hope to see you there!
Stay tuned as this Substack, Noticings, will courageously expand in the coming months. Thanks so much for being here.
I’d love to hear from you! Share your thoughts in the comments to any of these prompts:
What risks are you taking in 2025?
Do you already have a Power Intention for 2025? If so, what are you learning about your theme?
Where in your life are you wanting to create different results?