I’ve been thinking about and savoring 2013 before we head in 2014, and distilling the absolute core of Create A Life You Love.  

These are some of the questions I’ve been asking:  What are my non-negotiable practices, that most ground and center me?  What have I learned this year that has helped me most relax, feel connected and more easily co-create with the universe?  What do I want “pack in my suitcase” for 2014? 

I love threes.  My brain thinks in 3’s, 7’s and 10’s.  So here’s my 3 non-negotiable practices that most ground and center me:

1.  Gratitude.

For the longest time, I dismissed gratitude + gratitude journals  as being too cliché-ish.  This sounds terrible, but I had never even “practiced” gratitude until June of this year!  It gets worse…I would skip over chapters about gratitude in books to get to the more “interesting” manifesting parts.  (I know – crazy.  BIG MISTAKE :).

Then in a short but beautiful relationship this year, I had a boyfriend who actually PRACTICED gratitude.  Consistently and wholeheartedly.  Every night before we’d fall asleep, he would ask me, “What are 10 things you’re grateful for, from today?”  Or, he would start with his own…using his fingers to count them one by one…and then I’d do the same.

I fell in LOVE with this ritual and it’s been one of my favorite things to do every night – to consistently practice gratitude – right before I go to sleep.  

This one thing alone has increased my happiness, helped me relax, allow and be more in the flow of life – three things I had been asking for this year.  Along with, how can I co-create more ease-fully with the universe / god / spirit…

How about you?

• Do you practice gratitude intentionally + consistently?
• Do you have and use a gratitude journal?  (I just bought one!)
• Do you share, out of the blue, what you’re grateful for every day with your partner, friends or children?
• When you have down time – standing in the line at the bank, sitting in traffic or washing dishes – do you start listing off the things you’re grateful for? 

Try this:  For seven nights in a row, count out on your fingers ten things that you’re grateful for, from the day.  Comment below to share the magic that WILL happen in your life.  7 Nights of Gratitude = More of What You’re Grateful for + More.

2.  Purpose

This was also the year that I re-defined my purpose.  I’m fascinated with this topic.  My first business in Australia had a strong focus on finding your purpose.  I’ve read many books throughout the years about purpose and passion, and it’s always been part of my message that we need to do more of what we love every day and center our lives around our passions.

This year however, I felt something was missing – I felt the need to re-find and expand my purpose.   So I re-read books, looked at different ways of finding your purpose until I discovered something completely different for myself along the way.  Pivotal. Life changing. 

Freeing + grounding all at the same time. 

I now believe we each have THREE purposes – one centered around our larger personal mission, one centered around our passions, and one centered around who we ARE. 

Discovering and re-defining my purpose (and not having it limited to 1 thing as that always felt like too much pressure!) has been one of the most centering events of 2013.  I write my purpose at the top of my Create A Life You Love Day Planner every week.  BEING + DOING from my purpose every day, is immensely grounding and centering.

How about you?

• Do you know your purpose/s? 
• Have you ever felt stuck or limited trying to define just ONE purpose for yourself?

Click here and here for the past two articles that I’ve written about finding your purpose.  They will get you started in FEELING what your purposes are.

We’ll spend a whole day on this in Bali 2014 – Create A Life You Love Retreat and I’ll also have workbooks and online courses coming out soon on the topic – but for now, this will help you start feeling what moves and inspires you. The above articles about should help start the FLOW of your passions and purpose.

3.  Connection to Self + Source

This is something that I came back to as non-negotiable this year.  Somehow over the past 1.5 years of my global relocation experiment and living in beautiful (and spiritual) places like Maui + Bali, I got out of my routine of breathing and connecting to source consistently every morning.  Being in gorgeous, nature filled countries helped fill the gap, but 1.5 years later, I’ve realized that NOTHING is as good as intentionally connecting with source + self for 5-10 min every morning.  In the shamanic jungle or not :)   

This year, I’ve been asking the big questions – what do I want my life to be about NOW?  How can I partner with spirit ease-fully instead of just pushing to create?  How can I be led and inspired more easily?  Of course – taking time every morning for 5-10 min to just BREATHE (or meditate) was the answer. 

How about you?

• Have you thought meditation doesn’t work for you b/c you don’t have the time, or can’t sit still for 20-30 min? 
• Is there anything you used to do, that you KNOW is centering and grounding for you, that you’re not doing right now? 

Try just 5-10 min of just breathing in the morning and weave back whatever most grounds and centers you into you life.  It’s crucial.  And you have the time …especially when it has the power to so positively alter the vibration of your entire day.  The leverage and ROT (return on time) of of 5-10 min every morning is immeasurable. 

What I love about my 3 favorite ways to align, is that it doesn’t matter WHAT is happening in my life – stress, uncertainty, change…when I do these 3 quick, easy things, I’m grounded.  I’m connected.  I’m led.  I’m inspired.

And when I don’t…I’m all over the place.

How about you?

• Do any of the above grounding and centering rituals resonate with you for 2014?
• What are your 3 favorite ways to ground and center yourself?

As always, I love to hear from YOU.

Happy Holidays and New Year! 

I’m off to Brazil for Dec 27 – Jan 14th to dance, dance, dance…a Create A Life You Love DREAM of many years for me :)  I can’t wait to share the experience with you!

Be Happy…Be Vibrant…

Love,

Carmen xo