My “Secret Week” Ritual

by Carmen MarshallPersonal Development + Life Design0 comments

My “Secret Week” Ritual

It’s Secret Week!* That beautiful time between Christmas and New Year’s when things are a little slower, with less demands from our work or business, and more time for reflection and planning for the next year.

This is one of my favorite times of the year — it’s such a potent time to lay the groundwork for next year’s manifestations. And so, I have a really special ritual I want to share with you that I’ve been doing for 2 decades now – and that has made such a difference in my life.

*You can also do this on New Year’s Day, the first week of 2024, or anytime that you want to set your intentions.

Looking back to moving forward

I first heard of this concept from Cheryl Richardson, life coach and author of “Stand Up For Your Life”, and then customized it for Soul Craft. 🪄

The idea is that before you plan the next year, you want to reflect on and celebrate the previous year – the highlights, successes, the lessons learned and themes. And then from that place of awe and appreciation – of all that you have done and accomplished – set your goals for the next year.

Of course, in February, I host my annual Create Your Dream Year 5-Day Challenge (the only goal setting / manifestation course you’ll ever need, and your personal blueprint to return to every year). However, I do this special ritual during Secret Week, and I wanted to invite you to do it with me.

How to Do

1. Create A Sacred Space

Decide on a 2 hour period that you can create a sacred, special time for yourself, or with a partner, friend or your kids. It’s super fun to reminisce about the year together!

2. Buy a Special Journal

Buy a notebook or journal – any will do, but it’s fun to have one that you use every year. If you prefer to do it digitally — that works great too.

3. Have Fun!

Create ritual around this exercise — make it really relaxing + pleasurable (great for manifestation) — a candle, yummy drinks, inspiring music in the background — and a dance break!

4. Use Life Design Categories

Use the 8 Soul Craft Life Design Areas as your categories:

Health & Wellness, Business/Career, Personal Growth/Spirituality, Finances/Wealth, Lifestyle + Environment, Relationships Recreation + Adventure, and Contribution.

5. Highlights, Themes + Lessons Learned

Write down the 2023 highlights, successes, lessons learned and themes in each of these areas.

6. Jog Your Memory

Use your planner, digital calendar or better yet, your mobile phone photo album to remember all the above.

7. Set Intentions for 2024

Use each of the categories to set 2-3 intentions for 2024. Dream big — don’t worry about the how for now.

And that’s it! Super easy, super fun – and so important to do before setting goals for 2024. To celebrate all you have done first — we always have done more than we think / remember. ♥

If you want more guidance – here’s a blog + video from a few years back walking you through my whole process.

And of course I have you covered for setting and manifesting your goals in 2024 — be sure to get on the waitlist below for Create Your Dream Year 2024 – I’ll be live streaming the 5-Day Challenge from Bali this year which I’m beyond excited about!

Lots of love,