Are you ready to OWN 2016? Create your vision

Do you want to make 2016 your best year yet?

Are you ready to step into your power and create the life of your dreams?

You have many amazing things to do in this world and it’s time for you to take action!

 

ENTER 2016 with clarity, focus and power by letting go of 2015 and creating a vision for yourself in 2016.

Set your sight on the goal and work tirlessly to make your dreams come true.

 

Preparation is key to every victory in life.

 

Psychological, emotional and energetic preparation is what separates those that succeed from those that want to succeed. No point in aimlessly wandering around wishing and hoping for the best, it’s within your reach to set goals and work to achieve them.

 

About four years ago I began intentionally closing the year, my life felt more deliberate and I achieved so many goals I’ve had for years!

 

• This year I published a book (a bestseller in South Africa) effortlessly, it just flowed, no pressure, no painful deadlines just an effortless process of creation.
• I hosted the First International Low Carb High Fat Health Summit in Cape Town (also known as The Old Mutual Health Convention). I met the most extraordinary people whom I now call friends.
• I traveled to places I’ve always wanted to see amongst them Cuba and Palm Springs.
• I decided to step outside of my comfort zone and cut attachments that no longer served me. I started my own business with no partners to rely on for support and it has soared.
• Abundance has flowed in from the most unexpected places, I have felt more passionate about myself and my purpose, I have connected with myself and my family in a much deeper and meaningful way, and so much more!

But it hasn’t all been smooth sailing:

• I made some mistakes entering into business relationships where I naively believed we had the same goals.
• I neglected my own health and wellbeing a bit.
• I allowed myself to become very stressed and overwhelmed by taking on too many projects.

 

Taking these successes and failures into account and choosing to see them as lessons I now turn my focus to 2016, in all it’s glittering glory.

 

So I invite you to set yourself up to thrive in 2016 by doing a short yet potent New Year’s Eve Ceremony that I use to set intentions, gain clarity and focus and set myself up for success.

 

The eve of the last day of the year has long been recognized as an auspicious and sacred time to:

• reflect and celebrate the year that has passed
• release thoughts and beliefs that are no longer serving you
• set clear intentions for the year ahead
• invite the powerful energy of attraction to manifest your desires

 

What to do:

 

Set aside at least 30 minutes and choose the elements out of the suggestions below that resonate with you.  Most importantly, remember to make this ceremony fun and exciting!

(I do this with my children, husband, parents and anyone willing to join us on New Year’s eve)

 

RELEASE & MANIFEST CEREMONY

1. CREATE A SACRED SPACE.

 

You don’t have to do the ceremony on the 31st of December.  Select a day and time when you (and whoever you invite) will enjoy focusing on setting intentions without interruptions.

 

When deciding on location, begin with connecting with what a ceremony means to you and what kind of an environment is conducive for feeling united in your heart, mind and soul.

 

For me, it could mean any of the following:

• lighting a candle with the intention of illuminating the vision for your next year
• creating a special space with things that hold personal meaning such as photographs, art, and sacred objects
• creating a vision board to represent what you would like to attract in 2015
• putting on inspiring music

2. CENTER YOURSELF. 

Meditate or just do some deep breathing for a 5-10minutes.  Slow down your heart rate.  Feel your body and all the present sensations.

If you are gathering with friends, I recommend someone guiding everyone in a centering meditation.

3. REFLECT ON INTENTIONS FROM THIS YEAR.  

• Have you achieved what you set out to accomplish in the last 12 months?
• Did you live in alignment with your true intentions and priorities?  If not, why?
• What valuable personal and professional lessons have you learned?

 

Maybe you feel proud and powerful for making courageous choices. Or maybe you feel angry and frustrated for continuing outdated patterns.  All of it is perfectly okay and I highly suggest removing any internal censoring and having a real heart-to-heart with your journal.

If you want to share this with other people who are doing the ceremony with you, share 2-3 lessons you learned from the year.

And if you love fire, then write down 2-3 habits or beliefs that you know you are ready to release and burn them.

As they go up in flames, let them go, forgive yourself for being so hard on yourself and make a concious decision to be kind and loving to yourself and others in 2016.

4. WRITE DOWN 10 HIGHLIGHTS FROM THIS YEAR. 

They can be big achievements or more subtle magic moments.  Remember how they felt and what made them so special.

I’ll share some of mine with you:

1. My youngest son starting Grade R and being Joseph in the school Nativity play.
2. My oldest son asserting his independence by getting himself a holiday job.
3. Starting the journey of befriending my mom’s Parkinson’s disease.
4. The Old Mutual Health Convention.
5. My book Sugar Free becoming a South African bestseller.
6. Sugar Free September and the amazing response we had to it.
7. Getting an international publishing deal for Sugar Free which will be published in the UK June 2016.
8. Travelling around South Africa doing talks for Old Mutual.
9. Cape Times Sugar Free breakfast with Prof Tim Noakes, Dr Aseem Malhotra and Caryn Zinn.
10. Starting The Sugar Free Youtube show with my dear friend Emily Maguire and interviewing amazing people like Damon Gameau from That Sugar Film, Dr Aseem Malhotra, dr jason Fung, Libby from Ditch the Carbs and more.

 

Focusing and reliving the most exciting and exhilarating times of your life  is one of the most powerful ways of reprogramming your mindset to keep a success score card, instead of a failure tab!

 

5. DECLARE WHAT YOU WANT NEXT YEAR. 

 

I recommend writing down one intention for each area of your life.  I find these wishes to feel more powerful when I state them in present tense so that I feel like I’m already living my desires.  Here are four main areas to focus on:

 

1. Your Health. The health goal can do with fitness or dietary habits or it can be very general, such as: “I will focus on my body and nurture and nourish it daily”.

 

2. Your Wealth. The wealth intention can be a specific desire in your career or finances or it can be something like: “Money flows to me freely and effortlessly when I put in the effort”.

 

3. Your Relationships.  A relationship goal will be more powerful if you can focus on how YOU want to feel instead of how you would like someone else to change.  For example: “I love being in satisfying, loving and nurturing relationships”.

 

4. Your Personal Enrichment.   Probably the most important goal out of all 3 because it is what feeds your soul, emotions and mind.  One of my favourite affirmations for myself is: “I choose to love and accept myself exactly as I am”.

 

 

5. CHOOSE A THEME FOR NEXT YEAR.

 

After you have reflected on where you’ve been and where you want to go, it is also useful to pick a theme word or phrase for the year.

For example, my focus of 2015 was “I’m Ready”.  Anytime I had to make a big decision, I would remind myself that I’m ready and that helped me host the LCHF convention, launch new courses and build a new website, all before I felt I was truly prepared (truthfully, I was never going to feel 100% prepared).

 

The theme can also be a way to recognize when you’ve gotten off balance and help course correct.

 

My theme for 2016 is ‘this is my time to shine’.

 

It’s amazing how just a simple phrase can help us remember what our priorities are!

 

6. SHARE: TOGETHER WE CAN DO WHAT WE CANNOT DO ALONE.
   

 

If you are with others, share your intentions and your theme one by one, this will help you become accountable.

And if you did the ceremony on your own, I recommend writing an email to a couple of friends summarizing your desires for 2016 and asking them to help you stay focused in the coming year.

When two or more minds connect with an idea at the same time, the power of the idea becomes greater than the sum of the individual parts. 

 

So share with (supportive) others what you want to develop in your life and you will be amazed how much more fun and easy it will be to journey to your goals.

 

 

CONCLUSION

I received an email from one of my favourite spiritual advisors Marianne Williamson the other day and the heading said:

To Have a Great New Year, BE Great in the New Year

 

Here’s to being GREAT, we all have it within us.

Here is to a PHENOMENAL SUGAR FREE 2016!

Thank you for your magnificent presence in my 2015. I am so blessed,

Karen xxx