How to Make 2021 Your Best Year Ever
It is not uncommon to hear people say that they are ready for 2020 to end so they can start fresh in 2021. “Cancel 2020. Let’s just move on” is a frequent sentiment. But there is actually no need to wait. You can have that fresh start now before the year ends. In my last post, “Why 2020 Was ACTUALLY the Best Year Ever,” I provided some perspectives on why 2020 was the best year for the collective and why it turned out to be the best year of my life. Today, I want to share the principles that I applied to make it my best year, regardless of what was going on around me and the challenges I faced. By sharing these, I hope to provide you with some tools to make 2021 your best year ever, starting today. To clarify, stating that 2021 is going to be your best year ever does not disqualify any other years from also being extraordinary. You can apply these principles to all future years of your life. 2021 is just a good place to start!
8 Steps to Create the 2021 of Your Dreams
Step 1 - Consciously Choose It
The first step is simple, yet has profound effects. The rest of the steps won’t work without it. First you must consciously choose right now to make 2021 your best year ever. Your mind will create the outcome, so dialogue with it using expectant language such as, “This is going to be an absolutely incredible year. Things will only continue to get better for me.” By choosing it to go the way you want now, you are already putting the energy behind it that is necessary for it to start manifesting.
Step 2 - Write a Future Vision
Write out in present tense what your life is like exactly one year from today - who you're with, what you're doing, who you're being, how you're feeling, what you’re thinking, and anything else you envision. Your Future Vision sends a crystal clear message to the universe about what you desire, which the universe will then manifest and return to you. It is important to understand that you are not setting goals like making a certain amount of income by a particular date. It is very different in that you are stating it to be true in the present tense. Your mind does not know the difference between what is true now and what is not, so by stating your desires in the present tense, you set your mind on that trajectory. You may have friends and family attempt to talk you out of this. For example, if a relationship is part of your Future Vision, they may say, “What are you talking about? You don’t have that relationship. You’re single.” Let their doubts fall away. This process begins with who you are being in this moment and then your external environment changes and morphs into that. The first time I did this was in Fall of 2019 and everything came into existence before I even reached the 12-month mark, so I wrote out another one from there. If you are interested in learning more, at YOU:Transformed we offer a free, four-week program called Plant a New Destiny, in which we lead you through this in more detail and help you remove the blocks and restrictions standing between you and your Future Vision (a necessary step).
Step 3 - Build a Support Structure
Enlist a coach or community to help you with your transformation. This is something that I was very stubborn about at first. I was very much in the closet about spirituality for years. I talked to my Dad about things, which was really helpful, but otherwise I didn't have a coach, community, or friends that I shared this with. I thought, “This is a very personal thing, and I don’t really need to have others involved.” But I realized I couldn’t have been more wrong. Since creating the YOU:Transformed community and also being involved in other groups, I have seen my progress move at a much faster pace. I have been supported in ways that I never thought possible. Having an actual coach and/or community holding you accountable works wonders. It's absolutely amazing. Whether it be with the YOU:Transformed community or another avenue, find a community or coach to support you along the way. It is an investment in your soul’s evolution and will provide you tremendous growth.
Step 4 - Practice Gratitude
Be grateful for everything that happens. If you realize that life is happening for you and not against you - that it is all in service of your highest good to support your soul’s evolution - it changes the energy around it to a higher vibration. The universe picks up on that and provides you more of that positive, higher vibrational energy to support you along the way. Even with the hardest experiences that are rife with heartbreak, loss, grief, or pain (like 2020 for example), being grateful for what you are learning and the blessing you do have is extremely powerful. The meaning you assign to what happens in your life changes everything.
Step 5 - Pay Close Attention to the Words You Use
Monitor the words you think and say to yourself like a hawk, even the littlest ones. They are heard by the universe and returned back to you. For example, if you find yourself thinking, “This year sucks. All of my plans have been ruined and my business is down,” replace it with affirmations of truth such as, “Everything is always working out for me. I am in perfect health. Money piles up for me. I'm always supported. I trust in divine timing.” Even if you feel well-practiced at this, dig deeper. You will notice little things you are saying and thinking that are having a big effect on your reality. Your mind will believe whatever you tell it, so feed it with thoughts of what you want rather than what drags you down.
Step 6 - Unleash Your Inner Gatekeeper
Be extremely mindful of the information you absorb into your system. Be selective about the people you surround yourself with, the places you go, and the news or social media outlets you follow. If you can completely remove yourself from an environment or person that is consistently operating at a low vibration, then do that. However, there will be people like this who you still want to be in relationship with, such as a close family member. In that case, it is just a matter of laying out some boundaries. For example, each time you speak with your Mom she complains about COVID, how it has changed everything, and how she is really struggling to make it. No matter how much you acknowledge her struggle and offer to help, she continues to focus on the same things, staying stuck in the muddied water because she feels powerless to change anything. At that point, you have to say, "Hey, Mom, I love you. If I can help with something I want to, but I don't actually want to continue talking about those things. I am very grateful that you are healthy, that we all are. I'd like to move on and talk about something else." It is actually an act of love for yourself and others when you put up healthy boundaries. You protect your own energy, which allows you to be more loving and able to help those in your life because your energy is not sucked dry.
Step 7 - Stay Open to Change
The next tip is to be open to change because what you resist persists. This has been profoundly tested in 2020 and has been difficult for many. However, by recognizing that all changes are in service of you and your life, you remove yourself from the pattern of limiting beliefs and subconscious programming that keeps you from your best and highest good. It is important to remember that you are always fine. If you step back and view life from the oneness in everything, you will see that everything is always fine and working in divine timing and order. Despair, destitution, grief, pain, loss and other similar emotions are all positive and beautiful and always in existence. They are not a signifier that something is wrong but are there to help you evolve into a better version of yourself.
Step 8 - Be a Heroic Optimist
Last but not least, have a powerful mission, such as being a heroic optimist regardless of what is happening around you, and lead the way for others by example. Here is how I like to think of it: Your awareness is a flashlight that cuts through the darkness to reveal the next step, and then the next, and so on. Many around you, however, don’t have their flashlights turned on yet. They will eventually (and you will likely be one that helps them with this), but for now, shine your light for them. Let them know that things are going to be okay; that the future is promising and bright and that you can build it together. It is a very empowering mission to guide others at a time like this or any other.
Life will always set challenges along your path. Maybe not to the extreme that 2020 did, but there will always be challenges. Some you will have control over and others not so much. I hope you can see how the principles described in these steps help you focus on what you always have control over - who you are BEING. By making your state of being the focal point, you can make 2021 and anything else in your life the best ever!
