As I was preparing my New Years’ menu, I had to make sure I had my black-eyed peas and collard greens ready. It is one of my favorite, most nostalgic moments of the year to soak the beans overnight and wash and cook collards the same way my grandmother did it.
It is a southern tradition to cook these two dishes with the greens representing prosperity and the peas representing luck. Of course, you want both in the upcoming year.
We all want to live a life that exudes an overflow of health and wellness – in our finances, our relationships, our physical and spiritual bodies, and our emotional wellbeing.
The following are three ways we can do just that this year.
Find your abundant mindset
To have abundance simply means that we have much more than what we need. Some can look at that definition and feel instantly guilty – wouldn’t it be “too much” to ask for abundance in our lives? What about the people who have nothing? Having more than we need for some feels wrong and selfish, conjuring all kinds of negative emotions like shame and disgust.
That mindset reinforces the belief that there is not enough to go around – that there is a limit to who can obtain abundance and that it is fixed. That worldview has been created and it can be broken down if we choose. It is a construct or paradigm we heard as children, the media, and society. It’s simply something we have allowed ourselves to believe.
What if the truth is that there is plenty to go around? That it’s our duty to go out and be the best version of ourselves, sharing our special gifts with others, which would ensure abundance in our lives? What if we change our mentality to love the gift of abundant health and prosperity, believe we deserve it and have it love us back?
This new way of thinking incorporates a more positive outlook about the essence of abundance – one that if we embrace this year, will change how money, success, wealth in relationships, health, and our ability to thrive flows freely into our existence.
Plan for the presence of abundance
Once we have the right mindset about abundance, we need to prepare for what that actually looks like. Don’t play small – shoot your shot. Forget about what everyone else’s opinion is about “what’s possible” and ask yourself… How do I want to feel abundant this year?
For some, this means writing a book, hitting new records, changing careers. For others, this looks like loving the way they look and feel again or getting a clean bill of health at their next physical. Get specific about what your purpose is in this season of life and how it looks and feels to be that future you.
What do you need to create this future? What habits do you need to break? How do you need to spend your free time? How do you need to set up your environment? What steps do you need to take to make sure this becomes reality? Write down your goals, but more importantly, write down the plan to make sure those big goals become reality using small steps. Then start to change your behaviors to ensure your plan works.
Get prepared for big changes. You may do things, act in ways, and prioritize in ways you never have before. You may limit or remove unhealthy relationships and start creating boundaries that weren’t there prior. Maybe your life looks drastically different – sometimes it takes that kind of radical remaking to be able to achieve what we want.
Leave behind what does not serve you
I always tell my clients that how we spend our very limited amount of time and energy tells us everything we need to know about what our priorities are. If you add up all of the resources we spend tending to our own ego, blaming others, judging, justifying unhealthy behaviors, negative self-talk, and telling ourselves stories (which a lot of the time aren’t true), it’s a massive weight that can be lifted and moved to something else.
Instead of taking those things that don’t serve us along for the ride this year, we can replace them with something else. We could pour that freed-up energy into the focused intentions we have for our life.
How about we focus instead on being present through mindfulness, self-reflection, and gratitude? Or dive into our purpose using inspiration and motivation from others we admire? Staying curious and open-minded? We could be outside in nature and moving our bodies, taking care of the most important thing, our health, and wellbeing.
Honest But Kind:
It may take significant life change to create the life of abundance we want, but if we have the right mindset, plan accordingly, and remove unhealthy emotional habits, we have a shot at becoming more abundant than ever this year.
Unhealthy and healthy choices and mindsets both take our time and energy. So I ask you, what are choosing to spend your time on this year?
It is my hope that you spend it on positive changes that lead to an incredible amount of abundance. Always cheering for your health & happiness, friend.
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