For the last few years, I have been selecting a word to guide me into the new year. My word for 2022 was “compassion.”
I focused a lot on self-compassion, which led me to the moment I realized I was creating all my goals from a place of lack.
If I could only meet this goal, I will be worthy.
If I could only meet that goal, I will be worthy.
When I noticed I was thinking about goals in this way, it led me to study what goals could look like if I framed them in a way that allowed for self-compassion.
I have always wanted to be bilingual (if not trilingual), so I am going to create a goal to learn French.
My business is important to me, so I am going to create goals that support me and my business.
Goals, but Different
And that is how Goals, but Different was born. Goals, but Different is a guide to help you discover how to create goals and work toward them with self-compassion.
This guide has been an integral part of my goals journey and I want to share it with you. Just as my journey is ever evolving, so will Goals, but Different. This is why I decided that if you buy Goals, but Different, you will always have access to the newest version for as long as I have a good email address for you.
It has journal prompts and stories around focusing on a goal, perfectionism, procrastination, celebration, progress, success and failure, and more!
As I continue on the path of cultivating more self-compassion, I am noticing my increased motivation to work on goals. I worried that if I forgave myself for missing days, for not working on my goal, for showing up imperfectly, I would think there was no point to any of it and just lie under a blanket and read all day.
I’ve found the exact opposite. I have more motivation to work on my goals because I am not speaking terribly to myself anymore. I’m not saying things like:
Why didn’t you work on your goals today? You’re so lazy!
You wasted the entire day!
You would be done by now if you would have just gotten up and done it instead of binge watch this dumb show.
It’s no wonder I didn’t want to do anything! Now, I have substantiated proof that this isn’t an isolated case that self-compassion is more motivating. Both Self-Compassion by Kristin Neff, PhD and The Confidence Code by Katty Kay and Claire Shipman talk about the motivation that comes along with showing yourself compassion. (The links to those two books are both affiliate links.)
That brings me to my word for 2023.
Expansion
I’ve been using the word “expansion” instead of marketing in my brain because it feels more like community. We are expanding our minds, our lives, and our worlds together. We learn from each other and expand together.
It feels bigger.
It feels bigger because it is.
It is more than how I think about marketing. It is about growth, building community, and taking up space.
Everything that I offer, that I invite you into, is about expansion – for me and you.
So, here are the ways I am currently inviting you to expand with me:
Books
- Goals, but Different: A guide to help you discover how to create goals and work toward them with self-compassion.
- Running Through My Thoughts: Personal Essays about running, writing, and life.
- Everything Remains: a relay of four flash fiction pieces that create one story.
- Shadow of the Light: a paranormal romance novel (coming soon!)
Courses
- Virtual Chats: text-based 1:1 conversations with me about marketing, goals, and/or writing.
- Fall Back in Love with Writing – February 2023
- Goals, but Different could also go here because it is like a self-paced class in the form of a guide.
- Marketing Mindset: Begin moving from Yuck to Yay (coming soon!)
- Embodied Poetry: A series of one-off classes using somatic practices to experience poetry.
- Overcoming Barriers to Journaling: on-demand class to help you discover what is keeping you from a consistent journaling practice.
The best way to keep up with all the ways of expansion is to join my email community. (The people there basically got a real-time discovery of what my word for 2023 would be!)
Do you have a word for 2023?