
21 Dec Make 2017 Epic: Goal Setting and Weekly Planning Workbooks Now Available + 2016 in Review
“Life lived by choice is a life of conscious action. A life lived by chance is a life of unconscious reaction.” –Neale Donald Walsch
We believe annual reflection, celebration and setting a future intention are important parts of Living Your Legend. They’re crucial pieces to living life mindfully—rather than just doing things without ever thinking about what, how and why you are doing them. There’s no sleepwalking through life allowed in our movement!
Yet, there tends to be a lot of hype (and haters) around the idea of end-of-year goal setting. Why set goals every year only to have momentum for a few months (or minutes)? Well, if that’s your reason to hate on goal setting, I’d argue that goal setting is not the problem. Your strategy for momentum and execution just might need some attention…
The reality is that as time goes by, our external circumstances change, as do our internal values, needs and desires. Without periodically measuring and adjusting, you can wake up in 5 years a stranger in your own skin, wondering how the hell you got there.
Imagine if you were trying to drive a car from California to Oregon (North). There are many ways to get there, but if you didn’t periodically check the map to make sure you were still on the right route, you could easily end up in Colorado (North East), only to wonder where you made a wrong turn. Not to mention all of the precious time wasted. And sometimes, as in life, there are no easy roads connecting Colorado and Oregon.
Now I will admit, I’ve never been one to set too many rigid goals. It’s not my style because I’ve learned to appreciate the unexpected flow of life, which requires flexibility. As Jonathan Fields so perfectly put it, I like the idea of having a strategy but doing so while allowing room for serendipity.
And, it’s important to note that when you find yourself unhappy, it is because things are not going according to the way you think they should be. Unhappiness surfaces when our reality does not meet our expectations. But what are the odds of things always going your way? Pretty slim (if not zero!). So it’s a recipe for disaster if you can only be happy when things go your way.
So that is why we think having a positive future vision and setting overarching intentions can be the difference between success and failure. Dreaming, but allowing the space for how that dream can come to be. Similar to setting the GPS to the destination you’d like to get to, but allowing the journey to unfold as it will and without attachment to how it unfolds.
Additionally, I think we are in the middle of a serious celebration crisis these days. People are so hard on themselves when things don’t go perfectly. (Hint: opening up your expectations might help here.) And most people are only ever looking at how far they have to go and not appreciating how far they have actually come. It’s easy to get bogged down and not realize and appreciate all the hard work and great things that happened for you last year.
So, we have just the solution to help you appreciate the past year and get you ready for the next…
Today, it’s our pleasure to offer you the latest versions of two highly useful workbooks that will have you pumped up to take on the new year. And did I mention they’re completely free because we love you and want to see you thrive in 2017?! Well, they are. And we do!
If success in 2017 is a MUST for you, then using these effective tools is a MUST! Do you want to make 2017 your best year yet? Then take advantage of these two results-oriented tools now—our 2017 gift to you!
We update and re-release these valuable tools every year because they allow you the chance to reflect and celebrate all you did last year, plus set intentions (and tactics to help you keep the momentum going) for the year ahead. It’s a proven method we’ve made into a very user-friendly package for you!
Goal Setting and Action Workbook: This step-by-step and proven process will set you up for achieving maximum success in the year to come!
Weekly Planning Workbook: Make consistent progress with this comprehensive weekly planning and reflection tool—keep the momentum going instead of just stalling out!
If you’re fired up about 2017, you’ve got all you need to go from here.
But since authenticity is one of the core values of LYL (and because I am a big believer in saying your dreams out loud), I wouldn’t feel right if I didn’t lead by example and share my reflections and intentions. Oh, and there’s nothing like a little public accountability!
2016 Reflections & 2017 Intentions
At this time last year, thinking of 2016 felt like I was walking blindfolded into the woods and being asked to find my way. Nearly everything I had known was different, yet my mind, heart and past conditioning was screaming for things to be the same. Given that there was so much uncertainty—there is no rule book for what to do and how to do it when your life gets flipped upside-down—I used goal setting and intentions to create some semblance of structure on a very rocky foundation.
And I’ll admit, I absolutely cannot believe all that I have done in a year, and one that was (hopefully!) the most challenging year of my life.
Here’s a rundown of my overarching intentions and just a few of the things that I am celebrating from this past year:
Intention 1: Expand My Mind
- I attended over 50 coaching sessions, both personal and business, and 8 events covering topics ranging from business to finance to health to leadership to spirituality. Where I am today is not a result of waking up “hoping” to find peace and healing. It’s a result of a lot of really hard work. I spent a tremendous amount of time looking inwards, facing fears, sitting with and understanding my pain and exploring deeper parts of myself than I ever even knew existed.
- Got about a million times better at surfing as a result of consistent and dedicated practice.
- Read 15 books—mostly focused on gaining a deeper understanding of science and spirituality.
Intention 2: Adventure
- Traveled to 11 countries.
- Visited 6 new US cities.
- Completed the trip Scott and I were meant to finish in 2015.
Intention 3: Keep Scott Shining
- While it was not all pretty, I managed to make it through the first year as Chief Inspiration Officer and Global Ambassador of Live Your Legend (which was an exponential learning curve!) without blowing up or derailing the massive Revolution already in progress.
- Connected in person with 8 Live Your Legend Local Groups in 6 countries.
- Launched LYL’s newest course, 21 Days to Discover Your Passion.
- Gave two main stage talks, one at UC San Francisco, one at World Domination Summit.
- Wrote 28 articles (something I had never done prior to this year)—and based on the outpouring of responses I got, some that managed to really help people.
- Did lots of interviews (also something I had never done prior to this year) to keep spreading the message of LYL. Here and here are just a few.
So did I manage to make the most out of a challenging year? Have a found a place where I’ve learned to live with this new reality? Yes. But I’m not one to just settle, so even though I got to a place I never could have imagined getting to, I’m not gonna stop there.
Which means I’ve spent a lot of time since September getting real with myself about what’s still working and what’s not anymore. And because I always try to be unapologetically honest with myself and all of you, I recognize and admit that:
- A lot of my last year was spent in self-preservation mode, keeping even those closest to me at a distance.
- Living almost solely out of love for Scott allowed me to find purpose in things outside of “me” and even though it scares the crap out of me, it is time to do a more living out of love for Chelsea.
- I used a lot of doing and accomplishing as a way to cope. 2017 will be more about thriving.
No self-bashing here. I am human, I needed to cope somehow—and hey, there are much worse options I could have chosen! But as I reflect on this last year, I know it is time for me to reset, realign and recreate a strategy for what I would like to work towards. I could just keep on keeping on as I am because I’ve managed to get to a place that’s comfortable but, let’s get real… I’m not here to have a comfortable life, I am here to have a meaningful one—and I know you all are, too.
However, these are not always easy realizations to have because it means that I am welcoming change in a way of living that I’ve come to know and enjoy. But… at the end of the day, in order to live a life of meaning, I’ve got to welcome change (which is always accompanied by discomfort). But… change is required for growth, and growth is required for lasting fulfillment.
So as I look forward to 2017, I used the Goal Setting and Action Workbook to narrow down my goals into 3 main intentions (a balance that I have discussed the importance of in the past), followed by some tactics to achieve those intentions.
These are simply my overarching intentions (creating a strategy while being open to serendipity)—our tools also help you tactically execute on your intentions.
Intention 1: Create (aka Give)
- Space: I can continue to do a lot of things (because it gives me purpose) but over the last few months, I’ve started to feel a bit out of alignment because my nature is much more “to be” than “to do,” hence my previous title as Chief Balance Officer. So I’m aware I need to create a little more space to reconnect, rediscover and redefine who I am and who I want to be in this next chapter of my life.
- Grief/Change Guide: I have had a lot of people approach me about grief and overcoming challenges. While I can send them articles I’ve written or the talks/interviews I’ve done, I would like to create a better understanding (for myself and others) of the process I used to get to where I am today, with the hope that I can help others struggling through a difficult period of their life.
- Book: I have a book idea that I would like to pursue in 2017 (or three—but as Scott always said, “Focus is the key to the world!” So one at a time!).
Intention 2: Consume (aka Receive)
- Self-Love: Creating a little more “me” time is needed this year. This encompasses routines, concepts and practices that take care of my mind, body and spirit. In a lot of ways I feel like I am redefining my identity and that requires questioning whether or not I am doing things as they have always been done or if those things are still serving me. This is the basic concept of Pillar 1 of the Passionate Work Framework: Become a Self-Expert. Given the drastic life changes that I have had and the fact that I am moving from surviving to thriving, it would be foolish not to constantly revisit this pillar.
Intention 3: Connect (aka Give and Receive)
- New Community: As I mentioned above, I am very well aware of the self-preservation I’ve created over the last year. And feel ready to make a change to get closer and more connected to a community of my own. This will of course require me to open up to new ideas and ways of traveling, living, etc., but it’s a change I welcome.
- Old Friends: I intend to make a better effort to be more proactive versus reactive in my relationships. This got a little off-kilter this past year because I’ve told myself the story (and it is just a story!) that my life is so different from many that I know. So making an effort to get back to the old me, per se.
- The LYL Community: I love connecting with you guys virtually and in person and helping you on your journey to discover how to live your legend. I also love learning from you how we can constantly improve and provide what you want (not what we think you want) at LYL.
So, there you have it, a no-holds-barred window deep into my world.
And whether you are a goal-setting advocate or a goal-setting anarchist, there is no denying that periodic check-ins are incredibly important to make sure that the compass is still pointing in the right direction.
Not to mention taking a moment to celebrate all that you have done! There is no more powerful motivator to keep on keeping on than to recognize and appreciate what an incredible Living Legend you already are. Be grateful for your accomplishments today and more will effortlessly flow into your life tomorrow!
Take action now and use both our Goal Setting and Action and Weekly Planning Workbooks to make 2017 YOUR year.
I can guarantee that if you set intentions and actually act on them, a year from now you’ll be able to look back and say “Wow, I can’t believe I…” instead of “I wish I would have…”
Here’s to another year of Living Your Legend,
–Chelsea Dinsmore & The Live Your Legend Team
P.S. Are you committed to making 2017 the best year yet?
If so, check out Live Off Your Passion, the most popular course we offer here at Live Your Legend, because it is the best risk-free way to accelerate your progress to finding and doing work you love.
Live Off Your Passion is the only course of its kind to combine the art of discovering your PASSION with the science of making money from it! Live Off Your Passion will literally change the trajectory of your life. Join us to today to create a life of abundance!
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