I feel like I opened pandora’s box of possibility. I have been in anticipation to write this since day 1 of this year. I hope you find this valuable and inspirational!

Having a theme or main focus for the year instead of resolutions is a game changer. If you haven’t tried this yet, I highly suggest you try it this year. Instead of setting yourself up for failure (like ‘working out 3x a week', 'losing 20 lbs', 'making $100,000' or 'finding your soulmate’) you can focus your energy on what you want to feel or experience from those possible goals which could yield even bigger results and experiences than you imagined (like ‘energy’ ‘strength’ ‘prosperity’ ‘love’ or ‘intimacy’). You’re able to take action from a more empowered, grounded, exciting and clear place. If you really want to amp it up a notch, consider getting a Goddess of the year reading.

So, as I do every year, I asked myself lots of questions to figure out mine…

What do I need more of?
What qualities do I need to develop within myself the most?
What am I ready to heal?
What would have the biggest impact on my goals?
What is underneath what I want to experience?
What would feel like a gift to wrap myself in all year?

...And as January 1st came, I decided to explore the magic of nature and intended to find my theme word for the year by walking around my favorite local magic spot by the bay, a place that always inspires me on a profound level…

As I was pondering all that I want to accomplish, feel, heal and master at this point in my life, I breathed through the confusion and allowed the beautiful surroundings to guide me. I took a new route on my sacred walk, thinking “let me start by taking a new path to walk down and accept the uncertainty with enthusiasm as a metaphor for the year.”

I thought of my desire to expand my work and service in the world with greater impact and what it means for me to be a powerful leader. I thought of the shadow qualities of the Muse goddess archetype (the goddess I am most like), avoidance, impulsiveness, scattered focus and distraction that I’m totally ready to release + transform. I thought of how my previous year's themes of courage, connection and liberation have prepared me through VERY deep and challenging work for a level of living that I have been wanting for some time now. I am always willing to go deep and do the work, but I’m ready for a little softer, more playful and exciting theme that will still help me grow exponentially. I continue to believe in the importance of ease, however, I need to truly harness responsibility to expand my reach, impact and financial capacity. I want to USE courage, connection and freedom this year somehow to learn what it means to cultivate exquisite abundance and prosperity. I want to work on true commitment and consistency so I can experience everything I desire. I must utilize my creativity and innovation in order to set myself apart in this crowded industry. I need to be in strong integrity in order to propel, connect, commit and lead. I need to develop massive discipline to make the greatest impact that I can. “But, UGH, none of that sounds FUN!” says my Muse-y self. “I can’t focus on those words, they feel like resolutions and daunting chores to overcome.”

Just then, my whole body became warm with tingles as the element air supported me by confirming a truth in me with a gust of wind as soon as I realized PRESENCE was the precursor to all of that.

I can’t be in integrity without being fully aware of who I am and what I want.
I can’t cultivate discipline without being EXCITED to fully show up.
I can’t innovate without putting myself in flow, from being fully connected with the needs of my tribe or without accessing the magic of the moment.
I can’t lead without being attune to my power.
I know presence pretty well, but now it’s time for me to master it.

My strategy this year is to prioritize presence.

Everything else will fall into place through supporting words and themes. AHHHHH this feels like a blessed relief and exciting endeavor.

Maybe presence can be a supporting word for your theme or perhaps a main focus. Either way, here’s why presence is important for you to tap into this year:

POWER

We all have natural abilities in these human bodies from our unique DNA and ancestral patterns, which I have done extensive research and development in. For women, it’s what I call the Feminine Power Principles. These beautiful traits that are within all of us like intuition, compassion, playfulness, flow, softness, etc can only be accessed when we are in our body. We can better discern what we need to do, think or be. We will better know if we need to take action and be productive (a masculine quality) or if we need to go inward and process something (the feminine version of productivity). Discernment, which only happens through neutral presence, allows us the ability to gain clarity on how we can make the greatest impact right now. Anxiety and depression take us out of the moment, trap us in our heads and are coping mechanisms for un-accessed truth. When we succumb to the modern society standard of overthinking, overanalyzing, trying to figure it out or relying on what we think we should do, we have no power. Our body wisdom has the best answers, and when we are truly present, we can access this.

LEADERSHIP

Consistency, integrity, innovation and presence are all qualities of a leader. We have to show up and be willing to do the hard shit first, before we can expect others to tag along. The only way to channel the courage to do that is to be present to the fact that we are willing and we believe we can. Being present in our body helps us trust ourselves and therefore take risks that are necessary to growth to make a bigger impact. We only truly know what to do, what will be best for us or others in each moment.

BOUNDARIES

Being connected to ourselves and our desires is the only way we know WHERE to set boundaries. When we have the power and leadership abilities from our presence, we are able to be strong enough to protect and uphold what we value most. Boundaries are key for happiness and relationships of any kind.

HEALTH

Presence helps us access our body connection, as I mentioned, so what we put into it can be controlled more easily rather than when we are in the throws of busyness or allowing ourselves to get caught up with distraction. That’s usually when we overeat, ingest toxic substances or choose to be lazy because of our exhaustion from said busyness. The simple question of “what does my body need right now?” can empower us to make profound shifts in our health from self-care to weight loss to mental clarity.

MORE MEANING

Rituals and routines are important to create deep transformation. They help us change habits and shift our mindset on so many levels and they add huge doses of meaning to the process of change. But if you’re anything like me, they have to be FUN in order to do them. I am not the type to do things just because, so presence grants us access to the magic that exists within and around us. It gives us awareness of possibility and shows us that we have everything we need in the moment and we can take one step at a time. Presence always makes us feel more grounded and authentic, and a key factor in better-overcoming something that might seem boring or challenging. Presence actually helps us do things that we’ve been avoiding. Additionally, presence adds more meaning to all relationships, so we can deepen into intimacy (platonic or romantic) and thoroughly enjoy the quality time spent.

HAPPINESS

While present, we can find more gratitude, the cultivator of happiness. In presence, we can relax into safety, even if for a moment. As I mentioned also, we can feel more grounded and authentic when we are present, quieting our inner critic and seeing more of what we like. Happiness is generated in each moment, it’s not an end result, so of course presence is a huge part of this.

YOUR TURN!

What is your theme for 2018? How can presence support you this year?

If you need help figuring this out or want to inquire about working with directly through coaching, EMAIL ME!

Michelle Powell