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Create a Living Theme for 2010

No more resolutions!

If your New Year’s resolutions aren’t motivating or inspiring and feel like something you should do instead of something you really want to do, you can drop those resolutions and learn a freer, more natural way of creating and experiencing the kind of year you really want.

Make real, lasting changes in 2010 by creating
a Personal Living Theme with Laura Burkey.

Please meet my life coach, Laura Burkey. I would not be the person I am today – someone whose head and heart now play nicely together – without Laura’s skills and patient support over the past few years.

I’ve participated in her annual tradition of creating a living theme since 2004 and haven’t made a new year’s resolution since. It’s way more fun than making a list of shortcomings that need fixing and a whole lot more effective.

I love having an annual Theme so much, I asked Laura if she would pretty-please share this tradition with all of you. And – yay! – she said yes.

I am thrilled this is the inaugural event of the Guest Guide series. Because this is going to knock your socks off.

Here’s where I’ll turn it over to Laura (because she explains what this Theme stuff is all about so much better than I do).

I decided on setting themes back in 1996 after years of starting each year with the same darn resolutions. It started to get depressing and embarrassing to begin each year with the same goals and – having just begun my career as a coach – it was imperative to me that I be a model for getting positive results as consistently as possible! So, I shook this resolution thing up a bit.

What I found was a far more engaging and powerful way to set off the new year than the old standby of resolution listing. I began to set a single theme for my year – almost like a mantra. I have been doing this now for thirteen years and have results to prove its effect and value.

The right Theme, unlike resolutions (or even goals), has the amazing ability to naturally focus, inspire, and pull you forward - day after day – month after month – challenge by challenge – to accomplish exactly what you want (and more).

Some personal examples:

In 1996 my first theme was Work Hard. I chose this theme because I had just returned from a year in Italy and had a whole new life (socially, economically and emotionally) to create. I knew it was going to take a lot from me, and I came from a past with a very weak work ethic. I had an “in at 9am out at 5pm” mentality and was not used to stretching myself in that area of my life (or others really). Whenever the going got tough I would just keep repeating to myself, “Work hard. Work hard. Work hard.” and that moved mountains of resistance in me!

In 1998 my theme was Build Your Business. It was this year that I began my training at Coach U, daring myself to speak up and tell everybody what I wanted to do (coach) and made major upgrades in how I was spending my time.

In 2000 it was Balance. My greatest memory of this year was picking up a practice of yoga (which is all about balance). Through the regular practice of yoga I experienced an amazing new vigor in my creativity and spirituality. I also learned in this year how to balance my work and personal life and invest nurturing time in both.

In 2002 my theme was Get Fear. I saw that fear was a major block to my clients’ success in life (as well as my own) and I wanted to really understand (get) why fear has the hold it does on people. I wanted to know what it is saying or asking of us when it appears and how to successfully manage myself well when it came on. I had a load of success with this focus on fear and benefited wonderfully, reaching a whole new level of confidence in my life.

In 2003 my theme was Break Through. Wow! I had no idea it would manifest greatest in my income and in my confidence to really create whatever I wanted. When I first set this theme I didn’t know what exactly I wanted to “break through,” I only knew I wasn’t reaching my full potential and wanted to bust through the proverbial ceiling I had assumed over my success to that point. Some results were: my coaching clientele more than tripled and my income more than doubled.

In 2004 my theme was Be Love. I chose this theme because I felt I was getting too wrapped up in my business goals and needed to remember what was really most important: people – those currently in my life and the people I hadn’t even met yet, but knew would be important to me. The most noticeable outcome of this theme was a handful of new and seriously wonderful friends.  Another outcome was a clearer, more consistent energy from myself to others and through my work. And an unexpected benefit of this theme was my fear of speaking in front of larger groups completely vanished.  Focusing on love, I found, kept things a lot simpler.

In 2006 my theme was Response-Ability and was inspired by becoming a new mommy, the greatest responsibility I believe there might ever be for me. There were patterns in how I responded to things that I did not want to be a part of me as a parent, that I didn’t want to model to my son, and that would make this new experience very difficult if I didn’t address. Focusing on my theme instantly grounded me and reminded me every single moment that I was able to respond however I chose. Evidence that my theme was working were friends and family members remarking on how calm I was and how well I was responding to this new and enormous change in my life.

The most wonderful thing about having a Theme to hold onto throughout the year is the direct effect it has on one’s confidence and consistency. For me and my clients who have also begun to set a theme each year, we have found a sense of grounding and focus with whatever we set out to achieve.

•  •  •  •  •

Please join me and Laura for an engaging 90-minute tele-workshop in which you will learn the four simple steps that will enable you to find that perfect theme for your coming year.

This workshop took place December 3, 2009, but you can still learn the better alternative to new year’s resolutions from the recording of the call.

The cost of adding this powerful tool to your toolbox? just $30.00

P.S. Want to know more? You can read about my experience and the results of my theme for 2009 here on the blog.