I’m feeling excited about this year.

A colleague of mine, who is way more woo-woo than me, told me that 2024 is projected to be a year for harvesting, for reaping the fruits of what we have cultivated.

That sounded damn good to me. 👩🏻‍🌾

Who else here has been working hard and would like to enjoy some of the fruits of their labor?!!

Yes! Let’s do that.

Here are another three things that I’m feeling inspired about in 2024:

1) Making art for art’s sake 🎨

I’ve been working on writing a memoir for a year now! One of my takeaways for 2023 was how unexpectedly powerful (and complicated) this process has been. There’s a lot more I could say about that but the thing I want to single out for now is how important it is to make art for art’s sake.

There is so much merit and richness and value in simply making things because we want to and because it makes us feel alive and brings meaning to our life.

Not because we hope it will make us money, or bring us accolades or attention. It can be hard to find the right place for art-making in your life among all the other demands of work, family, all the things.

There have been times when I’ve thought about giving up on this project, and it still has me doing some major mindset work (every freaking day!!), to shift from “I can’t do this. It’s too hard. It’s taking too long” to “This is hard and it is also worthwhile. It can take time. I can learn how to do it.”

Idea for You

What is something that you want to make or learn just because it will bring you joy and meaning? Maybe it's weird and oddball. Maybe it's even ambitious. Maybe it won't make you any money nor serve any "practical" purpose. But you keep wanting to do it. How can you give it time and space this year?

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2) Friendship and community building 🌿

In 2023, the U.S. Surgeon General released a public health advisory for our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation. Ouch. Even that title hurts my heart. You’ve probably heard reference to this epidemic in news stories or podcasts, or about some of the impacts it has on our public health. For example, loneliness and social isolation increase the risk for premature death by 26% and 29% respectively.

Last year, strengthening friendship and social ties was something I put more energy toward and it really enriched my life. I’m excited to do more this year!

One way I’m doing that is that I’ve signed up to participate in a coaching circle for women entrepreneurs that is local, in person, yearlong, and in Catalan! Whoa. This is exciting on so many levels for me.

It’s definitely a mark of the fact that this is my 10th anniversary year of living in Catalonia.

I can now speak the language fluently enough to do business in it. I’ve finally found a way to meet other like minded women business-owners even in my incredibly rural area, where frankly there aren’t many of us.

And, now, post-pandemic, I’ve found a group that meets in person. (On top of that, we meet at a nearby countryhouse/studio for a whole half-day retreat with yummy breakfast. ☕️)

We had our first meeting last week. I definitely had a social/vulnerability hangover the next day, but I'm still riding high on the greater sense of support and accountability to meet my business goals this year.

Yesterday I also finally caught up with a friend in Germany that I haven’t talked to in nearly 10 years! She played a huge role in my life by being my companion and inspiration for hitchhiking Chile’s Carretera Austral during my sabbatical year (she will definitely be in my memoir, stay tuned!). This is someone who I shared an intense part of my life with and it was so good to reconnect.

Idea for you

Author Kat Vellos has incredible ideas for building friendships, connections and community as an adult; I highly recommend following her for regular inspiration.
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3) Living a rich life 🙌🏽

I’ve followed Ramit Sethi for many years, and recently when a friend mentioned how much they liked his Netflix series, I decided to introduce Sethi to my husband. I suggested that we watch a few episodes. My husband got hooked. As he does his farm rounds, he is listening to all the podcasts.

Sethi works a lot with couples to improve their financial life, and he always encourages them first to discuss what their version of living “a rich life” is. A rich life is more than luxury cars and nice hotels, it can also be being able to pick up your kids every day after school or taking a weekday to go hiking.

I love the rich life exercise because it’s so similar to what I ask my own clients to do in describing their ideal life, and their ideal work.

This month, my husband and I have already met for two afternoon conversations to talk about our rich life and to review our accounts and finances. We’ve been really connecting and enjoying taking new steps toward our vision. So much has already shifted for us and it feels great.

Idea for you

Are you making enough time to daydream about your rich life? My free PDF Clarify Your Path guides you through creating your bucket list. It’s a playful way to see what’s most important to you in life and what to prioritize. Grab it here.
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What are you excited about for 2024?

If you want to drop me a line about what you’re feeling inspired about this year, I always love hearing from you.