Tag: goals

The Most Radical Resolution for 2018

by Chantal Pierrat

As the Season of Light is upon us and the new year approaches, I’m keenly aware that many people are entering into the ancient ritual of thinking about, writing, and preparing for their New Year’s Resolutions. Even before we get through the holiday season and open gifts, people are starting to gear up for this annual event.

The stressed and impatient are vowing to find balance next year. Smokers are anxiously getting ready to take their last puffs. And those who want to lose weight are letting themselves splurge through the holidays prepping for the barren land that awaits them January 1

These are all worthy goals. And goal setting is a great practice. But just for a minute, consider whether this is the kind of gift you want to be giving yourself?

What is it costing you to be focusing on what needs to be improved every year? What would be possible if you gave yourself the most radical resolution:

To focus on what is right with you and your life instead of what you need to change? What would this season FEEL like if you practiced validating what you’ve done well? Validation is a gift that grounds you in the strength of who you are and nourishes your wholeness.

What would the world be like if people were focused on their wholeness and not on their not enoughness? This Season of Light, I want to explore and challenge you to gift your self differently.

Instead of focusing on what needs to change…focus on what is good and wonderful about who you are and what your unique gifts are. Grab a piece of paper and answer these three questions:

  • What can you say to yourself in the coming days/weeks/year that would feed your inner light and wholeness?
  • What have you longed to hear each day as you struggle to keep that bright light within burning strong and steady?
  • What might get in the way of you validating yourself in the new year? This is a gift you can give to your self each and every day if you choose.

When we fill our cups with self­‐loving validation and celebration of our unique gifts, qualities, and strengths, we bring health, well­‐being, and passion to our body and peace to our mind. Our bodies are nourished and sustained from within. I invite you to enter into this radical gift giving experiment and try a new kind of resolution! See what happens when you focus on your wholeness and give self‐loving validation to yourself and to others in the coming days/weeks/year. Maybe we can revolutionize gift giving and resolutions to truly create a Season of Light that lasts all year long.

Want some encouraging words to help you believe in your wholeness? Try our Emerging Women podcast with Gabby Bernstein: The Universe Has Your Back.


Power Practice #21: Living a Virtues-Based Life

by Chantal Pierrat

Emerging Women Power Practices help you embody the freshest ideas in personal and professional development. Get the guided audio practices right here – straight from our favorite thought leaders to you!

Emily Bennington is the author of Miracles at Work: Turning Inner Guidance into Outer Influence. Her work is about transforming women into mindful, heart-centered leaders who can navigate any life challenge with grace.

For most, this transformation requires a huge shift in perspective. In this Power Practice, Emily unpacks the problematic nature of a goal-driven life. She explains how a values-based life (focusing on who you are instead of what you want) allows for a better path to true success than anything we can plan.

Emily’s freewriting exercise will help you catch yourself when you’re out of alignment with your values, and will give you concrete actions to get you back to making decisions that align with what matters most to you.

We’d love to hear what ends up in your pyramid! Tell us about it in the comments below.

Play Power Practice #21 – Living a Virtues-Based Life:

If you like this Power Practice, you’ll love the workshop offerings at Emerging Women Live. See the full roster under the Workshop tab of our Schedule.

A bestselling author and teacher of contemplative practices for both secular and spiritual audiences, Emily Bennington inspires thousands around the world each day to live and lead with Grace.

Emily has been featured in media outlets ranging from CNN to Marie Claire and she regularly hosts training programs on mindfulness, spiritual intelligence, and nonviolent communication.

Mid-Year Reflections on Playing BIG

by Chantal Pierrat

At the beginning of the year, in a letter from Emerging Women’s founder, Chantal, she asks the community, “How Big is your BIG?”

In that letter, Chantal illustrates the exciting possibilities of the New Year and sets an intention to dream BIG in 2015. She also reminds us that not everything has to be big, big, BIG all the time in terms of business.

“Sometimes “big” simply means “in alignment with our desires.” Sometimes just asking for what we want is big in and of itself.” ~ Chantal Pierrat

In times of adversity, Chantal also says to (re)inspire and nourish ourselves with the power of the feminine by circling with the important women in our lives.

It was a beautiful, motivating letter, rich with wisdom. And it’s an important message to revisit now that it’s summer and the midway mark of the year.

I don’t know about you, but I went BIG in 2015. New paths have unfolded and I have taken on exciting, challenging endeavors. I am pursuing the projects that I dreamt about at the beginning of the year and I’ve made huge strides in achieving them, along with other goals, both professional and personal.

We’re halfway through 2015 (how can it be June already?!) and I’ll be honest, despite the wins, I feel like I need a tune-up. I look back at where I was in January and I feel accomplished, but also fatigued.

So, in effort to maintain enthusiasm for my goals and work, I’ve taken some time these past few weeks to check in with myself. I evaluated my “BIG” so I can finish off the year by being the very best version of myself at this point in my life.

In this time of reflection, I’ve (re)learned 3 important things.

1) Sometimes creating your best life has more to do with what you remove from it than what you add to it.

I set a goal at the beginning of the year to diversify my portfolio of clients (I do digital marketing). I wanted to be more dynamic and marketable. But during the past few weeks, I’ve realized that although I’ve been performing great at juggling numerous projects with different clients, I need to focus on quality work over quantity to be at the level I want to be.

I made the decision to streamline my portfolio, focusing my work solely on a few companies, making my “BIG” – well, still big, just a better BIG… a more efficient BIG… one that can dig deeper with clients and better help them.

Bonus side-effect: My schedule has freed up, giving me more time to enjoy the outdoors and spend time with friends and family (something that we all know is significant). I realize there will be times in my life where this is the opposite – times when I need to “add” in things – but right now, in my work life, less is more. And I’m OK with that.

2) We’ve got to channel our feminine power to play big. But which flavor of feminine power do we need right now?

As mentioned above, Chantal reminds us to rejuvenate with the power of the feminine. I’m blessed to have wonderful and wildly accomplished women in my life, scattered all across the world. I love these women with every ounce of my being, so it’s difficult coming to the realization that I need more feminine power in my life. But it’s true! I need feminine power right here, in my own community.

AND, as much as I am nourished by my soul sisters, I’m realizing I need a different type of feminine power at this moment in my life. I need it in the professional realm, from women who’ve been in my shoes, who’ve made it through this chapter of emergence in their late 20s. Women in the midst of making their own big, BIG.

I’m making efforts to cultivate new friendships to inspire and help me in my everyday life. With the change in my workload, I’m taking the opportunity to get to know the women behind the brands I work with – feeding off their brilliance, humor, and strength. I’m also taking time this summer to chase after a few inspiring women in my community that I’d love to connect with on a deeper level.

I’m (re)learning that female friends are very important to me. When I’m surrounded by good women, I feel good, my soul feels good, and life is good.

3) Don’t get too attached to timelines. Any time spent towards playing BIG is fluid, and always valuable.

Lastly, assessing my “BIG” reminds me that reaching our goals, even if they are goals that seem obtainable in a year, is a journey in itself, and sometimes requires more than 12 months. Circumstances, and the way we react to circumstances, plays a huge role in the timing and timeline of those goals.

I’m consciously reminding myself during this reflection that the energy exerted and the trajectories I’ve pursued this year in going BIG are all relevant and valid, even when some things proved to be failures. And if I’m still working on achieving the same things in 2016… so what?! I’ll have 365 days of experience to look back on and learn from. Who knows – maybe “my BIG” will be reimagined into something even more meaningful.

We want to know: How is your BIG doing? Are you taking time to reflect during this mid-year mark?

We’d love to hear from you in the comments below. You never know who you’ll connect with in the tribe if you just put yourself out there. Thank you for contributing your unique voice!

Are you ready to take your BIG to the next level? Join the game-changers at Emerging Women Live 2015 in San Francisco to ignite the trajectory of your personal and professional journey.

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