G’day darlinghearts!

Today’s guest post is by the lovely Jodi Chapman. Jodi is the author of the inspirational blog, Soul Speak and the bestselling Soulful Journals series, co-authored with her husband, Dan Teck.

As you know, I very rarely accept guest posts, but each year I like to invite some gorgeous, passionate, inspiring women to share their new year dreams, goals + miracles.

The more we hear of women dreaming big dreams and making them happen, the more it will become the “new normal” and fuel us to do just the same.

Introducing Jodi!

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I absolutely love Leonie’s workbooks, and I have spent hours with them this year!

My business is my comfort zone, and so I dove into that workbook first. It helped me get extremely clear about my vision and my goals. With her guidance, I got specific and dreamed even bigger than before! And I feel great about where things are headed.

The life workbook was a bit harder for me to work through. I have focused on my business for so long, and somewhere along the way – I took a backseat to all of the excitement surrounding my success. If you’re an entrepreneur, you most likely will be able to relate to this – we work so hard getting our dream off of the ground, and we put everything that we have into making sure that happens. We work around the clock. We live and breathe our work. And it seeps into every part of our being, especially if we love what we do (which I definitely do!).

But… one day, you may find that you wake up after years of pushing and try to find yourself. You look around and instead of seeing YOU, you see your business EVERYWHERE. You’re so wrapped up in your business that you are no longer sure what’s you and what’s your work.

That’s exactly where I was, and so I was extra grateful to Leonie for separating the two workbooks to help us see that they don’t have to be so enmeshed.

Thankfully, once I got into it, I found that I was still here – quietly waiting until I came back to myself. And I love that I never actually left, and I could come back at any time. I made a conscious effort to try not to write about anything work related in the life workbook (although sometimes something popped in now and then). I focusing on ME – what do I want, what do I dream about, what do I get excited about, what vision do I have that’s just for me?

And this was really wonderful. I adore my business, but I also need to adore myself.

And this was a great step in getting clear about what an adored self looks like.

There were two parts of the life workbook that really stood out for me, and I’m happy to share them here.

My Word for the Year!

I love choosing a word each year – it’s such a beautiful way to begin with a clear vision!

Last year, my word for the year was Soar. And that definitely came true! I pushed myself far beyond my fear and leaped right into my dream life! I connected with so many beautiful souls, and many of them have become my closest friends. I followed my heart and created goodies that would help others embrace their life again.

It was almost like I was in a creative, inspired whirlwind for the entire year! And I’m just now coming back to the ground. It was such an amazing experience, and I definitely am grateful that I chose that word. It was just what I needed to stop hiding and start living fully again.

When I chose Soar, I wasn’t thinking about balance or self care, though. I was just thinking that it was time to stop saying no to life and start saying yes. So I said yes to almost EVERYTHING. If someone wanted me to help them, I did. If someone wanted to collaborate with me, we did. If someone wanted me to review their book, I did. If someone needed support and extra love, I offered it to them. And these connections were wonderful and amazing and heart-opening and beautiful.

But… something happened along the way that I hadn’t anticipated: I went missing. I was so busy soaring and so busy supporting others and so busy creating products and so busy doing, doing, doing – that I forgot to refill my own cup. And so by the end of the year, I didn’t have anything left. Nothing more to give – to myself or to anyone else.

And that made me sad. So, out of complete necessity, I pulled way back from everything (as much as I could). I hibernated for awhile. I stopped posting as much on my blog, on social media. I stopped. And I slept. And watched movies. And slept some more. And during this time in my cocoon, I remembered something so important – something that makes so much sense – something that I had been writing about for years but finally got it so deeply and clearly:

I am of no use to anyone if I am unable to love myself deeply and take care of myself completely.

Period.

It’s such a hard lesson to learn – but absolutely essential.

I remember something that Leonie said last year when she took several weeks off to nourish her soul. She said that she actually made more money during her time away than she had in the same time-period when she was pushing so hard. Wow. That really hit home for me. The programming inside of me that was so deeply ingrained was that I had to work hard – really hard – in order to succeed. Push harder = be more successful. And so that’s exactly what I did. And it was working – I was succeeding and living my dreams! I was just too tired to enjoy them. 🙂

So this year, after some deep contemplation, I chose Nourish as my word.

I want to remember that my cup needs to be full. And as Lisa Nichols reminds us all: Give from your overflow. 

Nourish means that I will take care of myself. Not just write about it – not just talk about it. But actually do it. Get back into my body and move joyfully again. Stop working when I am tired. Start playing when I could use a laugh. This year will be filled with nourishment – bubble baths, couch time, yummy food, naps, chick lit and chick flicks, and time to just BE.

It’s going to be a year filled with self love and pampering and relaxation and fun. And I trust that when I come into the world with a nourished soul, the energy that seeps out of me will be much more powerful and inspiring. And that will seep into everyone that I come in contact with. That’s how it works! It’s time for grounding and nurturing while still succeeding and sharing. We can have it all, and I love that about this world!

Time to Celebrate ME!

This page from the workbook was a really lovely exercise. I got to think about how I want to celebrate myself this year, and it was fun thinking about what a fully lived life looks like for me.

I’m just so grateful to you, Leonie, for creating such a transformational workbook. Going through it allowed me to really dive in and contemplate my life. I loved going within and uncovering the answers.

You are an amazing soul, and I’m so happy to be on this journey together.

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Thanks so gorgeous Jodi!

Such good, deep lessons + wisdom shared here… for every creative soul, every entrepreneur, every woman wanting to make her dreams come true.

All my love,