New Years conversations : A new way to frame the year ahead

Hey there gorgeous! 

Have you planned your year out yet? 

I attended a great seminar about this last weekend run by this big wig personal development coach Brendon Burchard.  It was very American.  I mean, there were gospel singers for the first 20 minutes!!  Not that I am anti - gospel singing, just that it’s all a bit loud and big…  and did I mention loud? Needless to say, the packaging for the message was not my thing. But inside the parcel there was some absolute gold.

So I thought I would share some of it with you here. In a far more quiet and gentle way of course. 

The seminar was run on January 1 (I watched the replay because being on Australian time meant to watch it live would be a 4am start on January 2, something I was absolutely not about to do).

The whole gist of the thing was to help people get the most out of the year ahead.

Burchard talked about Desires, Routines, Goals and Tasks.  He talked about the idea of ‘architect’-ing your life (which as the daughter of an architect, definitely resonated).  He talked about identifying our super powers and tools for self improvement.

But the crux of it all, and the thing that I talked about to anyone around me who would listen after, was that he was talking about our capacity for creating more happiness in our lives. And after the last few years of head-cussery*, I am here for it.

My biggest takeaway?

That humans have four innate higher order Desires. 

And when you understand them, and how they relate to you and your life, you can use them to incorporate routines into your daily activities that serve to bring much greater happiness and wellbeing into your life.  

And who doesn’t want more of that, right?  

The Four Higher order Human Desires as defined by Burchard are: 

ALIVENESS - this can be thought about in terms of living your passion, experiencing that energy that comes with enthusiasm, purpose, fitness, presence, joy, excitement, vibrancy, connection to the moment or feeling the magic of the day.

DEEP CONNECTION- with other people (think frequency of contact and quality of contact), with yourself and with the universe or a higher power.  This relates to your need to be seen and respected as well. 

MEANINGFUL PURSUITS- While it sounds self explanatory the key here is the word pursuits.  This is about actively pursuing something. What are you striving for? What is your mission? What are you trying to create, build or contribute to? 

GROWTH- What are you trying to grow into another level of? Is it health? Wealth? Mental strength? Independence? Education? Love ? 

After watching the seminar I sat down with my kids and husband to talk about the year ahead and we created a document called “Family vision and goals’ with four headings. 

SPARKS JOY (aliveness)

DEEP CONNECTION

MEANINGFUL PURSUITS

GROWTH

We then proceeded to write out what we currently do under each heading and what we can do more of this year, to bring a greater sense of wellbeing and satisfaction to our lives. 

SPARKS JOY for me included roadside foraging, full baskets of vegetables and herbs fresh from the farmers’ markets, wild gardens and gardening, flowers and arranging vintage wares. 

DEEP CONNECTION for me was about identifying those people in my life who I want to spend time with more regularly, and how I plan to do so. Then diarising it.  It was also about committing to a morning routine and meditation practice that has historically waxed and waned throughout the years. 

MEANINGFUL PURSUITS this year is bedded in my coaching business - helping women in creative endeavors navigate Instagram and brand building so that they can achieve their own goals, particularly their financial ones. 

GROWTH- I’ve always thought of myself as a lifelong learner so a commitment to continuous education is a no brainer for me.  I’m carving out more time than ever to devote to it this year though, and instead of learning in the moments between doing other things, I have blocked out dedicated education time each week. I can’t wait. 

We have now also scheduled weekly family meetings going forward. One of the main purposes of this meeting will be to appraise the week that has been through the lens of our desires, and to plan the week ahead incorporating them. My hope being that we will take these opportunities to honour and make space for the things that drive us and ultimately lead to happy, fulfilling lives. 

Now you don't have to do this exercise if you don't want to, but if you want more joy and satisfaction in your life this year, I highly recommend it. 

And if you want to know where all the Instagram tips and tricks are this week -You’ll just have to hold on a few more days.  Next week's letter is already written and it's all about the top things you can do this month to set yourself up for Instagram success in 2024. 

I look forward to sharing it with you. 

X Ilona 

PS if you do the exercise, on your own, or with your family, I would love to know how it went. 

*if you are not familiar with the term head-cussery, it comes from the rather lovely Wes Anderson film Fantastic Mr Fox and is a term Mr Fox uses instead of… well, another term.

Written by Ilona Glastonbury