The Science of Manifesting

So, how did I arrive at the idea of manifesting as a science experiment? Well, today I received my weekly email from Mark Manson, author of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, one of my favorite books. In it, he shared a quote that resonated with me deeply: “Beliefs are theories. Actions are experiments. Emotions are feedback. Life is a science and its objective is growth.” This quote reframed how I think about life—an ongoing process of discovery, where the objective is not to get everything right but to test, learn, and adjust.

Manifesting works the same way. It’s about taking consistent steps toward our goals, refining as we go, and allowing feedback from our emotions to guide us. By thinking of life as a science experiment, we gain clarity on how manifesting truly works—and how we can use it to create a life we love.

Beliefs: The Foundation for Manifestation

Everything starts with our beliefs, which are essentially decisions we make based on our perspectives. However, as Manson points out, beliefs are not set in stone; they are theories we hold at a given time. Even the strongest of beliefs can be tested, refined, or even replaced as we gather new experiences.

Think of it this way: when we make a decision—whether it’s about a career change, a new relationship, or even how we perceive ourselves—we are putting that belief to the test. Some decisions will align with what we want, while others may lead to outcomes we hadn’t anticipated.

But here’s the key: decisions are not final answers. Instead, they are hypotheses, just like in a scientific experiment. When you decide on something, you’re essentially saying, I think this will bring me closer to what I want, and then you move forward to test that theory. Many of us hesitate to make decisions out of fear of making the wrong one. However, every decision, whether successful or not, is an opportunity to learn and grow.

Actions: Testing Our Theories

Once you’ve made a decision, the next step is to take action. This is where the real experimentation begins. Every action you take is a test, a way to see how your decision plays out in the real world.

For instance, if you decide to start a new project or take up a long-desired hobby, that decision alone isn’t enough to manifest your desired outcome. You need to follow it with action. Manifesting isn’t about sitting and hoping for things to change; it’s about taking steps to bring that change into reality. Even small, incremental actions, like attending a workshop or setting aside time for your goal, are crucial. James Clear’s Atomic Habits emphasizes how small, consistent actions can lead to significant outcomes, and it’s a perfect reminder that manifesting requires momentum.

Through these actions, you are testing your decisions. Some actions will feel aligned, bringing you closer to your goal, while others might not feel right. That’s part of the experiment! The key is to take those missteps in stride, viewing them as valuable feedback rather than failures.

Emotions: The Ultimate Feedback Loop

So, how do we know if we’re on the right path? That’s where emotions come in. In this scientific approach to life, emotions act as feedback systems, signaling whether our actions are leading us toward or away from our desired outcome.

Positive emotions—such as joy, excitement, and peace—are signs that you’re on track. These emotions confirm that your actions align with your true desires and that your decisions are working in your favor.

On the other hand, negative emotions are not bad; they are simply feedback, telling you that something might be off. Whether it’s stress, frustration, or disappointment, these emotions highlight areas that need reevaluation. For example, if you’ve taken on a new job and feel constantly drained, that’s your emotions signaling a need for reassessment. Maybe it’s the job itself, the work culture, or even the commute that’s causing this reaction.

Instead of avoiding or fearing negative emotions, use them as signals to pause and reflect. Ask yourself, Why am I feeling this way? and What adjustments can I make? This emotional feedback is crucial to the process of creating a life that feels authentic and fulfilling.

Growth: The Objective of Life

At the heart of manifesting is growth. It’s about continuously moving toward a life that aligns more closely with who we are and what we want. The process isn’t linear—there will be setbacks, challenges, and moments of doubt—but that’s all part of the experiment.

When you experience positive emotions, celebrate them as confirmation that you’re moving in the right direction. When you encounter negative emotions, embrace them as learning opportunities. They provide the insight necessary for making adjustments and course corrections along the way.

Remember, you are the scientist of your own life, and growth is the ultimate objective. Each belief, each action, and each emotion provides valuable data, guiding you toward a more fulfilling existence.

The Simple Formula for Creating a Life You Love

Ultimately, manifesting a life you love boils down to this simple formula:

1. Decide – Make decisions based on what you believe will bring you happiness and fulfillment. Don’t worry about getting it “right.” There is no single correct answer, only decisions that either bring you closer to your desires or steer you away. Every decision is an opportunity to learn.
2. Take Action – Once you’ve made a decision, take action. Even small steps are necessary to test how that decision plays out. This is where you begin to see if your beliefs are aligned with your reality. No action means no feedback, so movement is key.
3. Listen to Your Emotions – As you take action, notice how you feel. Positive emotions tell you that you’re moving in the right direction. Negative emotions signal areas that need adjustment. Both are essential for guiding your path.

Manifesting a life you love isn’t about achieving perfection; it’s about engaging in a continuous process of growth. By testing your beliefs, taking action, and listening to your emotions, you refine your path and get closer to living the life of your dreams.

In the end, life is a science experiment, and its objective is growth. To create the life you love, all you need to do is decide, act, and listen to your emotions.

by Kathi Szabo

The post What is the Science of Manifesting? appeared first on Eclectic Well-Being.

With the same results each time: Lose a little bit of weight on the diet. Get tired of the diet because it’s impossible to maintain for whatever reason. Go back to “normal food” and slowly gain back the weight lost, plus a little bit to add more motivation next year.

It doesn’t really add motivation though, does it? It’s more like adjusting to the new normal and seeing how long it takes before new clothing becomes mandatory because the old clothes are too tight now.

And that’s the whole cycle. Get tired of being too heavy, go on a diet, lose a bit of weight, gain it all back, and try again next year. So many people experience this that there’s even a term for it.

Yo-yo dieting.

So-named because that’s what happens to the weight. It bobs up and down, slowly but steadily climbing a bit higher over the course of the year, until we decide to do something about it, then it drops, and begins to climb all over again.

I suppose we could also have called it “itsy-bitsy spider dieting,” as the spider seems as persistent as that yo-yo.

Regardless of what we call it though, living through it feels demoralizing.

Year after year, sometimes more than once per year, we put ourselves through this. Consistently trying to get onto the other side of the scale, where the numbers go down and stay down.

But they don’t. We watch the mirror in horror as our face swells to the point that we no longer see any family resemblance. We are now the generic “fat person” background character in someone else’s movie.

Why is getting healthy so hard? Why do we have to struggle like this?

Some people can’t take it any longer and resort to drastic medical measures, like having their stomachs stapled so they physically can’t eat as much food. And sometimes that doesn’t work either!

Can you imagine undergoing surgery in an effort to lose weight, and still have it fail?

Now the medical community is even armed with shots to help lose weight. These products are brand-new. Has there been a long-term study on their effects on the body? Will we be watching TV in 2036 and seeing ads for, “If you used MiracleDrug and are now experiencing symptoms of disintegrating liver [or some long list of other possible horrible ailments] YOU MAY BE ENTITLED TO COMPENSATION!” Time will tell.

Why does getting healthy have to be so darned hard?

What if it wasn’t? What if all you needed to do to become the healthy version of yourself is eat and move a bit?

That sounds like fantasy, doesn’t it? Yet for millions of people, it’s reality.

No, there’s no accompanying magic pill to take that makes all of your consumed calories disappear. Likewise, there’s no special food, instant meals, or shake packages. You can literally eat the foods you enjoy, move your body in whatever way you can, and watch the scale go in reverse.

Yes, you do need to move your body. Does that mean hours upon hours of standing-in-place cardio sessions? Nope.

I was skeptical too when I came across this method.

I thought the only way to lose weight and get into shape was to spend a lifetime at the gym, drinking kale smoothies, and eating bland, flavorless “health” food.

Yet I made pork tacos with Spanish Rice for dinner last night, and every Friday night is Pizza Night.

I’m also a chocoholic. I eat chocolate every single day, and I typically end each day with ice cream.

Yet I dropped from 240 down to 168 eating just like this.

Mind you, I didn’t stay at 168 for more than a month or so. People started telling me I was looking “too thin,” so I tweaked my plan a bit and popped up to 183, where I’ve been holding steady since 2020.

So, what do you need to do to make this work for yourself? To answer that, I created a whole year-long immersion program.

During that program, I go over the nine core competencies that everyone must master to live a full and healthy life. None of them are hard, but it’s likely that you’re not doing all nine in the right way at the moment.

I know I sure wasn’t! That’s why, even though I was working out like a madman at the gym, I wasn’t seeing the results I wanted on the scale, or on my body for that matter.

After making these small tweaks, though, everything changed. It really does feel like magic! It took me several decades to pack on all that weight, but once I really got into it, that fat just melted right off in months.

While learning the nine core competencies, I also help my clients to incorporate them into their lives, so that they really start living them and embodying them. After that, I celebrate with them each month as the scale begins to drop, they buy a new outfit in a smaller size, their clothes start to fit how they want them to fit, and they start to admire their own reflection again.

Will it work for you?

Let’s find out! Schedule a call with me to discuss your situation, and if you think it makes sense for us to work together, we will 😊 If not, no worries. I want to work with clients who want my help. Is that you? Click the link below:

Visit: https://www.eclecticwellbeing.com/Mark1-2-1

The post Why is Getting Healthy so Hard? appeared first on Eclectic Well-Being.

Have you ever let some small thing totally derail your day? This used to happen to me all the time when I would “try” to eat healthy. Like, when ordering breakfast, I’d absent-mindedly have grabbed, paid for, then consumed an entire chocolate chip muffin with my morning coffee.

It’s not the muffin that’s bad, it’s what happens after eating it. Guilt. Shame. Beating yourself up for being a “bad eater.” And then the absolute worst thing happens: “Well, now this whole day is shot. I might as well eat all of the stuff I know I’m not allowed to eat.”

It isn’t the all-or-nothing mindset. It’s believing that we must be 100% perfect all the time, or it means we’re bad.

No. Don’t do that to yourself.

Instead, make a game out of it.

See how many “good” meals you can get in a row before eating something “bad.”

When I started, it was 2 meals. Mainly because I was eating those chocolate chip muffins for breakfast every day. For lunch and dinner I did pretty good.

Once I decided to start making breakfast healthier, my “good” streak stretched to 5. Now I was eating the muffins every other day. Progress!

Over time, that streak got longer and longer. Now, I’ve stopped keeping track, but it’s probably around 30 healthy meals in a row before I have an ice cream sundae, or a candy bar, or heck, maybe even a chocolate chip muffin.

Thinking along these lines is a much healthier mindset to have.

We are not one meal; nor are we one day. We are the culmination of all the foods we’ve eaten over the course of months.

With that in mind, what do you want to become?

Will you be made from fresh fruits and vegetables, lean cuts of meat, legumes, mushrooms, and other whole foods? Or will it be from whatever the ingredients are in the factory processed entrees waiting in the freezer?

I decided to live on the healthy side. How about you?

Bear in mind, it wasn’t an overnight shift. I was living on freezer goodies for years. Burritos, supreme pizzas, taquitos, chicken wings, were all lunch staples. If I ran out for lunch, it was a double quarter pounder with cheese, large fries and a chocolate shake. Or maybe a Mexican pizza, two tacos supreme, and a chicken burrito supreme, with a large Baja Blast Mountain Dew. Quite frequently it was also the Chinese Buffett.

Every time I tried to 180° my diet into health, I failed miserably.

I thought I was the problem. What else could it have been?

Turns out, it’s basic human psychology. Our brains don’t like too much change all at once.

“Don’t like,” is probably too soft a term here. It’s more like “everything is crazy! Which way is up? How do I get out of here?”

And that’s exactly what happens. The brain feels like it’s been thrown into chaos, and the subconscious mind takes over.

You can’t fight the subconscious mind.

The subconscious mind will always drive you to do the things you’ve told it you want to do. And in this case, the drive is back to “normality.”

At my most unhealthy state, I was eating all of the unhealthy things I mentioned above, while snacking on chips with sour cream-based dip, and washing it down with soda, beer, or coffee, depending on time of day.

And I had the bloodwork to show for it! I was still in my 30’s when my doctor put me on blood pressure and cholesterol meds.

My first wake-up call was when my cousin Marty passed away from a sudden heart attack at 42.

Then Mom’s reaction was, “oh, the 40-year curse got him.” To which I immediately retorted, “the 40-year what now?”

As it happened, the men on my mother’s side of the family had a history of dropping dead from sudden heart attacks in their early 40’s(!)

One of the other things these men all had in common?

Horrible eating habits. Just like me.

Now I was at a point where I knew I needed to change, because not changing was likely to kill me. I was already on meds. My triglycerides were off the charts. (Seriously, the chart ended at 500 and mine were in the 800’s!) My cholesterol numbers were upside-down. My arteries were probably already starting to harden and choke off.

But every time I tried to get healthy, I failed right back to where I started.

What I wound up doing, just happened to be the correct thing to do. I decided to start small.

I switched to black coffee, then I stopped drinking soda. That’s at least two meals every day where I wasn’t drinking empty calories.

Holy cow, did that make a difference!

I went from 240 down to 220 in what seemed to be an instant, but in reality was several months.

My face started to look more like a face again, instead of the generic roundness I had become accustomed to. My 38 pants that I had been debating about taking up to 40’s were now more comfortable to wear.

That little change alone went a long way, but it wasn’t enough to get me down under 220.

I tried to weightlift my way into health, thinking I would burn off all of the extra calories I didn’t need. In this, I became stronger; but the scale didn’t seem to want to budge.

I cut way back on those frozen entrees I had been eating for lunch and got into the 205 range.

It wasn’t until I got serious and studied the nutritional principles that I now coach that I was able to get properly lean.

None of it is hard! In fact, I like to tell my clients that I help them fail their way to success.

Would you like to have a conversation with me to see if I might be able to help you?

This link will let you look at my calendar to see if there’s any time where our schedules align. If there is, go ahead and book the Can I Help You Call 😊 I’ll take it from there.

https://www.eclecticwellbeing.com/Mark1-2-1

The post Game Your Way Into Health appeared first on Eclectic Well-Being.

I love to travel! Who doesn’t? Challenging myself to do new things. Discovering beautiful places to renew my spirit. Savoring new flavors on my palette. Engaging with people different than me and understanding other cultures.

Travel improves our well-being in many ways.

Studies show that travel help reduces the risks of heart disease. Travel can increase your levels of dopamine, which helps to feel deeper levels of satisfaction and pleasure. We boost our creativity when traveling in a foreign country, not only finding ways to communicate when we don’t speak the language but also there are many ways to do activities we do every day and take for granted.

Traveling, whether abroad or to nearby destinations, is something many of us do, but without intention and without embracing all these well-being benefits.  We go on a trip. Explore the sites, usually with our phone in hand, taking picture after picture, posting selfies on social media, and missing half of what is in our site.

We dine at delicious restaurants. Perhaps even order a tasty dish that we’ve never tried before and may never eat again because we have no idea what is in it or how it was prepared.

But have you been on a retreat? Maybe it was a yoga retreat to deepen your practice or focus on a particular flavor of yoga. Or perhaps it was a spiritual retreat, filled with silence and prayer. Or maybe a day retreat, time spent away from the day-to-day to fill your cup!

Retreats are travel with a purpose. Intentionally embracing the well-being benefits we are blessed with when we explore new destinations, and cultures and partake in novel activities.

The World Is Your Backyard

How many plant species are in your yard? A hundred? Two hundred? Even if it’s 500, that’s less than 1% of all plant species in the world!

When we travel, we can explore nature. Allow our senses to notice the different sites, sounds, and smells of the landscape.

My favorite area of the worldwide backyard is beneath the ocean. No matter how hard you want to see coral, you can only see it in its living form underwater.  The beauty of the ocean and the life living there is remarkable. Filled with color. Vibrancy. And without much sound, it creates a different kind of peace and serenity.

My levels of well-being drastically increase when I dive or snorkel. Why?

First, when I dive, my breath is my guide. If you’ve ever scuba-dived, you know what I mean. You can’t help but hear your own breath. Your breath is calming.

Secondly, I am not distracted. I am simply observing. Noticing the plant life, the fish, and their interaction.

What does this sound like?

Mindfulness. Almost a form of meditation.

This is exactly why so many retreats are near breathtaking and exotic natural wonders, engaging our parasympathetic nervous system and improving our well-being.

If you can’t get away to an exotic place, explore the land beneath your feet. Take a Day Retreat and go Forest Bathing, which is much more than a mindful walk in the woods.  It’s embodying the forest, exploring it in new ways. Weather not cooperating? Bring the outdoors in. At last week’s Spring Into Health & Happiness Day Retreat, we did just that! We took a Forest Bath indoors, exploring the forest floor by bringing wood, rocks, moss, and more inside and experiencing it in a more mindful, embodied way.

Treat Your Body Well

Don’t our bodies deserve a change from day to day too?

Our tastebuds yearn for some new flavors. Our muscles want to move in different ways.

Many retreats incorporate exploring our Body Home in new ways. A yoga retreat provides daily Yoga practices that many don’t experience in their daily lives. These new daily retreat rituals, awaken our desires to perhaps practice more often when we get home.

Retreats intentionally provide physical activity to not strain the body, but to ignite it!

Eating differently when on a retreat, treats our body to nutrients and flavors we tend to overlook when eating on the run.

Years ago, on a Tony Robbins Retreat, I was introduced to wheatgrass and eating a plant-based diet. At first, I felt disappointed, like I was missing out by not eating meat or trying local cuisine. But the goal of this retreat was to master our life, including the health of our bodies. By being intentional, and allowing myself to observe the experience, I noticed that although I still enjoy meat, my body feels better when I eat less meat and more veggies and other plant-based foods like mushrooms. I was on retreat to master my health, and that week had a profound effect on how I view food.

I now see food as both fuel for my body and as enjoyment for my tastebuds. And many dishes satisfy both.  This leads me to…..

Discover Your Self in Other Cultures

Retreats not only expose us to other cultures they immerse us in those cultures. To provide us the opportunity to notice similarities and accept our differences, without judgment.

Years ago, Mark and I reunited with our daughter Hana, who was living in Colombia at the time, in Guatemala. We had ever been and were excited to see volcanos and stay on Lake Atitlán, a lake formed by a volcanic eruption 84,000 years ago. This vacation became a retreat of sorts, where we immersed ourselves in the Mayan culture.

Prime example, we took a cooking class. But this cooking class was not a fancy restaurant, let alone any restaurant. It was facilitated at a local Mayan woman’s home. We met her in town at the food market where we shopped with her. Allowing her to explain the intricacies of local vegetables and food.

The cooking class was held at her modest home. We climbed the stairs to the roof where there was an outdoor kitchen. We made a special Guatemalan dish together and sat at the table on the roof exploring the food we had just prepared.

As I look back, I still feel a sense of delight and a better understanding of the people of the area. I noticed how this woman was simply striving to make a better life for herself and her children, just like single moms do here in the US. I noticed that back home in the US, one would have to jump through permitting to allow such a business in their home.

But most importantly, I gained a better understanding of my Self. Gratitude for being able to be there with my daughter. And igniting a desire to leave the world better than I found it. This was travel with a purpose.

Reflection and Self-Care

I define a retreat as “intentionally withdrawing from everyday activities to a safe space in order to reflect on one’s Self and connect to one’s surroundings.”

Although I’ve mentioned some exotic places, some of the best retreats are local and can be as short as a day. They simply need to be intentional and bring us inward.

Retreats don’t have to be centered on Yoga. Journaling, mindfully walking, or even planting flowers and veggies can allow us to reflect on our lives and connect with the world around us.

Our Day Retreats are designed to connect you back to yourself, withdrawing from the everyday.

One of our guests from last week’s Day Retreat posted on Facebook, “It exceeded all of my expectations.  Mark and Kathi have created the ultimate oasis.  They bring so much experience and knowledge to this little corner of South West Michigan.  I left feeling refreshed, energized, and full of new ideas.”

And they can be personal, just for you or a small group of loved ones.

Starting this summer, Eclectic Well-Being will not only continue to offer our amazing destination retreats like our upcoming journey to Amorgos Greece, and our intimate Southwest Michigan Day Retreats like last week’s Spring Into Health & Happiness, but we will be offering personal retreats, where we intentionally plan activities that help you to reflect and connect with your Self. Time for true Self-Care.

Curious about what that could look like?

Maybe you want to explore meditation and learn how to cook healthy meals for your family.  A weekend retreat with us could include a few cooking classes with Mark, a meditation workshop with me, including experimenting with Yoga Nidra and Forest Bathing, and of course a day trip to Silver Beach in nearby St Joe.

Or maybe you’re contemplating a change in your life, a new job, or a relationship.  A weekend immersion in my coaching program, the Total MindShift, can help you explore the future while you relax and unwind on the farm.

Or maybe you want to jumpstart getting healthy! We can help you find physical activities you enjoy while Mark leads you through his Total HealthShift. Try hiking nearby dunes. Of do some gardening for exercise.

We plan this retreat experience with you, ensuring it’s consciously curated to help you create a life and body you love!

Sound interesting? Send me an email and let’s see what we can create for you! Kathi@eclecticwellbeing.com

The post Travel With Purpose – Make It More Than A Vacation appeared first on Eclectic Well-Being.

A number of years ago I stopped making New Year’s Resolutions or even Intentions. I simply decided to choose a word and apply that to my life for the year. Choosing the word is done somewhat randomly each year. In 2020, I was at a NY meditation practice and the word Zest was spoken.  I had been thinking about that word as it’s also one of the 24 VIA Character Strengths and one that I did not use often enough. I decided that word showing up was a sign for it to be my word for the year. Imagine, focusing on Zest in my life in 2020. The Universe gave me a challenge and I obliged.

Trust the Universe

In 2021, Mark and I were in the midst of bankruptcy and legal issues regarding the closing of our Yoga studio. I wanted it all to be over and just move on, but I knew that wasn’t going to happen. I had to trust the process. Lawsuits and bankruptcy take time, and patience was needed.

We had also just launched Eclectic Well-Being and were venturing into the unknown of not just owning our coaching business but creating it together. We had owned the Yoga studio together, but being a franchise, we were more like operators. Eclectic Well-Being was our creation. We were doing it together! I had to trust that we could do this and more: work together, play together, create together, make a living together and keep our marriage strong. Trust was the obvious word for 2021.

Learning to Surrender

A few months before New Year’s 2022, I made a decision to move to Michigan and open a small retreat center. A place that guests could come to relax, as well as be coached or practice Yoga or meditation or forest bathing. When I first told Mark of this decision, he was not interested. I loved him, but I knew in my heart I needed to create this space. I put it out there and kept talking about it, trusting he would come around. And finally, during a mindset retreat in Costa Rica, he did! Trust was working.

Then we announced our move to Michigan to our kids, and my daughter, was not happy to say the least. It felt as if I would break her heart leaving her home in New Jersey. I started having second thoughts. Unsure if my decision was the right one.

As I was working on my vision board, the word Surrender jumped off the page of a magazine and I somehow, I just knew, that was my word!

It showed up time and time again.

Looking at properties up and down the east coast, but always something just not quite right, surrendering that one will come along. Finding the right one on a gut feeling, in Michigan, just when I was about to give up! Selling our house soon after finding Eclectic Sanctuary. My daughter coming around and seeing the beauty and synchronicity in the property now called Eclectic Sanctuary.

Surrendering when we were dragged back into legal issues I had no control over.

Surrender even showed up at our annual Mindset Retreat!

The word was everywhere! What a year! But I am finally able to let go of the things I cannot change and Surrender that the Universe always has my back.

Signs are Everywhere

In December I started thinking about what word would be my word for this new year. A year once again filled with changes. Living in Michigan. Getting Eclectic Sanctuary up and running. Navigating life without my New Jersey Tribe, but reconnecting with friends and family back in the Midwest.

I haven’t been reading much and one evening decided to find a book I could read at my leisure. No self-help book, but something inspiring. Opening up an unpacked box of books, Becoming by Michelle Obama was on top. Hana, my daughter recommended it years ago. I bought it and it sat on my bookshelf until being packed for the move to Michigan. Why not? It seemed to be calling to me.

In the preface, Michelle talks about her aspirations and how they have changed throughout her life. How we ask children, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” and expect an answer to this pointless question “As if growing up is finite,” Michelles states. “As if at some point you become something and that’s the end.”

These words connected with me. Afterall, I’ve been reinventing myself my entire life. I am always becoming.

Then, a day or two later, I began researching quotes about failure for my digital 7 Day MindShift Course and found this one from Fredrick Lenz.

“There is no such thing as completion. These are only stages in an endless progression. There are no final outcomes or decisions, since nothing ever stays the same.”

We are always Becoming.

I knew then that no matter how unoriginal it seems to use Michelle Obama’s book title, my word for 2023 had to be Becoming.

This year, and every year, I am Becoming. I have never grown up. I continue to become who I am meant to be.

My life has no destination other than death, and I am no hurry to get there.

Rather my life is a journey of endless progression. An endless process of Becoming.

This year I am becoming an owner of Eclectic Sanctuary. I am becoming an herb farmer. I will become a caretaker for a flock of chickens in the spring. Mark is becoming a ________ ­­­­­(it’s still a secret, but hopefully soon we can share!).

I am becoming stronger. Becoming more patient. I’m becoming calmer. And becoming more compassionate.

I am becoming more of who I am meant to be!

Who are you Becoming this year?

What word will guide you in 2023?

Discover more about Eclectic Well-Being and Eclectic Sanctuary by following us on Social Media and signing up for our monthly newsletter.

Watch as I continue to Become.

The post Life is an Endless Progression of BECOMING. appeared first on Eclectic Well-Being.

This week something finally clicked in me.  I haven’t been able to make sense of why some people never achieve their dreams. Even with all my mindset training, I still found this lingering doubt if the tools I teach and use, actually work.  If it’s as simple as having clarity, knowing your strengths, and making a powerful decision, shouldn’t more of us be living our dreams?

Well yes and no.

I believe now more than ever that what I teach, what I use in my coaching program really does work.

Because when we don’t achieve our so-called dreams, when we don’t wake up with our desires, it’s because we want the outcome but we don’t want the journey to get there. So yes we more of us could be living our dreams, but many don’t because we are focused on the ego.

Let’s take me for example as a pre-teen.

Going to be a Rock Star

I so wanted to play the guitar. To be in a rock band. Be like Nancy Wilson of Heart!  Have my rock band, sing, and make music!

Heck, in middle school I got our music teacher to let us (I can’t remember who us was – but it was more than just me) “practice” during lunch in the music room!  My memory does not recall who was there with me, but I was going to play bass guitar because I had already tried to learn lead guitar and couldn’t cut it.

Wait, I shouldn’t say I couldn’t cut it, I should say I didn’t choose to cut it.

I didn’t choose to cut my fingernails so they wouldn’t interfere with the frets.

And I didn’t’ choose to practice on a regular basis.

I thought the bass guitar would be easier and the bass guitar could be pretty cool.

But even bass guitar required some dedication. Dedication I didn’t have.

Nope, I wanted to pick up the guitar and be a rock star!  No rehearsing. No learning. Just pick up a guitar and play!

Yep, that was a dream that didn’t come true. And I get it now. I didn’t love or desire the journey to get there!

I didn’t love the idea of practicing daily. The journey I would need to take to become a really good guitar player.

Needless to say, I still dream about playing the guitar around a campfire.  But again, I want to pick it up and play, without the lessons, without the practicing.

Dreams that require work that we don’t want to do, are dreams that will never come true.

Fantasy or Dream?

So how do we tell the difference between Fantasy and Dreams or Desires?

It’s simple. Our desires come from the heart.  They come from a place of love.

Fantasy’s come from a place of ego. A place of coolness, of comparing ourselves to others.

We want that DREAM Home with a 3 car garage, a fireplace, a wrap-around porch, and a Viking Kitchen Stove and Fridge with French Doors, even though we only own one car, we only use the fireplace for the holidays, and we never sit on the porch and the only thing we cook is in the microwave unless again, it’s the holidays.

Is that Dream Home our heart’s desire, or is it our ego that we need to have what is expected we should have?

We want that promotion at work with the dreamy corner office and the prestige of the new title, but we don’t want to work the long hours and play corporate politics to get there.

Too many times we mix up fantasies and dreams. And then when we don’t get it, and others, we don’t understand. What makes them better? Why did they get the corner office? Well, maybe it’s because it was their heart’s desire. Maybe they love the work. Love corporate politics. There is nothing wrong with either of these fantasies being someone’s actual dream.  Just realize, that it may not be yours.

If dreams come from the heart, the journey to get there will also come from the heart, meaning we will love the journey as much as the dream itself.

Choose the Journey  – Not the Destination

There is a Hindu text called the Bhagavad Ghita with writings about the path of self-actualization. It is studied by many during Yoga Teacher Training. There is one phrase from the book that has always captured my interest but now makes so much more sense.

“Set thy heart upon the work, but never on its reward.”

Fall in love with the journey to your dreams, not the dream itself.

Be unattached to the outcome but be content and driven by the journey itself.

Our life is a journey, not a dream. Living our Dream Life is Loving the Journey.

When our desires come from the heart, we love the journey of getting there because, in reality, life is the journey of constantly reaching for our desires.

If we love life, we live in flow. If we live in flow we love the journey, not the destination.

Life is actually not about achieving anything.

Life is about living. Living is working toward our desires.

And when one desire is meant, we move toward the next, enjoying the new road before us.

It is not the destination that will bring us happiness. It is the journey.

The journey of consciously creating a life we love.

The journey of consciously creating ourselves, over and over. As many times as we like.

And loving the journey!

The post Dreams Only Come True When You Love the Journey appeared first on Eclectic Well-Being.

by Kathi Szabo

I truly believe that without a clear vision of what you really want in life, you will never be satisfied.

But, I also believe that our desires, our vision of what we want our lives to be, is always changing, rarely staying the same.

First, when we achieve our desires, our mind notices other things that are in line with our first desire. For example, say our dream is to travel to Machu Pichu. Once we achieve that, we notice so many other wonders in the world we want to see. Or maybe once we visit Machu Pichu, we’re satisfied and we want to settle down and buy a house.

Then there are times we get closer to our dreams and desires, and something about it doesn’t feel right. We notice something different and become more intrigued. We decide to make adjustments to our dream based on what we know now.

That’s life. Life is always changing. We are always changing. Others are always changing. Things happen that we have no control over yet it impacts us. We can choose how it impacts us, but it still impacts us.

When Mark and I started Eclectic Well-Being, we had one clear vision, to help people live better lives. It was pretty simple. We knew that included the internal self, thoughts, emotions, basically your mindset. We also knew it include the body. Not that we want everyone to have Instagram Yogi bodies, but we want to help others live a healthy life, so they can live longer and enjoy more of their life. And we knew helping people live better lives included connection. Connection to community and connection to nature.

The Changing Vision of Eclectic Well-Being

Last year we worked hard to create a platform similar to what we created at our yoga studio, offer classes and workshops, a membership site, and membership perks. That was actually deviation from our original  vision of wanting to partner with other businesses, sending clients to the best yoga studio, recommending small gyms, referring our clients to other wellness modalities based on their needs. But somehow, we overlooked our actual desire. The familiarity of running a membership-based business was still ingrained in our minds.

By the end of the year, we knew we needed to change. We weren’t serving our clients by having a little of this and a little of that.  Community and Connection though was still important to us.  How could we focus on one to one coaching but still create community and connection?

We shifted our vision again and decided to continue to include monthly connection events, but also include connecting more with our community of other wellness providers. Our original business idea was centered around working and supporting others who could serve our clients in ways we couldn’t. After all, we aren’t experts in everything, and we envisioned a community of wellness providers working with us. We overlooked this clarity because it was such a change from how we’d been operating the past few years. We were comfortable in operating a yoga studio and we tried like heck to stay in that comfort zone even though that was not our desire.

Overlooking our real vision because we are comfortable with what we know, happens to many of us. Comfort, or certainty as Tony Robbins would call it, is a need we all have. And sometimes moving out of our comfort zone, even when it’s a desire of ours, can be challenging.

Dreams Change

Now 4 months into 2022 and my lenses, my clarity, need readjusting again.

Retreats were more of a side note in our business model. It was always in the back of my mind, but it was not my focus. However, since planning and executing our DREAM Retreat to St Croix, and selling out our Women’s Only Self Care Day Retreat next month – Retreats are now my passion. It’s what I dream about! It’s what I truly love doing!  I love the planning. I love the traveling. I love meeting new people. I love the challenge of being in new surroundings, even when they aren’t quite what you expected.  And I believe Retreats are life-changing!  They are magical and I want everyone to experience them.  That’s why today I just confirmed our second DREAM Retreat but this time to Amorgos, Greece! Yoga, Mindfulness, Meditation, Mindset, Self Discovery and Exploring the Greek Island Culture.

Time for New Lenses!

We experience life and we see things differently. Having clarity is great, but we must notice when the vision becomes fuzzy and blurry. When it does, it’s time to reassess and go back to the drawing board!

So how do we know when it’s time to change our Dreams?

It’s when you no longer are excited by the dream.

It’s when working for the dream is a daunting task.

When it’s no longer fun.

When it no longer brings you joy.

But what if your current dream no longer brings you joy, but you don’t know what will?

You feel stuck.

You may be living the dream you thought you wanted, but something is still lacking.

That’s what the Total MindShift is all about.

It’s taking the time to shift our thought patterns so we can begin to dream again. To let the world be our playground. To listen, truly listen to our heart’s desires.

I practice what I teach. Whenever I feel frustrated, or I feel myself avoiding things, I stop and go inward.

I dig into my psyche. Observing my thoughts and taking note of the observation.

How am I feeling? Are there limiting beliefs stopping me from pursuing my dreams? Do I just need some time to myself?

Mindfulness and Self Care are key.

Finding New Clarity – AGAIN…

So if you are feeling you need to get clarity again. That perhaps your dreams have shifted. Here’s what I recommend.

1. If you don’t journal start, or at least have a practice as you work through getting your clarity. I love the exercise from “An Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron of morning pages. Write 3 pages I believe even if it’s the same thing over and over. Just write and get it out.
2. Sit and breathe. This is great advice for whenever anxiety or frustration creeps up. Focused awareness meditation of simply noticing your breath. This simple technique calms the nervous system and will help move you into a powerful state, or the parasympathetic nervous system.
3. Find Gratitude for what you currently have. This is key. Even if we’ve recently experienced loss or tragedy, we can find gratitude for other things in our lives. Without gratitude, we cling to frustration and anger for what we don’t have. This will never propel us to living our dreams.
4. Clarify your values. There are numerous exercises out there to do this. One I like is from the book “Who’s in Your Room” by Emery, Misner, and Sapio.
5. Hire a Coach. Coaches are trained to not solve the issue for you, not to layout your dream based on any survey or quiz. No, coaches are here to support and help you find the answers in yourself. Because it is already inside you, you just need to bring it to the surface.
6. Live. Love. Laugh. Life is whatever you create, and you can only create when you are embracing the current moment.

Living in Motion

What I’ve learned over the past 7 years, is that my dreams and desires are always in motion. That my values guide me. And that the universe is always working for my greatest good! That last belief is faith. Faith that our dreams are worth pursuing. Faith that we are here for a reason. Faith that love always wins. Faith in ourselves and those around us.

If you’d like to explore working together and creating a Total MindShift so you can consciously create a life you love, schedule a no-pressure call with me, and let’s see where the road goes.

And if you want to experience a mini DREAM Retreat this summer, join us for a weekend in the Poconos. Experience Yoga Nidra, a mindfulness walk, morning meditation, river rafting and connection to community and to nature. Check it out! Limited spaces!

The post When It’s Time To Replace Your Lenses appeared first on Eclectic Well-Being.

The Vernal Equinox, the first day of Spring, was once considered the beginning of the new year. It is the start of planting season, signifying renewal, growth, and life.

Farmers are readying the soil and beginning to sow their crops. Birds are nesting and laying eggs for the next generation. Wildlife that has been slow or dormant over the winter emerges looking for food and a new spring home.

Even the name itself, Spring, brings to mind movement, change and regeneration!

No wonder many of us reset our goals, our intentions, and our homes – so many of us participate in “Spring Cleaning!”

Why not spring clean our minds so we can reset, and plant new thoughts?

Clear the Cobwebs

Why is it that one day I notice one cobweb and suddenly they are everywhere!  I can go for months without seeing a one and then all of a sudden the light hits the wall, the ceiling, the window corner, and WOW! A huge cobweb! I wonder how I didn’t see it. And then another appears. And another and I’m spending the day dusting and eliminating them wondering if guests or others who have been to my home noticed them in disgust.

It’s the same with our thoughts.

A cobweb is simply a spider web that is no longer in use, but it collects dust and pollen, and dirt. The cobwebs of our mind are those thoughts that no longer serve us, yet we keep them around. They attract like thoughts and emotions that also don’t serve us, but until we remove them they remain in our minds, collecting negativity.

Spring is the perfect time to dust out those thoughts. Release them along with those attached to them. These are the limiting beliefs that we may have thought we overcame, but are still lingering in the back of our minds.

Dust out those lingering thoughts by first acknowledging they are still there. For example, this past week during our coaching call with our coach (yes, coaches have coaches – we need support too!) Mark realized that the block he was having was the same limiting belief he thought he had cleared out long ago. But here it was, resurfacing when the light hit it just right.  Just like cobwebs.

Let Go of Limiting Beliefs

It’s important to recognize that many of our limiting beliefs are so ingrained in our minds the cobwebs remain hidden until there is a light that brings them out of the darkness. That’s why when we notice them, we clean them out.

It’s all about the practice we call, the Power of Decision. It’s something I teach all my Total MindShift clients and speak about in different talks. Mark talks also teaches it in his Well-Being 101 Call.

Beliefs are simply decisions our mind accepts as pure fact. And when we find some limiting beliefs, those cobwebs that are collecting dust, we simply need to make a new decision and clean out those cobwebs!

Plant Seeds of Intention

If we want to grow a life of abundance, we must plant those seeds.  And we must have complete clarity on what we want to grow.

If we want beans, we don’t plant seeds from a butternut squash!  If we want violets to grow, we don’t plant daisies.

It’s the same with our dreams and desires. We must plant the intention, but we must have complete clarity on what we want to grow.

Spring is the ideal time to look at the life you are creating and decide if this is still what you want. We change. We grow. Our dreams and desires will evolve. Allow yourself to let go of dreams and plant seeds for new ones.

Create intentions for where you are today. Be absolutely clear on what it is you want. Then plant the seed with a clear vision of what will sprout.

Nurture Your Garden

As spring turns to summer, it is important to nurture our dreams, just as we nurture a garden of flowers or vegetables. Watering them when they need a drink, clearing out the weeds, just like clearing out the cobwebs.

Our dreams can have difficulty becoming reality when we don’t take the time to nurture them. We need to support them with action. This could be taking a class to learn more about what we want. Hiring a coach to help keep us accountable. Talking with others who can help us. If we do something every day that is aligned with our desires, we are walking the path and it will lead us to our dreams.

So get to that Spring Cleaning of your Mind. Clean out the cobwebs and dust. Replace it with new empowering beliefs. Then plant a spring garden of intentions. With a bit of nurturing, our seeds will grow into our desires. Consciously creating a life we love!

The post Spring Reset appeared first on Eclectic Well-Being.

I’ve spent the last 9 months visualizing the life I want to create. The work I want to do. Where I want to do it.

I had it all laid out in my head. Buy a farm in Michigan and create our Eclectic Well-Being Sanctuary. Complete with guest rooms for hosting retreats, space to practice yoga, a wooded area for forest bathing, and a kitchen big enough for Mark to cook and teach others how he creates such tasty yet good for you meals!

You may be reading this and wondering, “Why Michigan?”

I grew up outside Chicago. Michigan was where I spent many summers.  It’s a nature lover’s paradise. The shoreline of Lake Michigan has the most beautiful dunes. The interior countryside has rolling hills with orchards, wineries, and u-pick farms. And the summers are perfect in my opinion, warm enough to lay in the sun on the sand, but cool enough to have a bonfire at night. Plus I would only be a few hours away by car from my mom instead of a few hours away by plane.  Yes, I was ready to move to a place I feel is home.

Making Plans

Once I had this clarity it felt incredible!  But when I shared it with Mark, he was not as receptive as I had hoped.

It took several months and carefully planned out conversations (the most persuasive being held on a mindset retreat no less), before he understood my vision. How it connected to my purpose and how it was possible.  Then, on October 16 last year, he relented and agreed, but only if we did it thoughtfully, not on a whim.

I began making connections on Facebook with like-minded business in Michigan, as well as real estate agents.  Luckily I found one who also owned a yoga studio, which helped her understand my vision.

We researched the best localities, distance to Chicago, and access to Lake Michigan and other places of interest.  We narrowed our search to a fairly large,  but doable, area. I gave her my wishes: minimum of 5 acres, an older home, preferably 2 stories, and with a barn!  A place on-site or nearby for forest bathing. And space for a garden. A pool for aqua yoga would be icing on the cake!

In January we began seriously searching. I made reservations for Mark and me to visit for a weekend and check out some properties as well as get a better feel for the area.

On the weekend we were scheduled to visit, winter storm Kenan hit the East Coast. Our flights were canceled. I flew out a day late as I was also taking my mom home, but there was not enough time to make it to Michigan due to commitments here in New Jersey on Tuesday.

A New Perspective

Taking Mom home opened my eyes.

Upon landing in Chicago one could see the snow for miles. It looked pretty and afterall, it was January.

We drove home where my sister-in-law greeted us.  She  talked about the snow and who was doing their shoveling and how they just got a few more inches on top of what was already there and more was expected.

I had forgotten that in the Midwest, snow rarely melts until spring’s arrival.  Snow accumulates, adding more on top of more.  I begain to recall my childhood winters and the endless snow.

I had to admit, I have grown used to New Jersey, and before that North Carolina, and before that Southern Illinois. Places that get snow, but where it melts in a day or two.  It comes again, but in between, it warms up, before the temps drop again and snow is back.

But in the Michigan, that is not the case.

When I arrived back in New Jersey, I wondered if I really wanted to move. I actually like New Jersey, but I love Michigan. My vision all of a sudden was not clear.

Not a week later, on February 6, a childhood friend posted a video of her dog playing ON the lake at her summer home in Michigan. The lake is completely iced over. Reading through the comments I noticed someone ask, “how thick is that ice?” My friends answer, “about 5-6”. Ice fishing and occasional snowmobiles go by.”

That did it!  That made me realize the huge change I would be making.

Sure, summers would be perfect, but then there is winter. Months of cold. Snow that doesn’t thaw until spring. Nope. Nadda. Can’t do it.

So then why did my vision seem so clear? I had felt so much clarity in the decision that I was now changing.

Our Mind sees what we tell it to see.

David Bayer, our business and mindset coach,  states, “the brain is a goal-achieving machine.” This means that if we give it a goal, it will find a way to make it possible.  When I first started thinking of moving to Michigan, it was summer. I hadn’t seen my mom in 2 years. And I started to feel antsy. After all, I’ve been living in the same house for almost 20 years, longer than anywhere I have ever lived.

I had complete clarity on what I wanted; a sanctuary where people can visit for self-care, relaxatin and life-changing retreats.

So with this goal, and a childhood dream of living in Michigan, my mind began showing me the potential. And there is potential. I still love Michigan. I would still love to host retreats there in the spring, summer, and fall. Just not winter.

See our mind goes wherever we direct it. We make the decision, but the mind shows us all the possibilities. Michigan is a possibility. My mind showed me that Upstate New York also had potential.

Our awareness shows us ALL.

My awareness become focused on these two places and because of that focused awareness, I began noticing the difference in weather. The snow for months at a time. The endless freezing temperatures.  And I noticed that in New Jersey, our winters are calmer. That we get snow, but rarely does it last.

My mind was not telling me to move or not to move to Michigan. No, it was simply showing me, through my conscious awareness, what moving to Michigan would look like. Then it became my decision to continue on that journey, or take a pause.

I decided to take a pause. I decided to research more the potential of Eclectic Well-Being Sanctuary being right here in New Jersey.

And what did my brain show me? A home on 11 acres, very close to where I live now, with plenty of space for everything I want to do. My brain was activated to achieve my goal.

Unfortunately, by the time we called, the property was already under contract. But that’s ok. I now have primed my brain to show me more opportunities. Including the idea of maybe moving to Michigan for 3 seasons and traveling during winter. This idea unfolded after unexpectedly visiting a friend who is doing just that, except her Michigan, is the Poconos.

What now?

I don’t know where this vision will lead. I’m still very clear on what I want. I am clear on my purpose. It’s the how that still needs to come together.  But I know it will.

See, as long as we are clear on our goal. Clear on our vision, we don’t need to know the how. The how will present itself based on the vision we’ve created. Our brain, that goal-achieving machine, will continue to show all the possibilities. It is then in my hands to grab hold of the possibility that resonates most with me. To make the decision and take action.

Changing our minds, our action plan is not a bad thing. It’s allowing ourselves to continuously look at our desires and re-evaluate what is most important. To understand that life is a journey with no destination.

It is the journey that is life.

The post It’s Ok to Change Your Mind appeared first on Eclectic Well-Being.

I rang in 2022 with my word of intention, Surrender.

I’m looking at my intention as letting go of controlling what I cannot control. Giving up trying to manage every outcome and instead allowing things to unfold. To observe what is happening around me, and then formulate what only I can do, not what others may do.

Yet here I am, 3 weeks into the new year and I’ve had to remind myself several times to surrender. Reverting to my controlling ways is not easy to change, but having one word to focus on has helped me stay on track. It’s not easy, but I don’t expect changing something that has been a part of me for decades was going to be.

And then there was my intention of getting back to a regular yoga practice. Yes I teach yoga at least 3 times a week, and soon to be 4 with the opening of Yoga37 in Mansfield, but any yoga teacher will tell you, teaching is not the same as a practice. So over a week ago, I joined The Movement in Allentown. I scheduled a class. Then, last Sunday I wasn’t feeling well and I didn’t want to risk infecting anyone, so I canceled. Almost a week later, I’m feeling fine, but I haven’t rescheduled.

All-In – but then what?

Many of us, (if not all of us) start the new year with grand plans, intentions, resolutions, and goals. We are “All-In!” This is the year I’m going to do that thing I’ve been talking about for decades! Or maybe it’s the year you’re going to finish that project. Or maybe you’re going to get healthy! Get a new job. Stop complaining! So many things we are going to do and boom! It’s February 1^st and we are back on the treadmill, running and running, but still in the same place as the last minute of 2021.

Where are you in these statistics from https://discoverhappyhabits.com/new-years-resolution-statistics/?

64% make it through January in keeping to their New Years Resolutions

In a 2016 study, of the 41% of Americans who made resolutions, only 9% felt they were successful by the end of the year.

Why do so many of us give up on our intentions? The article gives 4 reasons:

• Unrealistic goals
• Didn’t track their progress
• Forgot about them
• Too many resolutions, goals, or intentions

Which one has stopped you in the past?

Unrealistic Goals

This is a great one when it comes to weight loss and exercise. After watching a motivational speaker like Tony Robbins or Les Brown, we think we can do anything! We’re going to lose 50 pounds and get into that skinny black dress we wore 10 years ago by June! Too often we set unrealistic timelines on ourselves.  The intention or goal isn’t unrealistic, but sometimes we simply need more time to get there.

Getting down to my ideal weight, the term Mark uses in his Metabolic Mindfulness program to describe the weight I would like to be at, is another one of my goals for 2022. Rather, my goal is to continue to progress to that ideal weight throughout the year.  See, I don’t want a short-term fix here. Sure, I could go on several diets, start running 3 times a week and get to my ideal weight in a few months. But then what happens?

Well based on my history, when I hit my ideal weight I go out and celebrate, eating all the stuff I gave up on the diet. I take a week off from running. And in one week I’m no longer at my ideal weight.

Not the end I have in mind.

I want a realistic goal and for me, that is continuous progress toward my ideal weight.

If you are already struggling with your intentions or resolutions, is it because you place unrealistic demands on yourself? Is the timing necessary? We want our intentions to be a stretch, to invoke change, but we want them to be achievable. If you are looking at your 2022 intentions with doubt, change them up now and make them achievable!

Progress

When making intentions for the new year, just like when setting any goals in business or life, we will more likely achieve them if we regularly measure our progress toward them. This can be done in so many ways, but my favorite is checking in on my progress each day, each week, each month.

You may be thinking that’s a lot of progress check-ins.  It’s not that I measure my progress say on my yoga practice every day, but I have a journal, a calendar of sorts, where each day I set my intentions. These are based on my weekly intentions, which are based on my monthly intentions, which come from my yearly intention. Of course, some things come up that need my attention and they get added as well. But I am very clear in mindset. I have my word, it is easy to remember.  I have my intentions, they are achievable.

Measuring my progress is answering one question.  Am I closer than I was yesterday?

Am I closer to naturally letting go of control? Does it feel more like me?

Am I closer to my ideal weight?

Am I closer to getting back to a regular yoga practice?

If the answer is yes, well I’m on track. If the answer is no, which is where I am right now for my yoga practice, I can make that a priority. Decide on one thing I can do that brings me closer.

Forgot Your Intention?

If you make it a priority to measure your progress, you can’t forget your intention. But if for some reason you do, then it clearly wasn’t your heart’s desire. Make a new intention, one that resonates with your entire being, and move on.

Too Many Intentions

This one gets me every day! Seriously, it really does!

I start the morning by writing in my journal all the things I want to accomplish for the day. Because I wake up refreshed and energized, in a positive mindset, I think I can do it all!

Sound familiar? Did you feel that way on January 1^st when you set all those goals for the New Year?

I’ve learned from experience that I set myself up to feel overwhelmed when I give myself so many goals and intentions, whether it’s for the day or the year. And when we are overwhelmed, we tend to not be productive because we are spending more energy trying not to feel overwhelmed instead of just doing what we can.

If you think you may have set too many intentions for the year, go back to them and sit with them. Are they all important? Do they all need to be done in 2022? Which have you not thought of since January 1?

The last question gives you permission to let those go.  If you haven’t thought about it in three weeks, it’s not important.

Decide which three at most are most important to you and hold onto those. Make them achievable. Measure their progress.

Adjust Your Mindset

Setting intentions for the year can be a powerful tool to creating your life, moving closer to the unique person you are meant to be. It’s the premise behind The Total MindShift, where we not just set our intentions, but we do so with purpose and with an understanding that everything we need to live our dreams, is all inside of us!

But we must consciously create intentions. Setting those that bring us joy. Those that bring everlasting change. Allowing us to shine our light on others. To become “powerful beyond measure.” In turn, we liberate others to shine just as brightly. For when we step into our greatness, we automatically become a beacon for others.

The post New Year’s Intentions: Day 22 – 343 More To Go appeared first on Eclectic Well-Being.