There is a clarity to January – a breath of life and contemplation, the anticipation of a new year begun that is strengthened by a sense of completion for the closure of the former year. January is a very magical time in our modern world and it is teeming with the wild magic of transformation.
January is the month where your future has never felt so close – it resides just beyond your grasp, but you can see it through your dreams. The talk of resolutions and new beginnings paint that future picture in a way that seems achievable. It paints it with the innocence of January, before the reality of the day to day grind changes and muddies the images of your own future that you hold.
Why not grab onto the spiritual energy that is January and magically prepare for your future, bringing it not only closer, but into your immediate grasp. These 10 tools are nothing new; they are the basics of creating change in your life.
1 – Talk out your future with a trusted colleague.
Talk and trust are the key words here. If you keep all of your plans inside, they remain in a virtual world of potential. Potential is a death knell for your future because potential is the name of energy that is unused and slowly fading.
If you share these future ideals with a trusted friend or colleague you have the alchemical process of creation – where two elements come together to create something new. That is one of the secrets of magic (from the Coventry Magic book by Jacki Smith) – It takes two people to make magic work. It takes two people who are heading in the same direction, meeting a common goal. You need a catalyst, not a neutralizer! When you share your future goals with a colleague of like mind, then you become that catalyst of change for each other.
2 – Write out what needs to change in your life for your future to happen.
Not everything fits. As you contemplate your future, you will realize that some of your past and present are not congruent with your future – it is from a different puzzle and not matter how hard you try, those pieces will not fit together. It is like setting a size 9 goal while keeping your pie of the week subscription, those things just do not fit together.
You do not have to give up everything that does not fit with your future all at once; you do not have to ever change it. You just have to be aware that these parts of your life will sabotage those future plans. There are times when your future goals will change to accommodate what you do not want to give up – and that is ok. Being aware of the needed changes puts you in charge and adds to your magical cache.
3 – Prepare for your fears to be triggered.
Your fears are held safe by your ego because it is the job of your ego to warn you of danger. Change is dangerous. Small or large, you do not know which future goal will trigger your fears so get prepared for bumpy ride as you travel forward. Your fears do not have to stop you, actually as you come upon them they are signs that you are heading in the right direction and your odds of success are greater than not. Pay attention to your own inner spiritual tells as an early warning system. That way you can get backup, use new tools and heal instead of just powering through your fears. In DIY Akashic Wisdom by Jacki Smith and Patty Shaw you will find a whole chapter on working with your fears and lots of tools to help you do it.
4 – Prepare for your community to feel threatened.
Everybody loves and hates the cheerleader. They love the enthusiasm, but when it moves from cheering you on to feeling like they are not measuring up to your changes, they start to hate. It is human nature; when one of the herd gets ahead of the others they rest of the herd feel compelled to keep up. What if they do not want to keep up? What if they are content with the way they are? When you grow around others who are not in a growth cycle, it makes them uncomfortable. So what do you do with this?
Remind them that this is your journey and not theirs, make sure your spiritual Colleagues are in their own growth cycle and limit your exposure to the ones who are threatened by you. This is a normal growth pattern in communities, families and even cultures; not everyone grows at the same pace and when you respect that, even if you are the one left behind, your own future will be stronger.
5 – Forgive yourself and others for not being in your future already.
Impatience is your enemy here. When your passion, vision, and energy are riding high you want it all to manifest NOW!! NOW, dammit, NOW!!! It is easy to get frustrated that you did not start years ago; that you did not save money when you got the raise, that you ate the whole pie, or that you spent years with the wrong person. You are here now, ready now, and because of your past and you could not have done this any sooner.
6 – Get honest about how you have already sabotaged your future goals.
You are prepared for your fears, but can you see where the sabotage has already happened? Just because you are ready now does not mean that you had not put in safeguards in your past to keep you from reaching that goal. That past version of yourself was not ready for this and made sure this new future would not accidentally happen.
Look between what you are unwilling to change for your future and your fears and there you will find some sabotage already in place. You may not see it until you have sprung the trap, but instead of bemoaning the universe and its unfair treatment of you, take a look and see what was your own personal sabotage. The good news is when you find it, you can undo it.
7 – Cleanse yourself of past behaviors.
Spiritual habits are hard to break; actually rewriting them is easier than breaking them. When you try and break them you are going against yourself and a belief that you put in place a long time ago to support that habit. Work on rewriting or cleansing these past behaviors of the belief that is holding them in place. It is a kind of spiritual smoke and mirrors and you are tricking yourself, but it is all in the name of healing.
8 – Find others going in the same direction.
We are social creatures and even the most introverted of us do need to find validation in the community. The community you surround yourself with will validate you - good or bad. They will help you find the excuse to succeed or fail; they will support your challenges or support your defeat. The people or colleagues you surround yourself with are a big factor in your life and you will manifest similar attributes the more time you spend with them. Spend that time wisely.
9 – Move out of your limiting relationships.
We all have people in our lives that limit us, sometimes this is needed; like a mother limiting their child from running in traffic, or a teacher limiting the students from harming each other. We also outgrow those limits; you can see that in the fight by teenagers for independence from their parents. These contracts with the people in our lives are fluid and ever changing. In this fast evolving world, your relationships will evolve or die - telling you it is time to move on.
Unfortunately, we also create limiting relationships that are unhealthy or let go of the healthy ones when they are done. This hurts you and the other person. You may be caught in a loop of behavior that neither one wants but do not have the ability to change it. It will hurt to let them go to, but you can change that to the positive. Look upon how this relationship got you to this point of growth, honor it, release the hurt and open yourself up for the new opportunities this brings both of you.
10 - Do something every day towards your future plans.
Every day!!! Every day!!! Every day you need to re-embrace and recommit to your future and be doing something that helps manifest it. This breathes life into your future and brings it close and closer. If you do not feed and water these future goals they will wither and die.
No one ever said this would be easy - easy is disposable and never respected. Hard work on the other hand is precious and makes you more and more valuable in your own skin. When someone who is uncomfortable with your success tells you how lucky you are as if you do not deserve what you have, you can turn that hate around into self love knowing you worked every day towards your goal. Not only are you deserving, you DID IT!
These resolutions made on the last day of the year are not strong enough to stand the weathering that your life puts upon it. Resolutions are flimsy wishes to the gods that say Prove that you love me and make this all better! The truth is that the gods hear you and grant you the entire month of January to clear your mind of all that can block you. Use this energy to prepare for 11 more months of manifestation and carve out the future you really want.