2013 - my year in review



Happy New Year and Merry Christmas to you!

I'm sitting cross-legged on my floor in my spare room (also known as the junk room, or as I prefer to know it, the 'craft' room). I'm going through my 2013 Create your incredible year calendar and workbook .

It's time to look back before I can look forward.

I can't know where I'm going if I don't know where I've been and how I've got to where I am today. I truly believe that everything happens for a reason, good and bad, and if I don't acknowledge it, I'll never learn from it and move forward.

'Cause that's what life is all about - moving forward.

Getting a bit better every year. (I hope. At least that's the plan.)

I have to say it's been an exciting year. I have an amazingly wonderful boyfriend who supports and encourages me with all my dreams and schemes. My little biz is chugging along, bit by bit, and I've found a group of like minded women in Leonie Dawson's Biz and life academy, who encourage and  run ideas off each other so we can all reach our collective goals.

A few of the goals I have achieved this year (drum roll please...)

* Having Internet free days so I can work on my art and not get bogged
     down by non important things
* 200 likers on  Facebook (at this date I'm actually at 214!)
* Meditation classes - I've been going sporadically this year - must do it
    more regularly next year
* Opening my heart to love (an extremely personal goal) and allowing myself
    to receive the love that was right in front of me. Also being able to
    properly reciprocate that love.

Of course there's plenty I haven't achieved, a few I didn't really start and some things I thought I wanted at the beginning of the year, and now I'm thinking that they don't matter so much any more. That's OK, life is ever changing and your interests and goals should be fluid to reflect this.

So now I move on to setting my goals for next year, and I'm really excited about it. It's wonderful to think about what I will have achieved this time next year when I'm looking back on 2014 in review.

Now it's audience participation time. What are your big (and not so big) plans for 2014 - I'd love to hear about them.

Love,
Jacqui xx



How to achieve your goals

Hello my Lovelies,

 

I've always believed that if you truly want to achieve something, you write it down, and share it with the world. Make it public and it will happen.

 

It's true, try it. Even if it's so big you don't dare to believe it.

 

Even if it's so tiny you think it's not worth putting down on paper or telling anyone about it.

 

Even if you're a bit scared to share it in case someone thinks it's silly (if it's your dream it can't be silly now can it?)

 

Last year I shared my 100 dreams (part 2) (here's part 1 in case you missed it) and number 34 was to learn Burlesque dancing. I had every intention to get around to doing it (one day) but life got in the way and it didn't happen this year.

GUESS WHAT??????????

For Christmas I got this:

A totally unexpected (well, it shouldn't have been unexpected because I wrote it down and made it public and told the Universe that's what I wanted) gift from my boyfriend's Lovely Sister. She did some research and looked at my blog and decided she wanted to give me the Burlesque lessons I wanted.

Thank you
                                Thank you

THANK YOU!

 

It goes to show that you need to write your goals down. You don't have to do a blog and tell the world - put a picture of what you want on your fridge (new car/ cruise/ new dress - whatever) and if you (or others) see it every day there's far more chance of it happening.

 

Don't hide your dreams, put them out on display. It'll happen :)

 

 

all my love,

Jacqui xx

My 100 Dreams Part Two

Hello fabulous people,

I can't believe it's the end of July already. The nights are long, the days short and the clothing warm and fabulous. I love hats and scarves, and knee length coats. All in an effort to stay warm though, as I HATE being cold. Nothing a nice hot chocolate can't remedy  :)

Time for me to share with  you my next 20 dreams. I must say it's hard for me to get to 100. I'm ok at big huge wonderous goals, but the little achievable ones are more difficult. That's because it's easy to say 'I want to go to Paris and speak fluent French' and write it down on my list because I know that's something that won't be happening this year - it's a long term goal that I can put off for a little while, but all the little things are far more achievable. I've got no excuse to put them off, and that makes them scary. 

If I put the idea to paper (or blog) for the world to see, I'm accountable for achieving as many of these dreams as possible.

 

WHICH IS THE IDEA FOR DOING THIS IN THE FIRST PLACE

 HOLD ME TO IT!!!!!!!

21. Dance in the rain

22. Get my face painted

23. Go to the Science Centre

24. Have my Tarot cards read - done already yayyyyyyyyyyy!

25. Go on random drives with no set idea where I'm going - I may or may not have done this under the guise of being totally lost!

26. Learn to make pottery

27. Learn to paint with oil paint

28. Wear more green

29. Publish a book

30. Sell a painting before the end of this year

31. Go to hot yoga

32. Go on a wine tour to a vineyard

33. Do a wine appreciation tour???

34. Learn burlesque dancing

35. Sing in an open mike night

36. Climb a mountain

37. Sing every day - I pretty much do this already, but it's a habit I want to keep through the rest of my life :)

38. Appreciate what I have each and every day - I try to do this but I need to be reminded sometimes

39. Do aqua aerobics

40. Stretch every day


I'm working on these and the rest of my goals, and it's making for an interesting and varied life. Last year I couldn't plan for the week ahead let alone the year. I had no goals, and no real dreams for my life. It's amazing what a difference it can make to you if you think about all the little (and big) things you'd like to do. Places to go, things to see, stuff to learn. There's so much out there in the world, let's get out there and experience some of it :)

The Halfway Mark

 

Hello my little yellow bubbles of happiness, how are you?

 

 

 

I live such an exciting life.

   On the Edge.               

                     

I'm off the chain baby!

I'm such a wild child that this afternoon I - wait for it - sorted out all my wool and catalogued it!!!!!!!

 

 

 

                     I know!!!!!! - what a crazy gal I  am! You wish you were me don't you?

 

 

This is my drawer of reds/pinks/ purples which had just been sorted, and then all the blues and greens that I just dumped onto the floor ready for sorting. I've got all my colours sorted into different draws to make it easier to find them. Life is much easier this way. And I'm a Virgo, and we like things to be neat and orderly...

Anyhoo, I've been buying wool randomly for several years and it was time to take stock of what I have and how much I've used. I also tidied up the balls, rolled all the little loose bits together, the half balls of the same colour that somehow end up not being fully used.  I'm in good shape with the wool, it's just all the hats and scarves I've made I need to sell now or at least add an extra room onto the house to store it in!

Maybe it's the full moon, but I was energised and wanted to get all sorted and tidied and just to know what I had. I even managed to go through some old half-started (or is it half- finished?) projects and recycle the wool and even threw one out that was not redeemable at all - I was holding on to it for ages (years) thinking that I'll get back to it, I'll undo all the wool and re-use it etc. etc. etc. But I never did and I feel so much better for just getting rid of it. It's like a weight off my chest and a bit of space reclaimed in my cupboard! And it's good Feng Shui :)

Around the time I was sorting out my wool, my boyfriend was at his place sorting out his finances. He  went through his bills, looked though his accounts, did a catalogue of what he owed, what he spent and what he saved. He looked in every dusty little corner, taking stock of the Good the Bad and the Ugly in regards to money, then culled a few expenses that he didn't need and cut back where he could. It's that time of the year where we need to take stock of things.


It's almost the end of June; the 6th month of the year.

The halfway mark.

How has your year been so far?

 

Have you done some of the things you said you were going to do? Have you done any of them? Can you even remember what your plans were way back in January?

 

It's not too late you know, you've got another six months to go until the end of the year.

That's absolutely ages!!!!

 

Now is the perfect time to look back on the last 6 months, take stock, and look forward to the next 6 months. Look at your resolutions/goals/plans objectively. Air them out, so to speak, unroll them, sort them out, dust them off and

GET CRACKING!!

let me know how you go,
Jacqui xx