Best Strategy for Improving Your Personal “State of the Union”

Listening to President Obama’s State of the Union Address made me think of this: what are our rituals for evaluating our successes on regular basis, and setting inspiring agendas for the year?

Think of yourself as the commander-in-chief of your life. Instead of the dreaded New Year resolution, write your own annual State of the Union Address, to reflect on the things you’ve done right, and to set inspiring intentions for the following year.

Even in your toughest years, you have a lot to celebrate: you’ve survived and you’ve grown. Acknowledging the good things that you’ve done in the past year makes your mind focus on the fact

that you’re a competent and resourceful person. Hence, you’re more likely to approach a new challenge from the position of competence and resourcefulness rather than weakness.

Setting intentions for the coming year is much like typing your destination into a GPS: you may not know the specific road you will take, but you know where you want to end up. If you don’t have an intention or a destination in mind, than any place is as good as any other place. If you want to end up in a better place, set an intention, pick a destination, and you can always change course later, if necessary.

Over the past year, I started teaching hands-on intuition development workshops for analytical people, combining what I learned from neuroscience and business texts with practical tools developed by my intuition mentors. (I just got a bouquet of flowers from one of my amazing students, which made my day. It reminded me that I’m on the right track. If you see someone who’s on the right track, do send them a bouquet of flowers, or a Starbucks gift card, or just a card – it makes such a difference!). My intention for the near future is to fill the Intuition & Decision-Making Retreat in May 1-3, 2015 with smart, curious, analytical thinkers who want to spend a restful weekend at Garrison Institute, learning to understand and use their intuition. Please, help me make this magic happen by joining the retreat, and sharing info with your friends! Many thanks.

Here are some of the things you may want to include in your personal annual State of the Union Address:

1. Simplifying. Multitasking and constant distractions are making us less efficient, making our minds frequently feel overloaded. Did you let go of something last year that made your life easier? What can you simplify or let go of in the coming year?

2. Asking. What did you ask for in 2014, and you got? What resources would you like to ask for in the coming year? (Here’s my ask: please share the Intuition & Decision-Making Retreat link with your tribe! http://IntuitionLeap.com/retreat )

3. Giving. What did you give last year that made you feel richer? Did you support the causes that you believe in? Did you give what you needed most (for example, gave to charity even when you were strapped for cash, gave your energy and attention to someone even when you felt lonely and depressed, and needed energy and attention yourself)? What would you like to get in 2015 that you can also give? Expertise? Energy? Time?

4. Sleeping. Your brain does amazing things while you’re sleeping. Can you think of a time when you let yourself rest and sleep in, even when you had a ton of things that needed to get done? Did it work out well? How can you build in more sleep into your 2015 routines?

5. Learning. Have you learned a new skill, read a new book, figure out how to do a new project in 2014? What would you like to learn in 2015? Surprise yourself.

6. Loving. Did you connect with someone new in 2014? Did you deepen your personal connection with someone? Did you fall [deeper] in love with someone or something? How can you make more room, time and energy for love in 2015?

7. Playing. Can you think of a time when you just laughed and had fun in 2014? Did you make time to rest and play? Can you set an intention to allow time to play in 2015? Be as specific as you can in your SOTU.

8. Creating. Did you create something interesting in 2014? It could be something as simple as a new system to help things run smoother at home, to building/painting/cooking something, or implementing a major change at work. What would you like to create in 2015?

Here is an idea: make a tradition out of writing and delivering your personal State of the Union Address. Get together with a few people you care about, and have a SOTU party in late January or early February, where each of you can share your SOTU address. You could also do it in your family, in your class, your mastermind group, or a book club.

I’d love to hear how your Personal SOTU Address goes! Would you please send me a picture or a video from your Personal SOTU Address 2015 (even if it’s the “party of 1” for you), listing the best thing that came out of this project? Send your picture/video by March 1st to Alina@IntuitionLeap.com , and I’ll add your name to a raffle for 1-hour executive coaching session and 30-min intuitive reading session (let’s make them transferable, in case you win one and want to give it to someone you love).