Reflections & Lessons from 2016 (+ How I Am Preparing For 2017)

I have spent much of the past few weeks reflecting on 2016 and taking an inner exploration into what within me still needs to be completed, released and processed so that I can close off one chapter and create a clean slate for the new.

As I reflected on this year, I noticed that there was not a lot to celebrate or acknowledge on the external scale. Yes, I moved house. I began corporate coaching – a big growth step for me. And I took Awaken Radio to new heights with my mini podcast episodes. The show expanded in big and beautiful ways this year, so much so that it reached the Top 20 Health podcast list on Itunes.

While it is beautiful and powerful to reflect on these key external markers of success – as I am all about self-acknowledgement – in my opinion the most significant changes to acknowledge are the ones that happened within.

 

My Most Powerful Question – How Did I Grow This Year?

Personally, I decided to take an inner journey for my annual reflection. I dropped all of the external markers which my mind was using to measure whether or not I was ‘successful’ this year, or whether or not I could feel proud of what I had achieved.

I let that all go, and I turned my focus within myself, as that is where the greatest transformation happened for me this year.

As I reflected in this way, I recognised that this has been a huge growth year for me. I feel like a completely different woman to who I was at the start of the year.

I learnt so much this year about my self-worth, boundaries, self-love, saying no, honouring my gifts, surrendering to my inner wisdom, my personal power and embodying the truth of my soul in such a deeper way.

I encourage you to reflect on your year this way. Remember external markers of success can come and go, but the growth you experience within can never be undone.

Questions to help you reflect on your inner growth;

Where was I at this time last year? Who was I? How was I feeling? What was going on for me?

How have I grown since then? What old ways of being have I released? What new ways of being have I seen myself take on board?

What lessons have I learnt? Which have these have I put into practise and how?

How am I different to the person I was 12 months ago?

What have I done, implemented or practiced which has worked in bringing me to where I am now?

Asking myself these questions revealed so much for me. It helped me see and acknowledge just how much had happened on an inner scale, and what a radically different woman I had become.

Over the course of this year I have become more solid, grounded and clear. I feel more in my power. More anchored in my body. More deeply connected to myself. I feel whole – even though nothing has arrived externally to create that feeling. It is something I have found within.

 

My Greatest Assignment

I spent much of this year, not in a relationship. Several men from my past returned at different points, to teach me their final lessons before the relationship crumbled all together. In many instances I tried to cling on, but it was clear that these men were not destined to be in my future.

And as these old relationships fell away, I was left with a big gaping hole of space. I could no longer distract myself with external love and attention and I forced to focus in deeply on my relationship with myself. This became my biggest assignment of 2016.

I spent long periods of time alone, and I had to face my shadow self over, and over and over. I had to look at the parts of me that still struggled to be alone, that still felt unworthy without a man by my side, and that still wanted his attention in order to feel good about myself.

I learnt how to look at these parts of myself with a compassionate, soft heart. I began to see this part of myself not as something to be judged and rejected, but as a part of me that needed my care and support.

So, I lovingly witnessed her games, the control patterns, her flaws, her fear-driven ways, her weaknesses and the parts she has hidden away out of shame.

I watched her and witnessed her, and I loved her. And through the year, I have strengthened and healed her through my love. I have learnt to support her, nourish her, encourage her, lift her up and see what makes her magnificent. And every time she has received my love, she has blossomed.

And as I have loved her more, her worthiness has increased. Her standards have raised, and she has become clear and clearer on what deserves, wants and desires.

Questions to help you deepen your self-love;

What does self-love mean to me?

What would it look like if I completely and unconditionally loved myself?

What thoughts, beliefs or stories do I need to let go of in order to feel self-love?

What parts of me need my love and acceptance the most?

What can do I each day to show love for myself?

How do I want to care for myself in a deeper way?

 

Unravelling & Letting Go

Many of you would have felt the theme of destruction that this year embodied. Over the past 2 years I have written heavily about my process of unraveling. And this year was the icing on the cake.

Old parts of me were ripped away. People left in dramatic fashion. All that was not in alignment could not remain.

And I know I am not alone on this.

As our energy shifted and lightened, many of us found that we fell out of alignment with old forms, people and circumstances. The parts of our lives built upon our ego’s identity began to crumble as we awakened to more of our spiritual truth.  

Many of us had old parts of ourselves resurface. Old wounds rose to the surface. Sometimes the critical, limiting voice in our minds seemed like all we could hear.

It all had to rise so that it could be cleared.

It had to rise into the light of awareness so it could be transmuted and released. Because it cannot come with us into this new chapter. It is not in alignment with the new version of ourselves that is ready to be born.

So we are wrapping up 2016, still very much thinking about letting go. We are completing. We are closing off. We are ending one way of living, and preparing to embark on a brand new path.

Questions to help you reflect on what you need to release;

What do you want to stop doing?

What is no longer working?

What is weighing you down and making life heavy?

What habits are interfering with you moving forward?

What old beliefs needs to be released and transformed?

What inner stories need to be re-written?

What do you not want to take into the fresh, new chapter and clean slate of 2017?

 

Preparing For 2017

And so here we are. Not just at the end of a year, but at the end of a cycle. We are closing off one chapter of our lives and preparing to embark on a new one.

We are standing on the precipice of new beginnings and possibilities.

We are completing a 9 year cycle this year. This has energetically been a Universal 9 year – a year of endings and completions. And 2017 is a Universal 1 year. Our year of new beginnings. A new energetic cycle is due to begin.

I have seen many people over the past few weeks launching new creations, promoting, sharing, creating and selling. And it is beautiful to watch people harnessing the new-ness already.

But for me personally, I still feel raw. It feels a little too soon. It is like I am still completing, wrapping up and preparing for what I know is going to be an epic chapter of my life.

The new is sitting within me, I can feel it. But it is not quite ready to be shared. It is coming. I am planting the seeds. But they need time, space, stillness and love to blossom. They cannot be rushed.

So it is ok if you need to move slowly. It is ok if you want to be deliberate and lay each brick with love and care. It is ok if you want to get these foundations solid. There is no need to rush. Honour the space between the old and the new and give it time.

Questions to help you heart-storm out a magical 2017;

Where do I want to put my energy this year? What are my main areas of focus?

How do I want to feel in each area of my life? What can I do each day to help me experience these feelings?

How do I want to grow within myself this year? Who do I want to be? What qualities do I want to embody?

What do I want to create or manifest in the world around me?

What are the daily commitments that will take me there? How can I start right now?

 

What You Can Expect From Me

As I look towards 2017, there has been much flowing into my mind.

While the past 2-3 years that been a time of healing and incubating, what I am stepping into now, is a time of emergence. Emerging. Revealing. Sharing. Expressing.

I will admit, that there is a part of me that wants to stay in the cocoon. I want to keep all that I have been working on to myself – it feels safer there. But I know deep in my heart that all I have been doing has been for a purpose. It has been so that I can share it with you, and illuminate the world through my insights, realisations and learnings.

They key conversation I am feeling to share at the moment is all about coming inwards.

I want to guide you back into connection with yourself – your true self… your deeper self. I want to help you discover all of the love, power, magnificence and peace that exists within you. I want to help you break the fear-based patterns that keep you searching and striving outside yourself, living in stress and anxiety and with a constant need for external love, validation and approval.

I will be teaching much of this from personal experience. This year I will be opening up more about my 20 year struggle with anxiety, my addiction to external love, my disconnection from myself and how building a relationship with my heart, my inner wisdom and my soul has changed everything.

Because every time I come back to me; every time I drop back into my body, every time I find my connection again with my higher self, every time I can feel my heart, every time I can close my eyes and access peace, love and wholeness within, I am ok agin. I am back on track. I am aligned, connected and whole.

These conversations will be a big focus of what I teach in 2017,  and I can’t wait to share more with you.

You can expect live workshops in Sydney and aroud Australia, a new online program, a love-hub membership community, ebooks and resources and a whole lot more. All of these projects have been drafted, and my project map is up on my wall above my computer.

I am kicking off the process with a fresh photoshoot in Byron Bay in January, and from then on you can expect the new creations to begin to flow.

 

Work 1:1 With Me

In the meantime, the main way to work with me at the moment is through private coaching.

I have 4 spaces left in my 1:1 Coaching Program for the first half of 2017. If you would love to receive personalised guidance and support to create transformation within yourself and your life, click here to book a discovery chat.

I look forward to continuing this journey together in 2017. Thank you for all of your love and support.

With love,

Connie x