My Magical End-of-Year Ritual

Forget resolutions. It's all about "chosen words" to inspire transformation and reach your goals.

Dec 31, 2023

Hello from Baja where I’m spending my dead week — that time between Christmas and New Year’s Eve when the world slows down and we start to reflect on another year gone by. It’s also the moment when we typically direct all of our overzealous aspirations into ambitious resolutions.

Yet for many of us, setting intentions for the new year seems to be an exercise in futility. Perhaps the reason resolutions are doomed to fail is that they are often a concoction of grandiosity with a lack of clarity, and maybe a sprinkle of perfectionism.

Last year, I decided once and for all to ditch the resolutions and replace them with “chosen words” that encapsulated my hopes, desires, and intentions for 2023. And, the result was nothing less than incredible.

By selecting a specific word, we harness the power of language to shape our mindset, focus our intentions, and influence our behavior.

My Chosen Words

First off, it helps if you pick words that allow for some enjoyment. After a few challenging years of “doing the work,” these positive affirmations were aimed at improving the quality of my life. I reminded myself that there are years when you are allowed to reap the rewards.

Instead of creating goals all at once on Day 1 of the new year, I added them as I went making sure they honored my words (aka my symbolic linguistic anchors) and motivated me to take action. Here’s how it played out.

Pleasure

Food is both a love language and a form of pleasure for me. I committed to creating beautiful plates of colorful, healthy food by cooking more at home for people that I love and for myself. Lunches became a work of art, even if it took 5 minutes to prepare. I kept myself accountable by posting my creations to Instagram (#lazylunches) which ended up creating a ton of engagement with my followers.
Expanding my capacity to feel sensation in my body manifested into a pleasure practice (spicy details for another substack) and focusing on self-care (from nutrition to exercise to meditation). I started a nightly lymphatic belly massage with Symbiome body oil that I learned from the amazing Lisa Gainsley of The Lymphatic Message.

Play

Besides having fun, we learn new skills and sharpen existing ones through play. I said YES to spontaneous trips that were filled with art, music and dancing. The result was a huge creative download about my career while I let go and just played. It’s a powerful portal to neuroplasticity (my experience here)
I created a partner massage workshop with my friend Dr Joey Mattina to teach couples how to cultivate pleasure and use touch to foster connection. The workshop was educational but also filled with laughter and curiosity. (DM me if you want to join the next one)

Purpose

I dedicated 40% of my time this year to learning and becoming a subject matter expert on timely health topics through books, podcasts, research and interviews with founders, doctors, practitioners and authors. I started this substack on January 22, 2023 to share my learnings and POV with my network.
My biggest accomplishment this year was graduating from Institute of Integrative Nutrition (IIN) as a certified integrative nutrition health coach allowing me to support individuals looking to optimize and thrive. I’ll be launching some courses and programs focused on metabolism, menopause and sexual wellness in 2024!

salmon; massage; school — Cooking with love + couples massage workshop + learning

From now on, my end-of-year ritual will include consciously selecting words to be my guide posts. These “linguistic talismans” serve as constant reminders of the essence I want to infuse into my daily life.

The take-away: Try replacing your resolutions with “chosen words.” It’s a simple yet profound way to set the tone for the coming year, allowing a single word (or several) to wield their transformative power to shape your experiences, responses, and ultimately, your journey toward self-improvement and fulfillment.

Happy New Year! See you in 2024. If inclined, share your “chosen words” in the comments, to inspire others or declare your intentions to the world! Let me know how I can support you in reaching your goals.

xoCelia

In the Pink

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