2020 went out with a bang last night! We had storm after storm roll on by as if to wash away the year’s energy; to refresh the earth and make space for the wonderful energy that 2021 brings with it. Today, it continued to rain. I feel as if we have begun a period of renewal. I am so looking forward to the gifts that this year brings.

Lockdown was a blessing in disguise for introverts like me. Suddenly everything was available online. I didn’t have to leave the comfort of my home to do anything if I didn’t want to. As a result, 2020 was a year of growth for me in so many ways. My words for the year was Focused, Intentional and Disciplined and that is exactly what happened. I focused on my health, my mind and my spirituality. I read books to gain knowledge and understanding, completed courses that gave me the tools I needed to “shape my destiny” and I listened to motivational speakers via Audible to keep me on track. Each of these were placed on path as I was ready to read or listen to them. God was working His magic to get me where I needed to be right now. That being said, there were 2 tools in particular that I found very very useful this year:
- Meditation
I have dabbled in meditation over the years but have never committed to it despite seeing the benefits whenever I did. In the latter half of this year, I committed to a 2 week course that that was free on Facebook, run by Gilan Gork’s Influence Institute. I didn’t realise that it required doing a form of meditation every morning but once I had made the commitment I stuck with it. At the end of the 2 weeks I chose to keep going. I had noticed that within a week of starting, I was finally able to pause for that split second before responding to people’s questions to allow my mind to gather myself. This was so exciting and I didn’t want to lose the skill so I stuck with it. I downloaded Insight Timer on my phone and created a timed mediation for 10 min and Wa-La… a new addition to my morning routine was created. I do find that changes to my routine can have a knock on effect on fitting in my meditation so I try and catch up in the evening.
- Affirmations
I have used affirmations in a number of ways. Two of these is to change my limiting beliefs and to open my mind to new possibilities. I do them every morning.
- Changing my limiting beliefs: As part of the Mind Power course, run by Robin Banks, we are encouraged to understand what our limiting beliefs are about money, relationships, our abilities and what we can achieve in this lifetime. As Robin says, “You can’t change what you don’t now”. Just as people have possibly affirmed to you since childhood that “that there is not enough money to go around” or “you are not good enough”, you can affirm positive messages to yourself. It’s not easy to turn your long held negative beliefs around so I find that I need to believe that the affirmation is possible to achieve in order to buy in to it. In his book “The Power of the Subconscious Mind”, Joseph Murphy recommends saying an affirmation like “By day and by night I am being prospered in all of my interests” is far more acceptable to the subconscious compared to “I am wealthy” while debt collectors are knocking on your door. Your subconscious will accept what it really feels to be true.
- Open my mind to new possibilities: In the book “Rich Dad Poor Dad”, Robert Kiyosaki talks about changing the way you see challenges. As an example, if you want to buy a new house that is a little out of your price range, you can either tell yourself that it’s too expensive and leave it at that or you can ask yourself, “How can I afford that?”. Your mind will immediately start looking for solutions especially if you keep asking it the questions. You can also use affirmations to get a similar effect e.g. tell yourself that opportunities are everywhere. They really are. If you contemplate all that is being invented right now and accept that people will be inventing things to the end of time then your mind will accept that opportunities are indeed everywhere and be scanning for them. Those opportunities can also extend to finding your life partner (“All the good ones are taken” vs “there are so many wonderful partners available to me right now”) Lastly, affirmations also have helped me grow my faith in God. In order to have faith in what God will do for me, I needed to first believe that I was worthy of His wonderful blessings. Affirmations have really helped me accept my worth.
By the grace of God I have seen the following changes this past year. There have been others as well:
- I have ended the year 4+kg’s lighter. It’s a smaller win that I had planned but I will take it. It is a win after all.
- I started and maintained Intermittent fasting. I doubt I will ever go back to eating the way I used to. I just feel so much better as I am now.
- I signed up as a Honey Accessories Sales Consultant. In essence this is my first foray into owning my own business (baby steps 😉 )
- My friend and I signed up with a personal trainer and completed 9 weeks of online training, 3 times a week with him on the 31st. I feel fitter and I see that my flexibility has improved so I am very happy with this progress. I, night owl of note, do this at 6am! If I wasn’t doing this at home I don’t think I would have coped with that early morning start 🤣
- Through the practice of mediation as well as intentionally trying to strengthen my connection to God, I have become more aware of the world around me and, in particular, the signs that are sent my way to guide me in the direction I need to go. It is so amazing to watch God in action in my life.
- I completed my BA in Psychology and Anthropology
Before I sign out for tonight I would also like to share some of the books, courses and audible books that helped me grow this year:
Books:
- Gin Stephens: Delay, Don’t Deny: living an intermittent fasting lifestyle
- Jen Sincero: You are a Badass
- Gabrielle Bernstein: The Universe has your back ($1,99 on Kindle as I write this) and Spirit Junkie
- Dr John Martini – The Values Factor. I haven’t completed this one but I have found it very valuable thus far
- Joe Vitale: The Art and Science of Results – this book has useful tools to help you let go of your limiting beliefs. Come to think of it, these were the techniques that I practiced before the accident and subsequent purchase of my new car. You can read more about this here
- Michael V. Ivanov: The Mount of Olives: 11 Declarations to an extraordinary Life. Alex and I read this together. If you enjoyed The Greatest Salesman in the World by Og Mandino then you will enjoy this.
- Neale Donald Walsh: Conversations with God (books 1 & 2). I found these books enlightening and liberating spiritually.
Courses (All online so you attend classes from home and your whole family can participate for the price of one)
- Mind Power – Robin Banks – If you are disciplined about doing the exrecises, you will get everything out of this course that Robin promises. He has free webinars to introduce the course. Upcoming dates can be found here and on his social media pages.
- Mind Power Master Class – John Kehoe. This a recording and not an actual class. It’ a 6 week course in which a new lesson is released each week. Ienjoy listening to John Kehoe. He is the author of the book “Mind Power” so it is interesting to listen to his take on the subject. He is Robin Bank’s Mentor. Irecommend attending Mind Power first.
- Shaping Your Destiny – Robin Banks. You don’t need to attend Mind Power for this. A bonus in this course is one-on-one session to help you create your personal mission statement. You can find out more at the Mind Power link above.
Audible Books – these are actually a collection of speeches and not books as such. I prefered listening to these over spending time searching through Youtube for similar material.
- Tony Robbins – Unleash the Power Within. I hope to do this cause live in the next 2-3 years
- Les Brown – The Power of Purpose. He is a brilliant speaker and his messages really hit home. He will also have you in stitches
- Jim Rohn – The Ultimate Jim Rohn Library. He was the mentor of both Tony Robbins and Les Brown. He makes a lot of sense and also had me crying with laughter at times.
Note that none of the above links are affiliate links
I plan on keeping those 3 words for 2021 and I will add “Surrender” to them. I found that when I truly surrendered an outcome to God this past year, things tended to fall into place so I am letting go of control this year. It is a scary thought as God has a tendency to send you in a direction that you didn’t think you wanted to go to get you were you need to be but I look forward to the journey. It’s going to be epic!
May your 2021 be blessed. Thank you for your support throughout 2020. Thank you to those friends, old and new, that were sent to help me on my journey. I appreciate you. Stay safe everyone! Wear your mask, wash your hands and sanitise them and keep a safe distance.