“The universe buries strange jewels deep within us all, and then stands back to see if we can find them. The hunt to uncover those jewels - that’s creative living.” Elizabeth Gilbert 

I’d like to talk about connecting to your magic. I believe your dream has found you because you have what it takes to make it happen. 

It’s not just me that thinks this. According to research from Dr Gail Matthews at Dominican University of California, 

You’re 42 percent more likely to make goals happen, if you write them down. 

Let that sink in for a moment. Just by taking the simple action of writing down your goals, you’re significantly more likely to make them reality. 

Mindset coach Denise Duffield Thomas takes this further, by writing her dreams and goals down with a pen set aside for this special purpose. She visualises that anything she writes down with that pen will materialise six months later. 

Sound a bit too woo for you? 

Here’s a more scientific approach. 

Reticular Activating System

You have a powerful neurological sat nav inside of you that works constantly on a subconscious level. It’s your reticular activating system (RAS). 

Your RAS acts as a powerful filter, automatically sifting and sorting through the mountains of data you’re bombarded with on a daily basis. It filters out anything it considers unimportant from your conscious awareness, only allowing through what’s important. 

Your RAS helps you to tune out background noise whilst you concentrate on what you’re doing. It helps you to drive home from the supermarket pretty much on autopilot, with a cranky child in the car. 

It’s also the reason why you can go to your favourite thrift shop for three weeks running and miss that useful stoneware jar perched on a shelf, until you realise you need something for popping your random selection of wooden spoons in. All of a sudden, there it is!  There’s a metaphorical parting of the clouds and heavenly light shining down on it. 

All you need to do to access this powerful sat nav is tell your brain that this dream or goal is now valuable and your brain will take care of the rest.

Your RAS will act like a personal assistant, scanning your life for all opportunities, people and information related to your specific goal. It’ll process, organise and prioritise, directing your attention to opportunities, contacts and solutions. 

How do you make the most of your RAS? 

Clearly state what you want it to focus on. 

Keep your eyes, ears and mind open. Opportunities will crop up that you may have initially dismissed. Maybe it’s a business card you popped in your purse or an email you flagged but forgot to read. You might experience something similar to me and wake in the middle of the night with an idea. 

Once you identify what you want, your RAS will knit your solution together and tap you on the arm when it’s ready, no matter how long it takes or how out of reach it might seem. 

You just need to tell it what you want. Magic eh? 

Pachad and Yirah: Reframing fear

How do you feel when you’re scared? Does your heart pound and your stomach lurch? Are you hyperware of your surroundings? 

Now, how do you feel when you’re about to do something daring?

Often, fear and excitement present in similar ways. The Hebrew bible has two different words for fear - pachad and yirah. 

Pachad - the fear of projected or imagined things - the fear of the unknown.

Yirah - the feeling that washes over us when we take up a larger space than we’re used to or when we invoke more energy than we usually have. It’s also what we feel in one of life’s sacred moments. 

The interesting thing about these two states is that you can inhabit both at the same time. I felt this sort of push and pull between fear of the unknown, anticipation, expansive possibility and vulnerability when I was pregnant. 

When you know about pachad and yirah, you can acknowledge and more accurately identify whether what you’re feeling is restricted or expansive. 

Your body holds all the clues to what you feel deep in your soul - what’s it whispering? A tingly feeling of possibility or dread in the pit of your stomach and an uncomfortable shift in your seat? Your body will tell you if you listen to it.

The Key to your Year

If you’re ready to connect your magic, then I’m excited to say booking is now open for my new workshop, The Key to Your Year: Roots and Shoots. 

We all have limiting beliefs and a fog of self-doubt that can make it difficult to set goals and know how to work towards them. 

Choosing a word for the year can act as an anchor to keep you from drifting and a compass point to gently guide you through your year. 

But what do you do with the word once you’ve chosen it? 

I’ve created this workshop to give you a supportive space and the questions for you to dig into the roots of your chosen word, helping you to find ways to embody it every day. 

I'll help you to set goals and create a structured plan to nurture the seeds of your ideas so they (and you) can blossom. 

This workshop is for you if you want to make the most of your year, but you're not sure how to unlock it or you often set goals but struggle to take action on them and would like a bit of gentle accountability to the most of the months ahead.

If you like the idea of choosing a word for the year, but you think you've left it too late, then I'd like to reassure you that it really isn’t. 

Find out more here.