Week Three Recap

This week has been full of lessons. There's no more appropriate place for me to talk to you about those lessons than the weekly recap! I'm going to cut straight to it (and try to be brief).

Lesson One: Be Specific (Or At Least Know What You Mean)

When I started my process for my 2018 Rituals for Living Dreambook from the Dragontree, I wrote down a simple "Life Purpose" based on the talents and values I had written down in the first section of the book. The "Life Purpose" I chose (and I will share it with you, indeed) was "To use my gifts to inspire others to be their best selves."

At the time, I felt like I had repeated my mistake from the previous year. It felt as though I had written down someone else's purpose OR that the purpose I'd chosen was a "cop out." Until this week, every time I looked over this "Life Purpose" I felt as though I'd chosen something that excused me from doing anything of any REAL value.

Basically, I felt like a cheat.

I could have resolved this by being more specific (though the book only gives one line in which to specify, and it's not enough). 

For example: My life purpose is to use my talent for public speaking and writing to guide other people to life their magical life. 

This would have been more specific!

At the time, however, I wasn't sure what I meant. I knew that my talents aligned toward public speaking, performing arts, and (to a lesser extent) writing. 

What is perhaps most interesting is that at the time, I had no interest whatsoever in "inspiring others to be their best selves." My interests lean toward the sciences and humanities. I'm a people person, but I've never seen myself as "inspirational."

I'm trying to say I didn't know what I MEANT by "inspire people to be their best selves."

If I'd not had this purpose in mind, I would never have started (let alone followed through with) this blog. 

If I'd not followed through with my morning journal or this blog, I never would have understood that my Life Purpose is valid, or how it could possibly work.

Having done the work, I now understand how difficult it is to determine the path if you don't understand the destination.

Lesson Two: Goal Setting Shouldn't Be A Struggle

In part because I struggled with the meaning of my life purpose, setting goals was difficult. I started out this year talking about the difference between a goal and a resolution, then set about making resolutions all over the place and not settling on goals!

(One of the things I love about this blog is you get to learn WITH me and to see my silly mistakes.)

I tend to over-complicate things. This is just who I am as a person. Far from an exception to the rule, goals are one thing I am guaranteed to make more difficult than they ought to be.

Granted, it's the task breakdown which gets to me every time. If the goal is to author a successful blog, what are the tasks involved in this process?

Thanks to my morning journaling, I've come to understand how every goal can be broken down into a series of tasks which will result in the desired outcome.

The key has been to create actionable goals. 

I have goals that are both actionable and not actionable. Actionable goals can be completed by following a series of asks, whereas non-actionable goals are dependent upon outside factors (often which are outside of my control).

Take the goal "Have a successful blog" for example. This is an actionable goal because it can be achieved through following a series of tasks. These tasks might look like this:
  • Create content
  • Advertise content
  • Repeat
(The nice thing about these tasks is they are also "mini goals" which break down into their own tasks. This helps me to accomplish much more!)

Lesson Three: Resolutions REALLY Don't Work (For Real!)

The problem with a resolution is it's a promise that you make to yourself. You're telling yourself "I'm going to do this for/in the next year." If you DON'T follow through on that resolution, then you break a promise to yourself and damage the sense of trust you have in yourself.

I've been stuck in a rut regarding the resolutions I made at the end of last year. The big one has been the blog posting schedule. I'm doing great on THIS blog, but have been unable to keep up with Tis the Season, and have had to put my tarot blog entirely on hold for the time being. Due to the nature of these resolutions, I have broken an agreement not only with myself, but also with readers.

This is a problem, needless to say. 

(And I'm breaking the agreement on Tis the Season entirely -- but I'll get to that down below.)

I'm also terrible about starting from where I am. I had to write that blog post because it reminded ME to pick up, dust off, and climb back up on that horse. So what if I missed a day week three weeks of pre-planning, note-taking, and memory-keeping? Pick up where you left off and keep going!

(By the way, I managed to do this. Another thing I'll get to down below.)

It is WAY too easy to get discouraged when I break a resolution. It's time for me to be honest with myself.

Lesson Four: The Universe Really Will Drop It In Your Lap

One of the great lessons of magical workings (and Universal Law, such as the Law of Attraction) is "set it and forget it." Start with an intention, then wait for it to manifest.

This is NOT to say there isn't any work involved. Remember, I'm a pragmatist. I struggle with the belief in getting something out of nothing. The idea is this: Once you set the intention, you will receive the inspiration. 

Every outcome requires a path to achieve it. When I started this journey five years ago, I knew only what I wanted, with a vague idea that getting it had something to do with writing.

I tried short stories (never published them). I tried a novel (never got to the part about writing it). I started and abandoned several blogs.

Then I decided I hated to write. 

In the eleventh hour (a concept I won't explain now), I had an idea. Interestingly, that Idea was for Tis the Season, which is now on hold. (The concept is still excellent, but now is the wrong time.)

Several books I've read about manifesting have told me to focus on the outcome, and wait for the inspiration. I receive new inspiration EVERY DAY now. It goes down into my journal, and as we go on, I'll be discussing new ways that I'll bring that inspiration to your life. 

If you're hoping to manifest something huge and you don't know how it's going to come to you, rest assured: The inspiration will come when the time is right.

So now, let's talk about the recap. 

Week Three Recap with Rebecca Rizzuti of The Magical Life


Let's get down to business. I've already talked to you about this week's lessons (and I changed the format because I wanted to expand more than usual on these important matters).

These are all great lessons, but what I didn't say is this: I have never been more motivated or felt better about myself and my life than I do now. Yep, you read that right. This process, and the steps that I am taking, have changed my outlook on my life. I am EXCITED moving forward! 

I hope you'll join me and try some of the things which are working for me!

Let's look at this week's breakdowns. 

Post Round-Up

I'm not enjoying this pace. Posting three times a week makes it easy to lose the rhythm. If I want to keep up this way I need to write on Saturdays and Tuesdays and edit on the days the posts are published. This ought to help save me some time.

Social Media Round-Up

I also want to start keeping track of Social Media following. Bear in mind I'm using established social media accounts in some cases.
Both Facebook and Twitter have gained in the past seven days. I haven't followed Pinterest following as closely. 

The goal in the next week is to grow these numbers. I'd like to see the following:
  • Facebook Page Likes: 25
  • Twitter Followers: 850
  • Pinterest Followers: 150
You can help me to achieve these goals by liking or following, and be sure to share with your friends as well!

Daily Goals

I reached all of my daily goals for this week!
  • Daily Journaling - Three pages each morning, first thing before I did anything else (usually with a cup of coffee). I kept this agreement with myself and am on the road to establishing personal integrity. The journal was only short one day this week and that was due to the need to rush out the door. Not ideal.
  • Positive Journal Entries - Each journal entry this week followed a strategy of positive energy. I planned, brainstormed, and visualized, as well as writing down personal affirmations in my journal. I'm proud of this, and have reaped the rewards!
I didn't set any other goals for this week, as I've learned my lesson: It's time to start small and end big!

What Worked This Week

  • Start Where You Are - I wrote about this on Wednesday in large part because I wanted to stress to myself how important it was not to give up on the goals I had set. When I was at my most discouraged, I dragged out my Dreambook and both of my Erin Condren Life Planners** and I did the work. This means all blog posts for next week are pre-planned and I'm remembering to note my daily gratitude. I'm thrilled, and I'm practicing what I preach! 
  • Forgiving My Mistakes - It's difficult for me to admit when I've made a mistake, and I used to be great at giving up before something could kick off. I've released my own guilt over needing to put my other blog on hold and have found it's easier for me to prepare to pick it back up when the time is right.
  • Social Media - Social media posts are seeing more engagement and I've gained some likes and followers in the past week. I'm engaging with followers on Twitter and making connections with other people. I do NOT love social media but I understand why I need it and aim to keep it as part of my overall strategy.

What Didn't Work This Week

Actually, nothing failed this week. I didn't commit to anything I couldn't handle and I followed through on everything I agreed to do at the beginning of the week. Success!

Important Update

Tis the Season, Michelle's and my year-round holiday blog, is currently on hold. We consider this a broken agreement and we wholeheartedly apologize for this lapse. The project is valid, and it is viable, but we have run into a snag.

We are not renewing our present lease, which means we will be moving within the next three months. While our passion for this blog remains alive, we cannot at the present time provide the inspiration and how-tos which will ultimately drive it.

We want to bring you projects, recipes, pictures, and ideas. However, due to the nature of our situation, we don't want to bring more things into the house only to have to pack them up and move them again.

This is not an excuse, but I do feel our readers deserved an explanation for this lapse. I will notify you here on My Magical Life when we have successfully moved and Tis the Season is active again.

We plan to be back with you some time this Spring! We'll make an announcement and full restitution at that time. Thank you for your patience!

** This is a referral link. When you purchase anything after clicking through this link, I receive a small compensation for referring you to Erin Condren.

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