2012 & The Desire Map

Now that we're winding down the year, I have to get a little personal here and share some big things that have come up for me this year. 

This year was crazy.  In 2012, I launched an incredible health coaching business, worked with some of the most amazing clients I have ever known, and had monumental personal growth as I continually challenged myself as an entrepreneur, coach, food blogger, health writer, and wellness advocate. In addition to running my health coaching business full-time, this year I somehow managed to continue working full-time at a nonprofit organization that I love and write this blog, which is so very near to my heart. In all honesty when I look back at it, this year kicked my butt.

A couple of months ago, some things shifted in my life and something just wasn't feeling right. When I sat down to map out my 2013 business priorities and strategies, I realized that I need to make some shifts around my business and it boiled down to some really tough decisions. I began to see that things in my life were really out of alignment.  I then realized that I need to quit some big projects and walk away from a lot of things I had created this year.

Ooh man.  That was hard to stomach. 


After a couple of months of refocusing and getting things back in alignment, I am really proud to be ending the year on a high note. And I wanted to share with you one of the things that has absolutely changed my life.

You see, I'm a goal-oriented gal.  I'm a go-getter and an unstoppable, ambitious force when I have my mind set out to do something. But a lot of times, when I finally "achieve that goal" and "get there," I don't end up being as pleased as I expected. And I noticed this a lot this year.

A few weeks ago I discovered Danielle LaPorte's The Desire Map and it has honestly changed the way I think about setting goals, planning your future, and in a nutshell, living.  I'm a big fan of Danielle's and in case you don't know who she is, she's the author of The Fire Starter Sessions (a must read!), an inspirational speaker, and a former think tank exec.

The Desire Map is Danielle's new program and it guides you to identify your core desired feelings, and use those feelings as the drivers of what you what to do, have, and experience in your life. The idea is that when you set out to achieve a certain goal, it's not actually the goal you want, it's a feeling. This may sound simple, but this stuff goes deep.

As I worked through The Desire Map, I began to see that a lot of the things I was doing in my life were out of alignment with my core desired feelings:

• I desire to feel strong and healthy, but I was working too much and it wasn't leaving me time to go to the gym or live a balanced life.
• I desire to feel free and aligned in my life, but my work was all over the place and I was tied to my business. 
•  I desire to feel abundant and secure, but my business stress was creating scarcity and insecurity in all aspects of my life.  

The Desire Map was my wake-up call. 

I wanted to share this with you because The Desire Map has changed my life so much and at this time of year when we are planning ahead and looking into 2013, I think it can change your life too. 

I always want to be transparent with you so I want you to know that I believe in this program so much I am partnering with Danielle as an affiliate and if you click on the link above, love The Desire Map and order it, I receive a small portion of sales. Due to the work I have been doing in my Desire Map, I have chosen to donate 100% of any money I receive to the Seattle Animal Shelter. Thank you for helping me to support animals in need! 

I wanted to share one last thing from Danielle, which I find incredibly inspiring:

Knowing how you actually want to feel is the most powerfully creative thing you can do with your life.

And not only do we have to put our feelings at the heart of our ambitions, we have to pursue our desires in a way that is life-affirming, rather than soul-depleting. Rigid goal-chasing is burning us out. Soul-anchored intentions are the way to get home. 

Amen sister.