Goal Reminding Words for 2015

Live with Heart

Last Year’s Words

A year ago, I shared the three words I wanted to represent my goals for 2014. They were: Robin, Launch, and Wealth. 

So, how did I do? Robin was a bit of a miss. I had wanted it to remind me to work towards greater fitness. But, year-long problems with my orthotic shoes, which compensate for a fused ankle and heel, made regular exercise difficult without access to an indoor swimming pool.

Yes, I launched my web-based mediation training program – Mediation with Heart -- and got terrific feedback from enrolled students. Now, I need to implement my marketing program in connection with it.

Yes, I generated more wealth and cash flow. I also shared more of that wealth with others throughout the year.

Words for 2015

It’s time to select three words for 2015. Surprisingly, this process has not come easily this year. 

Well-being came early to mind – both emotional and physical. I recently completed a book recommended by my massage therapist, Debbie Jackson at Serenity Now, called The HeartMath Solution by Doc Childre and Howard Martin. The authors make a compelling case for enhancing emotional well-being as a way to protect heart health and our happiness. They encourage us to listen to the wisdom of our heart because it “links us to higher intelligence through an intuitive domain where spirit and humanness merge.” 

So how do I want to implement my heart’s wisdom? I’d like to solve my shoe problem, get back into a regular fitness program, continue my meditation and yoga practice, and practice regularly the techniques of Freeze-Frame, Cut-Through, and Heart Lock-In that the authors describe in The HeartMath Solution.  I've noticed that when I practice these techniques, I shift from fear-based focus on my own needs to a loved-based focus on the needs of others, especially my students.

Manifestation also resonates with me this year. After completing the Gold Mastermind coaching program with Christine Kane this past summer, I became more mindful of the need to complete several pending projects and obligations. I tend to abandon projects if I become bored with them. But, my path of growth requires me to recognize when I avoid wrapping up projects and, instead, finish them strongly. 

I want to complete several law review articles (including one on bat deaths at Appalachian wind farms), two more tax returns, and a bunch of sewing projects. I want to organize and further implement my business coaching materials. I’d like to design a new website for my training program.

And yes, love also resonates. This semester, I very consciously decided to teach “the shit” out of my students. How I interact with them is one thing I can control at a time when my little law school struggles with a changing market for law graduates and, thus, the market for law students. But, the students now attending ASL – no matter how small the class is at this time -- want to be there, and I need to provide the best service possible to all of them. 

That service also comes from the heart. I love our students. They work hard to create a better life for themselves and their families. I also want to extend love and support to my very hard-working faculty colleagues, to our supportive and dedicated staff, and to our beleaguered Administrators and members of the Board. I hope they find a safe path for the law school so it continues to serve its mission, the SW Virginia community, our students, and our alumni. 

Some folks, including Christine Kane, suggest picking one word for the year. In that case, “heart” seems to be the word for 2015.