7 Simple Steps to Find Your 2020 Vision
This has been a huge decade of reinvention for me, both life and career-wise, sometimes empowering and sometimes terrifying, and sometimes both at once. But hindsight 20/20 (get it—2020?), I wouldn’t change a thing. I hope you feel the same way, and I can’t wait to find out what’s up ahead for us all.
I think of Never Too Late: Your Roadmap to Reinvention and Shine On: How to Grow Awesome Instead of Old as my New Year’s resolution books. Or even The Wildwater Walking Club and The Wildwater Walking Club: Back on Track, especially if your goal is renewed health and fitness. Every year I hear from readers who read, or reread, them to kick off their new year.
But when I scrolled through my books in my mind, I also thought about Seven Year Switch, my seventh novel, which was first published way back at the start of the last decade, in 2010. At the end of the book, there’s a Passport to Your Next Chapter. So much of it still resonates for me, so I tweaked it and I’m sharing it as a reminder for everyone else who needs it, too.
Seven Simple Steps to Find Your 2020 Vision
SELF. You can’t have self-awareness, self-confidence, or any of those other good self words until you decide to like yourSELF, and who you really are.
SOUL SEARCHING. Sometimes it’s just getting quiet enough to figure out what you really want; often it’s digging up that buried dream you had before life got in the way.
SERENDIPITY. When you stay open to surprises, they often turn out to be even better than the things you planned. Throw your routine out the window and let spontaneity change your life.
SYNCHRONICITY. It’s like that saying about luck being the place where preparation meets opportunity. Open your eyes and ears—then catch the next wave that’s meant for you!
STRENGTH. Life is tough. Decide to be tougher. If Plan A doesn’t work, the alphabet has 25 more letters (204 if you’re in Japan!).
SISTERHOOD. Connect, network, smile. Build a structure of support, step by step. Do something nice for someone—remember, karma is a boomerang!
SATISFACTION. Of course you can get some (no matter what the Rolling Stones said). Call it satisfaction, fulfillment, gratification, but there’s nothing like the feeling of setting a goal and achieving it. So make yours a good one!
BONUS STEP: SIMPLIFY! In the years since writing this list, I’ve discovered how truly fabulous it is to simplify. I’ve moved and downsized twice in the last decade, cleared away so much physical and mental clutter, and learned to say yes only to the things I really want to do. I’m finding the balance between writing and walking the beach every day.
BONUS 2020 VISION TIP: Pick one of the words above (or in the word cloud below) and make it your theme for 2020. Print out the word in big letters and tape it to the refrigerator or your bathroom mirror. Write it in tiny letters on a small river rock or on the inside of a seashell and carry it in your pocket or purse. Scrawl it across the top of your daily journal entry or write it on each day of your calendar. Choosing a single word is such a great way to set your intention and keep your focus on it for the whole year
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Find out more about my New Year’s Resolution books here:
Never Too Late: https://amzn.to/28YspnD
Shine On: https://amzn.to/28Zm89u
The Wildwater Walking Club: https://amzn.to/2kIbN4K
The Wildwater Walking Club: Back on Track: https://amzn.to/2kBIepF
Seven Year Switch: https://amzn.to/291F34z
Sending you a great big heartfelt wish for a spectacular new decade!
xxxxxClaire
Claire Cook wrote her first novel in her minivan when she was 45. At 50, she walked the red carpet at the Hollywood premiere of the adaptation of her second novel, Must Love Dogs, starring Diane Lane and John Cusack, which is now a 7-book series. Claire is the New York Times, USA Today, and #1 Amazon bestselling author of 19 books as well as a sought-after reinvention speaker. Read excerpts and find out more at ClaireCook.com/read.
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