I love the season of winter. I know that may be an unpopular opinion, who prefers darkness, short days and cold weather over sunny skies and long evenings? But I believe that winter is a significant time of year for all of us.

It demands that we go within.

The shorter days and longer nights bring a quality of stillness and inner wisdom to our lives.

They demand us to slow down, to move with the winter season itself and take rest, hibernate, care for our physical and mental needs consciously.

Winter is introspection, isolation, and stillness. These are all things that are crucial to cultivating self-awareness and deep reflection. Only when we tap into our inner selves can we truly gain clarity on what we desire.

Our deepest dreams, our greatest wishes, our most shiny hopes only reveal themselves truly to us when we get quiet enough to see and hear them.

With that clarity gained, we can then do what we need to sow our seeds of intention and manifest them.

Just like mother nature dictates, winter’s dormancy is necessary so that spring can bloom again. In our own lives, we too must recognize when it’s time to be still and reflect to understand what changes we want to make, and what still needs to bloom in our own lives.

What I have found from talking to friends and clients, is that many of us are actually scared to go inward and really reflect on our lives. Looking at what lies at the core of who we are can be is hard, especially if there are significant changes we know we must make.
It’s easier to be swept by the distractions of everyday life – social media, Netflix, the news, etc. than it is to take a good look at where we are at spiritually, emotionally, and mentally.

The beautiful thing is that once you allow yourself to look clearly into your heart and face what you want to change, what you yearn for on a deep level and what you would like to manifest – something happens in your soul that helps you to take steps towards it.
You activate the energy behind your souls’ deepest desires.

A new reality begins to call you, and you have to heed that call. Do not ignore it.

You set something into motion when you admit to yourself there are changes you would like to make in your life. However hard they may seem to you right now, however far away and difficult to manifest, the first step is always admitting what they are.

Many people want change but that change lives beyond their comfort zone, or what they believe is possible.

In order to let the Law of Attraction bring you what you desire, you have to believe it’s possible, and you have to have the courage to move outside of your comfort zone.

How comfortable do you feel allowing good things to come into your life? Don’t shy away from this question! It holds the key to your abundance within it.

I’m going to share with you one of my favourite winter rituals. It’s the perfect time to do this, before the New Year comes bouncing in with its resolutions just waiting to be broken!

This is a great way to prepare yourself for the new year and for manifesting the kind of life you really want to be living in 2021.

Make a Goodbye List

Get your journal and a pen and prepare to sit for at least ten minutes as you do this.

Think of everything in your life that you wish to release. This could be anything from the weight of old belongings to habits that you want to change.

Where do you need to raise the bar in terms of your behavior?
What habits tend to derail you? What objects do you own that you no longer need? A
re there people dragging you down?
Are there lies you’re telling yourself?
Where are you ready for an upgrade in your standards?
How can you become no longer available for the old ways of doing and being?

A few years ago, before I got published, my list went something like this:

I say goodbye to…

1. Old journals that no longer speak to who I am today.
2. Clothes I haven’t worn in a year.
3. Waking up too late.
4. Saying yes when I mean no.
5. Not treating myself as someone with value.
6. Self doubt when it stops my creativity.
7. Not keeping in touch with old friends
8. Allowing myself to be distracted when I am writing.
9. That last slice of pizza.

Okay, the last one I haven’t always stuck to! But you get the idea.

Can you relate to my list?

This “Goodbye List” is about getting rid of everything that doesn’t support the kind of person you are on the inside.
The kind of person you wish you were now.

Remove from your life anything and everything that doesn’t match your vision of yourself.

Set the bar high, raise it. Raise your standards and use the power of this dark and silent season to make the decisions that will elevate your life.