Every year at this time I review my journals as I complete the year and make space for what’s next.

2016 was a year of growth and satisfaction, as well as challenge and grief. Writing these notes to myself was an opportunity to acknowledge it all.

I share these 108 insights with my deepest wish that they resonate and remind us all that even the most challenging times have gems.

1. Truth communicates through the body. Pay attention.

2. Freedom is always calling.

3. Obligation kills joy.

4. Write yourself a permission slip to do whatever the hell you want.

5. Whisper good things to yourself before bed.

6. Your words create your world.

7. Life is reciprocal. Pay attention to what you put out.

8. Expansion is inevitable.

9. Splurging now and then is necessary.

10. Celebrate the future before it happens.

11. Your preferences create your reality.

12. Pay attention to the details.

13. You can be as big as you want.

14. Practice displaces procrastination.

15. It’s not luck when you earn it.

16. Your willingness to risk leads to change.

17. The truth is usually right in front of you.

18. Your core desired feelings are beacons.

19. Chaos always accompanies change.

20. Be involved in a way that feels good.

21. Let go of what no longer serves you.

22. There’s no substitute for doing the work.

23. You are the source of your own aliveness.

24. Get over your need for instant gratification.

25. Vibrate how you feel.

26. Blocks are temporary; don’t make them mean anything.

27. Your desires come from the part of you connected to your soul.

28. Liberation requires courage and heart.

29. Forgive yourself and move on.

30. Practice what you love.

31. Don’t be afraid to burn bright.

32. Listen for resonance.

33. Walk away from drama.

34. Make choices that feel good.

35. You really have no idea what you’re capable of.

36. Turn down the noise and you’ll hear something new.

37. The more you tell your new story, the more real it becomes.

38. When possibilities flow, surf.

39. Trust the healing.

40. Surrender to the fire that burns inside.

41. Intention must be followed by action for change to occur.

42. Be on your own side cheering madly.

43. Include everything.

44. Start over. Again.

45. Become a light for others.

46. Change your mind.

47. Make more promises to yourself.

48. Your comfort zone is made up.

49. Face what you’re most afraid of.

50. You’ll find evidence for anything you believe.

51. The truth is not out there; it’s in you.

52. Your integrity doesn’t depend on others.

53. Explore your darkness.

54. Focus on what is real and true.

55. Take the first step and the path will light up under your feet.

56. What you feel inside creates what you see outside.

57. Action without alignment makes no difference.

58. Circle what you want before you claim it.

59. What you think is in the way is actually the way.

60. Everyone has a story but you’re only responsible for your own.

61. See the future but take action in the present.

62. Comfort yourself as you would a beloved.

63. Create from love and service.

64. Wake up to claim your freedom.

65. Schedule what nourishes you.

66. Always go with the better-feeling thought.

67. There are as many ways to sparkle as there are stars.

68. Become as fierce about your future as you’ve been tolerant about your fears.

69. Light and dark are non-negotiable.

70. Devotion trumps resolution.

71. Your future is in the vision.

72. Remember your roots.

73. Reflection is not always exact.

74. Do what you need to do to feel better.

75. Feel your intentions before taking action.

76. Trust the arrow you already shot.

77. Nothing is ever just one thing.

78. Hang out in the questions.

79. Release yourself from your own expectations.

80. Tell more stories of things going well.

81. Being flexible is an act of self-compassion.

82. Notice all the blessings.

83. Readiness attracts opportunity.

84. What you did yesterday doesn’t matter as much as what you do next.

85. Slow down to complete more.

86. Put yourself first, always.

86. Do the work, keep the faith.

87. Life is an art and a practice.

88. You are a creator.

89. Schedule what’s meaningful.

90. Circumstances are fuel.

91. Cleanse from the inside out.

92. Honour your rhythms.

93. Quiet your mind to see clearly.

94. Anything worthwhile takes practice.

95. Momentum is up to you.

96. Call on your angels in spite of your doubts.

97. Make yourself heard.

98. Spirituality is your devotion to spirit.

99. Self-care is an aspect of self-compassion.

100. The answer is always simpler than you think.

101. Let your grief take the time it takes.

102. Challenges are opportunities to realign.

103. Your attention is a resource; use it wisely.

104. Stop pretending you’re fearless.

105. Face your fear and create what you want.

106. You can’t create a positive outcome from a negative state.

107. Be unapologetic about who you are.

108.There’s no blueprint to creating a life you love.

Join me for my annual review of The Desire Map.
Start 2017 clear and empowered to create more of what you want in life.

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That’s what it felt like when the email arrived letting me know it was time to order my 2017 Desire Map day planner. 

Since it launched a couple of years ago, the Desire Map planner has been my daily guide, and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say the time I spend with it every morning has transformed my life. 

Instead of focusing on the endless tasks and to-do lists, I now focus on how I most want to feel. Every single day.

“You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestation of your own blessings.” – Elizabeth Gilbert

The Desire Map planner has made it easy for me to not only create a life I love, but more importantly, feel good while doing so.

Once upon a time I was an obsessive planner.

Believe me when I say I tried them all: the systems, the styles, and of course, the beautiful leather binders. All designed to hold my schedule, and to-do lists.

I loved my planner.

I remember saying things like, “If it’s not in my planner, it’s not going to happen” and friends learned to ask, “Is it in your planner?” 

And then along came the iPhone and Google calendar, and as happens with a new love, I was swept off my feet.

I tried to keep my paper planner going, but things began to slip through the cracks, and by the end of that year, my long love affair with day planners came to an end.

Until the Desire Map planner.

I was doubtful I could return to paper as I’d gotten so used to doing everything digitally, but I said yes because I intuitively knew it would help me integrate my core desired feelings.

As a Desire Map facilitator, it was important for me to connect committedly to my CDFs until they were strong enough to act as a powerful and reliable guidance system. Think GPS for the soul.

Right away, it became clear that I wouldn’t use this new planner in the way I’d used my planners in the past.

It felt different somehow, special, and this helped me create a new morning practice to start my day.

What had once been a race to complete a list of tasks, appointments, and endless lists, became an opportunity to really consider how I wanted to feel given what was on my schedule.

That awareness changed everything.

Life slowed down and a new spaciousness appeared.

My emotions were fuller, more aligned, and I felt more myself than ever before.

My creativity began to flow in a way that left me crying tears of gratitude.

Because of a day planner.

That first Desire Map planner still holds a special place in my heart because it had such a direct impact on the quality of my life.

As much as I loved the planners of my past, a connection to my feelings had always been missing, and discovering a daily structure to plug me into my core desired feelings was like plugging me right into source energy.

The Desire Map planner puts your desires on the map, and helps you plan your days based on how you most want to feel.

Based on Danielle LaPorte’s much loved book, The Desire Map, this planner incorporates your emotions and your to-do list; your gratitude and your goals; your deepest desires with your day-to-day life.

While most of my schedule still lives on Google calendar, the rest of me comes to life in my Desire Map planner.

Part planner, part journal, it is the way I focus myself each day and choose how I want to feel about anything and everything in my life.

It has become my GPS to feeling good.

The 2017 planner comes in Daily and Weekly editions with two gorgeous covers:

The DAILY planner for the highly scheduled, detailed thinkers, and awesome A-types who love keeping track of all the big and little things.

This is the one I use which takes you through the year day by day, with unique soul prompts to limber up your mind before you write, scheduling space, #Truthbombs, a Stop Doing list, and a super condensed list called 3 Things, so you can get your most important to-dos done.

The WEEKLY planner is for the big dreamers, Creatives, and entrepreneurs — the planner-types who want a bird’s eye view of their week.

Sprinkled with prompts for positive declarations and #Truthbombs, the weekly spread also has space for your Core Desired Feelings, daily to-do’s, and a list of 3 Things. This planner also has an End of Week Check-in with unique Soul Prompts from Danielle and space for reflecting on life as you move through it week by week.

When you’re clear on how you want to feel, it’s so much easier to make decisions that feel good; choices that are aligned with who you really are.

That’s what this planner has done for me.

Buy yours today and start planning, and living a life you love. 

GET YOURS NOW

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I woke up weary after an intense session with my business coach.

It was one of those life-altering, can-I-really-have-what-I-want meetings that left me feeling inspired by what I created for the next year, and exhausted by the enormity of it.

Reality check: While I know it may not be enormous in actuality, at that moment, it felt huge, like a Grand Canyon sized gap between where I am today and where I see myself a year from now.

This is what I witness almost daily with my clients. This is what I’m experiencing again today, because believe me, I’ve been here before.

It’s unsettling to lay out the future so clearly.

It’s easier to settle for the familiar, even if it’s not satisfying, because the familiar is safe, and comfortable.

I don’t believe that safe is what we’re here for.

This morning I woke up to discomfort; literally in my bones, and emotionally, in my spirit. I know the signs, so I did what I had to do to reach for a better feeling, more resourceful state.

I cancelled my morning plans, and gave myself permission to walk along the river near my home, breathe in the fresh air, and watch my dog explore the world in front of her nose. She does this so very well.

When I got home I pulled cards and did a reading for myself. I’m fairly new to tarot, so these thoughts are right out of the guidebook, but still, I was amazed at how they related to my life.

What the cards said…

I pulled (from left to right) the tarot cards for past, present, and future, and then below, a Truthbomb for the question, “What do I need right now?”

And then magic.

Past: Seven of Pentacles

Seven relates to knowledge, and the need to make a decision; a choice between two paths of action. One path is familiar, tried, tested, and profitable; the other is new and unknown.

The past few months have been about shifting from the familiar to the unknown, and I made a decision a while back that felt totally aligned when I read this card. I trusted myself, perhaps more than I’ve ever done in the past, and let something go. Done. No regrets. Over with a clean, clear energy.

There is freedom in that.

I am reminded that I will do anything to feel free in my life.

• What’s your core desired and non-negotiable feeling?

Present: Ten of Swords

The end of a situation or phase. Change occurs because whatever has been is no longer valid. It’s sometimes painful when our limiting beliefs are stripped away, but it’s also an opportunity for something new and real and truthful to grow in its place.

I felt this in my body, a visceral reaction. Like the first card, it felt like an acknowledgement, and even celebration of the completion. Am I sad at the ending? Yes, but I’m ready for what’s next.

I am reminded that change is a natural, inevitable aspect of life, and I can resist or flow with it.

• How do you respond to change?

Future: Three of Pentacles

A level of achievement is reached, but the building and growing is not done, and there’s a way to go before completion. There’s satisfaction in the achievement and possible frustration of the road ahead.

Given that I just had a strategizing day with my coach, this made perfect sense.

I am reminded to slow down, savour all parts of the journey, and notice all the good. There is no rush.

• How might you slow down to feel more present throughout the day?

Truthbomb: Angels, angels everywhere

I pulled this card right at the end out of habit. I’ve used the Truthbomb decks since they first came out, and they almost always strike a chord.

I asked the question, “What do I need right now?” and pulled this “angel” card. It made me laugh because I guess I needed yet another reminder to ask for support, as well as a nudge to notice the angels that are already around me and part of my life.

Why I Believe Them

What I love about this practice is that it gives me a way to make sense of my days or my energy, often transforming something negative into a tool for understanding.

There’s a ritual and mystery in the cards, and I’ve come to trust their magic. The thing I’m most aware of is that what we believe is always a choice, and I choose to believe what feels good, and aligns with my soul.

It’s a choice that enlivens my experience of life, and wouldn’t we all like more of that?

“Alchemy is taking something ordinary and turning it into something extraordinary, sometimes in a way that cannot be explained.” – Kenneth Coombs, Tarot Alchemy

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Action trumps hoping.

I’ve never been much into hope, but I love this definition.

hope (verb): to look forward to with desire and reasonable confidence.

Instead, I’ve lived my life as a doer, going after what I wanted with a kind of relentlessness I used to question.

But I’ve tempered with age, and softened into a better feeling way of living.

These days, if it doesn’t feel good – or have a direct impact on my life – I’m not going to do it.

Don’t get me wrong, I love making things happen, and I have loved pursuing my dreams, but there’s too often been a cost I’m no longer willing to pay.

So, let’s get back to action and hope.

What if they are on opposite ends of a spectrum?

And what if our work is to find our centre, like a pendulum falling naturally to rest?

This opens me back up to choice and opportunities instead of the limited point of view of one or the other.

I can choose action and give myself fully, and I can swing back into hope, and soften to my desires.

Today’s cards surprised me with their relationship. 

I don’t know why I’m still surprised because this happens more often than not, and almost every reading I’ve had in recent years has shaken me to the core.

But I am still surprised.

My inner skeptic always on the look out, always testing anything that reeks of false promises, always seeking truth.

I’ve only recently begun using my own Tarot deck and even with my limited understanding and knowledge, it’s pretty damn accurate every time.

I am reminded yet again that understanding isn’t required to have a breakthrough.

I was surprised by the Ace of Swords, how it represents change, and a quest for truth, two things that have always been important to me.

I wondered why and how it showed up at this time.

Until I read up on Lugh, the Celtic God of Light.

Dreams manifesting into forms, persistence, and action.

Elizabeth Gilbert said, “You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestation of your own blessings.”

And suddenly, it all comes together.

Understanding isn’t required to have a breakthrough.
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Today’s message:

Truthbomb: Action trumps hoping
Tarot: Ace of Swords, quest for the truth and a dramatic new beginning
Ascended Masters: Lugh, Celtic God of Light
Core Desired Feelings: Spacious + True

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What am I teaching the world?

This morning’s Truthbomb caught me off guard.

I love what I do, and the amazing people I get to work with, but what exactly am I teaching the world?

I look back at all the courses and programs I’ve offered over twenty years, but that doesn’t fully address the essence of my work and why I do it. If I close my eyes and remember the thousands of conversations I’ve had since I first began coaching, the answer becomes clear.

I am always about freedom, expansion, and growth.

In Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl wrote, “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” 

I resisted this truth in my twenties, let it in (a bit) in my thirties, and accepted it in my forties; all the while, knowing in my soul that accepting it would lead to freedom.

Acceptance finally led to embodying the truth which has made the greatest difference.

Embodying the truth that I am responsible for my experience of freedom, and that in choosing my path and my response to whatever life offers, I can feel free regardless of the circumstances.

I don’t mean freedom in a do-whatever-you-want kind of way, although I love that too.

I mean freedom to create and live my life in a way that feels good, and right, and perfect for me.

This has been the thread in every course, every offer, and every coaching conversation I’ve ever had.

I am here to help you expand love and freedom in any area of your life where you currently experience struggle and constraints.

Today’s cards said much the same.

Feeling free, devotion, one step (one choice) at a time, expansion and growth.

What am I teaching the world?

I teach that freedom is always possible.

I teach that love and freedom go together.

I teach that devotion and practice are the keys.

I teach that expansion and growth are inevitable.

“We do not ask life what the meaning of life is. Life asks us, what is the meaning of your life. And life demands our answer.” – Viktor Frankl

What are you teaching the world? Life demands your answer.
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Today’s message:

Truthbomb: What are you teaching the world?
Tarot: Ace of Wands, a new beginning of energy and intiative
Ascended Masters: King Solomon, Priorities, devotion to what’s important
Gods & Goddesses: Bhumi, Mother Earth, expansion and growth
Core Desired Feelings: Spacious + Free

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I’m in the midst of wrapping up a 100 day program, creating the May Promise, planning a Desire Map workshop in Vancouver, and launching The Coach Approach, my new online program.

It’s spring and it feels like everything is bursting with life.

I love the energy of creation and growth, as it reminds me to prioritize, amplify my daily practices, and do more of what feels good.

It’s a timely reminder for me because I am prone to putting my head down and slogging it out. I’ve come to realize it’s not healthy or sustainable, and I’ve decided it’s no longer an option.

My soul is asking me to act on something bigger and more meaningful than getting things done.

Feeling good has become non-negotiable, which is what happens when you make it a priority.

As I look at the cards I pulled this morning, I am reminded to start with love.

To love myself as I work hard.

To love the work I am creating.

To love the people I am creating it for.

Start with love. It’s a strategy that won’t let you down.
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Today’s message:

Truthbomb: Start with love
Tarot: Ace of Pentacles, a symbol of possibility and new beginning
Core Desired Feelings: Cherished + True

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Dear Love,

I’m happiest when you show up unexpectedly, on a day like today, when I felt I had no love left to give. My resistance was high, which is silly, I know… but that’s the truth, love.

I resist to avoid rejection and hurt. It’s easier to build a wall and close myself off to you, until I remember that safety has never been my thing… not really.

It’s irrational, this need to armour up; a kind of temporary insanity that is just too great a burden.

Then somehow, on a day like today, you sneak in through a crack in the wall, surprise me with the depth and magic of your presence, and once again I surrender.

xo

Every April, I celebrate my birth month
Every April, I celebrate my birth month
by taking part in Susannah Conway’s April Love.

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You are in charge of your own healing.

It’s that simple, and that challenging.

It’s a challenge I know well after my own experience dealing with chronic joint pain.

Like most people, I began with the external and it made some difference. After a year of what seemed like endless chiropractic visits, bottles of Ibuprofen, and a lot of positive thinking, I felt a little bit better – and that pissed me off.

A year of time, money, and energy I barely had, and I only felt a little bit better.

I couldn’t figure it out. I was committed, doing what I was told to do, and still mostly feeling lousy.

Until one day I realized something huge…

I hate being told what to do.

I had given up responsibility for my own healing by relying on the external. I had given up any sense of power I had as I swallowed my intuition and focused on what others said.

That was hard for me to admit, but as soon as I did I began to feel better.

When I chose my core desired feeling Cherished it became the anchor to feeling good, and it helped me stop looking outside of myself for the answers.

Cherished helped me trust myself and I began to take better actions which inevitably led to feeling better in my body.

We are responsible for the choices we make, and we have the power to heal.

That’s not a blanket statement about ignoring traditional medical treatment, but for me, I had to choose how I wanted to feel first, and in that choice and commitment to feeling cherished, I took back my power.

I decided to be in charge of my healing.

I decided how I wanted to feel in my body.

I became very clear about what was essential and non-negotiable.

And I gave myself permission to do it my way.

It wasn’t the right way. It was the way that worked for me.

Decide for yourself what’s essential and commit to it 100%.
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Today’s message:

Truthbomb: you are healing
Ascended Masters: Moses, take charge of the situation
Core Desired Feeling: Cherished

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My mornings always begin the same.

Coffee in bed, dog at my feet, and a quick scan of emails and notifications. Contrary to what the experts say, this quick scan puts my mind at ease, and then I can get on with what really fuels my day: my morning ritual.

The ritual is the same every day, and in that sameness something deep and meaningful happens. I reveal what’s most important, a message coming straight from my soul. I may not always like the message, but inevitably as I sit with it I begin to see the lesson or break through the resistance.

The ritual begins with getting quiet. Some days I meditate, and some days I simply sit in the silence.

My favourite aspect of meditation is that it always plugs me into my core desired feeling, Spacious, and once that connection is made I pull a card from my Truthbomb deck as a way through the surface thoughts to the unexplored area of my subconscious. The thoughts and insights that come from this deeper place, I write in my Desire Map journal, a witness to my experience.

I write whatever comes through. No plan, no direction; just what flows given the opening I’ve created through the ritual.

The image above is an example, and there’s something about documenting the process with a photo that pulls it all together for me.

Today’s message:

Truthbomb: you heal me
Ascended Masters: Aengus, a Celtic God
Core Desired Feeling: Cherished

After a bit of reading on Aengus, I let myself wonder how this card relates to the Truthbomb, “you heal me”. Aengus is a Celtic god who helps soul mates and twin flames find each other. It’s said that the twin flame is the deepest form of love, and to form such a partnership you have to follow your own inner guidance, learn personal growth lessons, and have patience with divine timing.

Which led me here:

What if we are meant to be our own twin flame?

What if this is how we truly heal?

It’s common to look outside of ourselves for that one perfect soul mate, but what if our work is to be that for ourselves? Stop for a moment, and let that in.

Imagine a partnership with yourself in which you followed your inner wisdom, learned life lessons at a soul level, and developed patience with the divine and its timing.

My morning ritual is what makes new thoughts like this possible.

What’s important is to realize that this is not the best ritual. It’s the ritual that works for me.

Then I practice it daily until it becomes an act of devotion.

Your work is to create a ritual that works for you.
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mantra:

from Sanskrit – “sacred message or text, charm, spell, counsel,” literally “instrument of thought”

A couple of weeks ago I started saying “Zero judgement, all love.”

It never occurred to me that I’d created a mantra. It was simply a tool to help me focus.

For some time, it had been my intention to focus on self-love, first inspired by my core desired feeling cherished, and then by the Self-Love Evolution, the current round of the 100 Day Promise online program I’m teaching.

Zero judgement, all love – a lovely thought, isn’t it?

The truth is, it’s more than a thought – it’s a practice worth developing, because there are times when life repeatedly reminds us that it’s not always easy to choose it.

For it is a choice, and a way of living.

Zero judgement doesn’t mean I never feel judgement, but the mantra helped me notice and let go of my judgement with more ease.

The mantra has helped me slow down, step back, and notice how judgement feels in my body. Tight, and closed off, with a side of injustice brewing beneath the surface.

Tight and closed off are about as opposite from my core desired feelings as I can get.

Make your way back to love.

It’s not easy when I feel reactive, but step by step, I make my way back to feeling good, and feeling good eventually leads back to love. From love, I can choose consciously.

The choice is clear: react in the moment, or step back and respond.

Judgement and feeling good cannot coexist, so choose.
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Zero judgement, all love.

The key is to stop the judgement when we catch ourselves judging others, otherwise we create an endless loop of righteousness.

The mantra helps to shift your energy back to a vibration that feels good.

It’s a sacred tool to focus your attention, and whether you use a universal sound like om, a Sanskrit mantra, or a phrase you’ve made up, what’s most important is that it has meaning for you.

And isn’t that true for anything?

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