What I am about to share with you goes very deep. These life lessons are very close to my heart. They are what shifted most for me in 2020 whilst the world was going crazy with fear, contraction and tackling the unknown.
These are the life lessons that changed my world in 2020 and have given me a whole new level of energy, health and happiness. These 5 insights have helped me to uplevel every single area of my life, and I really want you to have them too. So that you can use them to make the coming year your most healthy, happy, vibrant and joyful yet.
I hope they inspire you and help you.
1 Your health is your wealth
We have always known this, but in a world where we are so busy, the pace of life is so fast and we are forever focusing on the next thing we need to do……it is easy to forget about. We tend to take our health for granted, until one day, we lose it or it starts to slow us down.
Sometimes we lose our health dramatically and suddenly. The COVID pandemic forced us all to face the fact that this could happen to any of us, at any time. That one day you are perfectly fine, and within a short space of time you are on a ventilator fighting for your life.
But what about the more subtle loss of health such as when you feel constantly tired and exhausted. When you are stuck in depression, or the grip of a long term chronic health condition that has no end in sight? It’s less dramatic, but just a debilitating
So the big lesson is this: invest in your health. Every day. Take care of it. It is the most precious thing we have. Because without it, everything else stops or loses its colour.
And if you don’t know what to do, or feel all alone and need support, help or guidance, then take care of that. Don’t keep shoving it under the carpet. As the saying goes:
“If you don’t know, ask.
You will be a fool for a moment,
but a wise woman for the rest of your life.”
And a healthy one!
2 Joy from within
2020 forced us to shut down, lock down and become disconnected from all that was familiar. The collective fear, confusion and disorientation was huge. There was a lot of talk about mental health struggles and the impact of loneliness and isolation.
We humans are social creatures, so naturally this had a ripple effect. What I noticed though was that those people who had a rich inner life and an inner richness were much better equipped to cope.
So what is this inner richness?
Inner richness is about a lot of things. It is not one simple technique or a thing that you do or buy. It is about lots of things coming together. Here are two of my faves:
Knowing how to truly fill your own cup.
It is about knowing exactly what gives you joy, happiness, a sense of achievement. So ask yourself, what is that you love, really and truly? What sets you on fire, ignites your flames? Not what you should love or appreciate. This is about what honestly and truly makes your heart buzz, sing and feel alive. So many of us have lost touch with that, or we don’t give it anything like enough air time.
Gratitude for what is
Having a daily practice or a way of connecting every day with all that you are grateful for. For all that is in your life right now. The big stuff AND the small stuff. And really allowing yourself to FEEL just how magnificent that is. Just how lucky you really are. For real.
Because we are ace at wishing things were different. I wish I was fitter, healthier, happier, slimmer, that my kids appreciate me more…. the list goes on. But what about focusing instead on what is already perfect? Joyful? Incredible? If we look for it, its right there!
In 2020 I started my first ever daily gratitude practice. Everyday I would mentally walk through all the things in my life that, if they were suddenly taken away, would be a disaster. I became grateful for the fact I am a mum, that I live in a home that is warm and dry, that I have food in the fridge, that my heart beats so beautifully all day long, that my legs can take me on long walks, that my brain is wired for learning and so on.
Knowing who you are, what makes you happy and being intentionally grateful for all of that every single day creates incredible energy and joy. And that is a recipe for awesome health and energy right there. The power of joy and gratitude to lift your energy levels is phenomenal. And if you don’t believe me, think back to when you were last in love.
3 Connection
2020 was the year of virtual connection. We all learnt to zoom, text, message, and video chat whilst face to face connection was limited. But with all that technology between us and others, how can we feel truly connected?
Feeling connected is about many things.
It’s about feeling that you belong and that you matter. Whether you belong in a family, or in an art group or a reading group or any other kind of group.
We all need to feel seen and heard. So really listening to someone and giving them your full attention isone of the ebay gifts any of have to give, at any time.
We need to feel significant and that what we contribute is valid and acknowledged.
We need to contribute and be making a difference.
So how can you use this lesson for ‘true authentic connection’ to uplevel your health and happiness in 2020. It’s simple: start with connecting to yourself. Ask yourself this:
- How do I really listen to myself? Truly, deeply and without judgment?
- How do I acknowledge myself?
- How does what I do every day that matters to me and my life?
Deep connection to self is one of the foundation stones of building beautiful health and feeling energised and happy every single day. And don’t you deserve that?
4 Become your own superhero
Whenever we are faced with fear, uncertainty and huge challenges, it’s easy to contract down. We start to live defensively, and we put all our focus on avoiding the things that are creating the fear. Our world can become consumed with how terrible everything is, how hard it is and doom gloom thinking.
It is so easy to put our energy and attention onto feeling anxious, scared, hopeless, and feeling sorry for ourselves.
Amd what if instead the real work to be done was to focus on our courage, fearlessness, boldness and our strengths? On the opportunities, on the knowledge we already have and that continues to grow? On our successes?
In 2020 I developed a practice for connecting with my own superhero in this way, and the results were transformational. Every day I felt more energised, stronger, and happier. Suddenly I had the energy that could move mountains. I felt strong, capable and powerful in a way I never had before. And my past successes (which I had been minimising for decades) started to fuel my motivation in a way I had never experienced before.
So here is 2 questions you can ask yourself at the start of every day, that will help you connect to your superhero :
- What have I already done in my life that I am incredibly proud of?
- What can I do today that will help me feel even more proud of who and what I am?
The truth is that you have a superhero inside of you right this very moment, but the big question is are you willing to let her out, take the wheel and drive the car?
You can read more about your superhero right here.
5 Celebrate every day
The simple truth is that we are not used to celebrating. We work super hard, we turn ourselves inside out for others, but we rarely celebrate our achievements, big or small.
We have so many cultural taboos around celebrating ourselves. It’s fine to celebrate a birthday, or a wedding, or someone passing a big test of some kind. These are ‘ culturally sanctioned’ celebrations.
But what about celebrating the ‘ not so obvious stuff’ or the more personal stuff or even the more ‘ invisible’ stuff?. Like being amazing at your job every single day? The fact that you give your all to your kids every day? The fact that even when you don’t feel like it, you still show up just because you said you would. The fact that you gave up your evening to talk with a friend in need? The fat that you turned your health around and worked super hard at it every day…… who gets the balloons out for that one?
Exactly. So my point is, that we don’t celebrate or even properly acknowledge the amazing stuff we do every single day.
And not only that, something rather fabulous starts to happen when you get into the habit of celebrating yourself and your achievements every single day. Lets me give you a list:
- More confident
- More focused
- More productive
- More creative
- Healthier
- Happier
So if you want more of all that good stuff and use it to uplevel your health, I suggest you start celebrating. Every day. The big stuff and the small stuff. And watch how your confidence, your energy and your happiness levels rise.
How to use the 5 life lessons
We don’t need to wait for disaster to strike, or for another pandemic surge before we take the lessons 2020 taught us and use them to make a huge shift in your health and life, starting today.
Putting it all together, here is what you can step into:
🦋Decide that your health really is your wealth, and that you are willing to show up for it every day, even in small ways, consistently.
🦋Choose to reclaim your superhero, that version of you that is already inside of you but who needs your attention badly, so she can come out to play.
🦋Acknowledge what you are grateful for every single day, large and small.
🦋Practice deep inner listening, without judgment and learn to really listen within, especially to your own heart.
🦋And finally celebrate every single day in all the many ways that you show up, and share your love and care with the world.
These five lessons have made a huge impact on the way I work, the way I connect with family and friends and what I think of as the priorities in life. As a result my life , my health and my happiness have all changed beyond recognition. I know the same is possible for you!
One last thing…..
Now that you are inspired to really take things to the next level, and you need advice, support and guidance to help you get your energy levels dialed up to the max, then go check out my wonderful new programme The Energy Catalyst. You can read more about it right here.
Love
Margriet x
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