5 Steps to Build Strong Foundations for Life
In the midst of all the chaos and disruption that is in our lives at present, it’s easy to feel lack of control and worry about what life will look like after things go back to normal.
However, when you have practices in your life that help you build and nurture strong foundations, you can deal with whatever challenges life might bring your way with more ease and confidence.
Here is a list of some of the practices that I know work to help you build strong foundations for life and/or keep you on track to having your best years yet.
1- Make yourself a priority in your life.
Put self-care high in your list –this is especially important for women who are natural nurturers and tend to look after others more than themselves. Ask yourself: how can I give the best of me to others and life if I don’t feel my best self?
Practising self-care is not selfish, it’s self-love. When you tend to your own well-being, you are replenishing yourself with the energy you need to lead a rich and fulfilling life and be there for others too. One thing is for sure: if you don’t take self-care seriously, the Universe will do it for you –usually in ways that you won’t like or agree with– and create the time to really look after you. Be proactive and make now the time to do what it takes to give yourself a bit more.
Try this: Think about: where do I need to turn the “off” button so I don’t exhaust my energy levels? Where do I need more balance? Where am I not giving myself what I need? Where am I stretching myself too thin? Where am I saying ‘yes’ when I want to say ‘no’, and vice versa?
Identify 3 things that you can start doing to give you so much needed self-care and self-love and then put them into practice.
2-Acknowledge your feelings.
Decide how you want to feel every moment above anything else. Your feelings not only have a direct impact on your well-being but they also set your vibrations, and as you know, you attract that what matches your frequency!
Explore how you want to feel and then set the intention to take charge of your feelings and stop allowing the outside circumstances to influence them (this takes time to master but the rewards are amazing). Remember that happiness as well as feeling good is an inside job. When you choose to feel good, the Universe will reward you with incredible ‘feel-good’ experiences. You can always find something in your life that makes you feel good, no matter how bad things might seem.
Try this: Get your journal out and write about how you feel most of the time, what triggers those feelings, how you’d like to feel and what are you going to do about them. Be honest with yourself. Set intentions and actions in motion to start feeling good and stick to them.
3-Reduce the noise in your head.
You’ve read and heard about all the wonderful benefits of meditation. It is proven to calm the mind, reduce stress, align you to the present moment, raise your vibrations, bring you to a state of inner peace and harmony, enhance your awareness and intuition, and so much more. So, how does this practice rank in your routine?
If you have a meditation practice, keep it up. It will continue to support you in creating a joyful and balanced life. If you don’t meditate yet, now’s a good time to start to meditate to clear the mind and heart of so much overwhelm and fear.
I’ve been practising meditation for 20 years now, and I can assure you that the few minutes you take to meditate are worth every second.
Meditation gives us the opportunity to create inner space and raise our vibrations to connect with an elevated state of being where we can breathe and feel much better.
Try this: Create a sacred space in your home –I call it ‘your sanctuary’– to meditate and be with you. Decide to take a few minutes every day to quiet your mind and just be. Try my 5-minute meditation to present moment awareness; it will do wonders for you.
4- Declutter your relationships.
These days, we have too much of everything –let’s be grateful for that! However, lots of something is not always good for us. The truth is, the simpler, clearer, and lighter our lives are, the better we feel at all levels. I dedicated a full chapter in Freedom of the Soul to the topic of clutter –physical, mental, emotional and spiritual– and how you can simplify your life to increase well-being.
A big source of clutter is the people and relationships in our lives. One of the most important things for you to consider is ‘whose company am I keeping?’ Are you spending time with people who make you feel good about yourself, support you and uplift you or with people who drag you down, diminish you, or drain your energy? How many people do you spend time with that are negative?
Your well-being will improve when you choose to surround yourself with friends and family that love you, support your growth and embody attributes and values you cherish.
Try this: Begin your decluttering experience by assessing the people in your life and deciding to simplify your relationships. Stop making excuses for keeping toxic people in your life. Eventually, you will become more like them if you don’t remove them from your life or keep at a distance.
Surrounding yourself with loving and supportive relationships will create a change in the way you feel that will open yourself up to opportunities to meet new people that are more aligned with you, with your values and your desires.
Fewer people in your life will also give you more time to spend on your own. Cherish this opportunity as a chance for you to know more about yourself, and to get in touch with your inner being.
5- Develop a daily gratitude practice.
Gratitude is one of the most, if not, the most powerful feeling you can hold that can transform your life and the way you experience it. The more grateful you are, the more life will give you to be grateful for.
Being grateful could be challenging at times when you are experiencing personal hardship; however, it is during these times when you need it the most.
Each day, make the habit of thinking, noticing, savouring and talking about what you are grateful for and fills you with awe –anything at all– a sunny day, the flowers in the gardens, a loving hug, your home, your car, your family, your health, your job, your stuff, and so on.
When you begin to be grateful for the simple things in life, bigger things will come and you will be amazed at the abundance that starts to flow into your life.
Try this: It literally takes five minutes to integrate a gratitude practice into your daily life. Whether it is in the morning or before the end of your day, take some time to write in your journal about all that you noticed was good in your day or is good in your life. Write whatever comes to your mind. Every time, aim to write new and more things.
To get the most out of this exercise, allow yourself to experience the feeling of gratitude. For example, if you’re truly grateful for your good health, stop for a second and give thanks for your health. Appreciating all the amazing things that life gives you is a main contributor to your happiness, abundance, and overall well-being.
Here you go!
Now create an action plan to start building or reinforcing your foundations for life. What are you willing to do?
Start by implementing one of these essential practices. Choose the one that will be most beneficial to you right now. As your state of being begins to shift and you feel better, you will be able to address the other practices.
Remember that within you, there is the power to create a life you truly love and enjoy living.
The first step towards transformation is to take complete responsibility for what happens in your life. The second step is to want to do something about it.
As always, I am here to help, guide and support you in whichever way you need.
I invite you to book a complimentary session with me to talk about your current circumstances and where you’d like your life to go.