25 Questions To Ask Yourself Before 2014: Part Three

Here we are. Part Three of the 25 Questions before 2014! I don't know about you, but I thought the five questions today were the toughest to answer! I had to dig even deeper to find the answers this time. If you're just joining us, hop over to this post to check out what it's all about and then feel free to link up your own answers! I am totally digging this time to just reflect :)

21. Who do I need to forgive? Thanks to Arielle Ford and her awesome book, The Soulmate Secret, I've done the work to forgive most people who were still, somehow, stuck in my heart. Unfortunately, some recent events brought back a few things for me. Forgiving people who've hurt you, apologized, and then continue to hurt you is often a hard battle to fight. It's usually in those instances that we realize we must put our foot down once and for all. And in that process, we must also forgive ourselves for letting someone bruise us yet again.

22. Where is it time to let go? I had something specific in mind but then I remembered the quote below. This past year, the mantra I've lived by is: "Show up, let go, serve others, and surrender the outcome." It's now my life motto. The phrase I live my life by. Well, the things that we hang onto are just that... things. They're ideas, thoughts, memories, projections, people, etc. And it's only once we let go, truly let go, that love can enter.

23. What old habits would I like to release? I want to erase all the conditioning and live a life in harmony with my innate self. Measure myself based only on myself, not on the timelines and social media announcements of others. I know I march by the beat of my own drum and sometimes the constant Facebook feed of engagements, bridal showers, and gender reveals makes me feel like maybe I live on a different planet? And I'm okay with that! I'm tired of being programmed to think that by age _____, I should _____. I've thrown out the timeline. I've got this one life to live (in this body, at least) and I'm doing it my way :) I'm also releasing my habit of sitting on ideas for longer than I should, as I mentioned yesterday because, again, life is precious!

24. What new habits would I like to cultivate? Decorating offices and apartments sooner than I've been known to :) Scheduling my day-to-day meetings and activities in my brand spankin' new calendar! Saying "no" more! And saying "yes" more to myself! Cleaning out and organizing everything (purses, bills, files, my phone, etc.) on a consistent basis. And overall, just following through with my own commitments to spend more time writing, brainstorming, reading, and meditating!

25. How can I be kind to myself? By honoring my true self, always. I think that's really what it all comes down to. That's what the past 24 questions have truly been about. What can we do this next year to honor ourselves in order to live the fullest year yet?

Life is a series of paths, turns, bridges, dead-ends, and detours. The compass we're given is the knowledge of our true self. Our life purpose. Our natural gifts and talents. I know in my heart that through being deeply connected and in tune with our truest, innate self, not only can we conquer all things that are thrown our way, but we can live a life of purpose, of bliss, and of unending potential for bigger and better things. Always. What a journey this is. Thank you to those of you who've participated in this process. These questions have certainly helped wrap up this year for me and help solidify my journey onward.

If you're not ready to stop the personal reflection and growth, I am taking new coaching clients for 2014! I would LOVE to work with you to help you find that compass of yours if it's lost, help you feel empowered to leave that toxic relationship or just ask for what you want out of life, or... fill in the blank :) The world is your oyster. Never forget that! Shoot me an email at chelsea.lifeisasunset@gmail.com and let me know what's on your mind, what areas you're wanting to make more stellar than ever before, and we'll chat!

Peace, love, and light to you all! Here's to the greatest year yet!

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25 Questions To Ask Yourself Before 2014: Part Two

Yesterday was awesome! I loved reading everyone's answers to the first 10 questions! It's not always easy to get deep with yourself and I think those of you who are doing this work are already light years ahead for the beginning of 2014! Way to go, my friends! Today we're answering questions 11-15! If you're just now joining, find all the details here and it's certainly not too late to join in! Ready, go!

11. When did I feel most creatively inspired? Many times when I was at the beach, in solitude. That is where my greatest writing took place, my jewelry designs were thought out, my clothing designs were imagined, and where my greatest ideas took place.

12. What projects have I completed? Moving cross country. Twice. RAW Showcase for my jewelry business. Started two new jobs (one in which I had my own clothing designs printed & sold by the company I worked for!) and my biggest project of all - my life coaching practice which will constantly be growing and expanding! 'Twas a stellar year!

13. How have I procrastinated? A lot of this is tied to #16. I've noticed that I hold myself back due to perfectionism. If something means a lot to me, such as a business project I'm working on, I sit on it and sit on it and sit on it before making a final decision. It is quite possibly one of THE biggest faults of mine because it really does prolong the process that much.

14. In what ways can I re-structure my time? Mastin Kipp has always stressed the importance of scheduling out your entire day, even all of the mundane activities such as eating a meal. Now that I have classes and clients and commutes thrown into the mix of my previously perfectly-scheduled life, it's time to take Mastin's advice. In 2014, I want to continue being in the best physical/spiritual/mental shape ever and that means being a bit more tedious with my schedule. I need to write-in my time for prayer/reflection, my time for the gym (and getting to/from there) and even time for free writing. I've found it's those personal things that often get put on the back burner and, guess what... it's those personal things that are usually most vital to keep at the top of our list!

15. How have I allowed fear of failure to hold me back? I think "fear of failure" is a bullsh*t term fed to us through worldly conditioning. Knock it off. I'm not scared of it. I don't view "failure" as failing. I view it as grace. When something goes awry, it's either because there is a lesson to be learned or because there is a better plan. Once that is realized, you'll never fear that bullsh*t failure again. You'll welcome that ish and eat it for breakfast! ;)

16. Where has self-doubt taken over? Self-doubt used to take over my entire life. All the inner work I did over the past two years has given me the confidence to stand firmly in the knowledge that I know what's best for me. BUT, I tend to second-guess myself (even when deep down, I know what I believe.) I sit on ideas for much longer than I really ought to, wondering if there is a "more perfect" idea that will come along later or perhaps a "more perfect" time. I have an irrational fear of making the wrong decision and this has prevented me many times from making any decision at all.

17. When have I felt the most alive? The exact moment occurred on a warm, San Diego night in late May. We were leaving the Padres' game (after they won!) Downtown that evening, and I was cruising on the back of my date's bike (wearing a helmet!) I had spent the entire night laughing and gazing at him, in awe of how great it had felt the past couple months to finally be captivated by someone again. As I put on my helmet that night, he gave me the sweetest surprise, and we rode off into the night (Like a fairytale. Literally.) which is when I felt most alive. Cruising through Mission Hills with the breeze on my face as we rode over beautiful bridges and saw the views of the skyline all lit up. I was there, blissfully happy in the city of my dreams.

18. How have I taught others to respect me? By refusing to wait around for people who operate on a "my timeline only" basis. I used to be the girl who'd wait around and reschedule my own schedule all the time for other people. Then, I learned how that gets you nowhere in life other than down a road of disappointment.

19. How can I improve my relationships? I think 2014 is going to be the year of the serious relationship for this girl. I've spent the past two years getting to really know myself, what I need/want in a partner, and have done a lot of personal and professional work and gotten my passion and purpose underway. I'm at a place now where I'm ready, and when the time is right, I'm excited for a primary relationship <3 :)

20. Have I been unfair to anyone? Nope. Everyone comes into our life for a reason and they usually leave for a reason too. I've examined what I've tolerated and had to be honest and fair to myself by telling some truths to others about how they've hurt me or by letting them go.

My Part One Answers :)

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25 Question To Ask Yourself Before 2014: Part One

In case you missed it last week, there's an article going around about a new approach to the "New Year's Resolution" thing. Instead, ask yourself these 25 questions before 2014! I've created a fun link-up for all of those who want to take part! We're answering the first 10 questions today. Find the link to the questions at the bottom of the post :)

1. What am I most proud of this year? Two things and they kind of go hand-in-hand. I'm proud to make my dream of moving to San Diego a reality despite all the nay-sayers throughout my life. In addition, I'm proud of doing the physical, spiritual, and mental work there to get where I am today. It allowed me to dig deeper than I ever have before, really connect with my true and innate self and find my purpose here in life :)

2. How can I become a better _____________? Life coach! Of course, I believe there are constantly things we can be working on and roles we can continue growing into. However, my role as a life coach will be my main focus in 2014.

3. Where am I feeling stuck? I can't say I feel fully stuck in one area really. Each week, there is a certain thing I may get hung up or stuck on, but it's usually never the same thing at once.

4. Where do I need to allow myself grace? I'm in another turning point in life. A lot of HUGE, spectacular, exciting new things are underway for my life. I have the tendency to get hung up on many little details, especially when the details are personally very important to me. I know the right thing to do is just to surrender the outcome to the Universe. Always. Easier said than done, right?

5. Am I passionate about my career? Yes! For the first time, ever, I am so entirely grateful for the career I have and am continuing to pursue. Working in the self-development/life coaching field is such a blessing. I love connecting with others and helping to lift them into their truest potential!

6. What lessons have I learned?
To surrender the outcome to the Universe.
"Owning our story and loving ourselves through that process is the bravest thing that we will ever do." - Brene Brown.
"Perceive obstacles as opportunities and problems as spiritual assignments." - Gabrielle Bernstein.
AND, to savor the waiting :)

7. What did my finances look like? About the same as always! 2014 is going to be abundant. I just know it ;)

8. How did I spend my free time? At the beach! I've written so many of these blog posts, so many journal entries, schemed up new dreams and bucket list items, and experienced some deeply intuitive moments while lying out on the sand in San Diego. Among all the chaos in the world around me, I could tune it all out and just be.

9. How well did I take care of my body, mind, and soul? Number one explained this a little bit. Let's just say, this was the healthiest year yet and I'm stoked to know that I can only go up now :)

10. How have I been open-minded? I moved to a new city full of strangers where I tried new foods, new drinks, new neighborhoods, new music, made new friends, dated new "types" and completely allowed myself to get out of my comfort zone in order to live fully present in those new moments.

If you want to link up, the rest of the questions can be found in this post! Post your answers to questions 11-20 tomorrow and 21-25 on Wednesday! Have fun and link-up below! I can't wait to see everyone's reflections on the past year!

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I'm the Kinda Girl Who...

If you guys don't know Holly from Running in Stilettos... well, to quote Anchorman because, yes, I finally did see it... she's "kind of a big deal!" Also, she's my blog bestie and I just adore her. I'm so excited to be linking up with her today for I'm the Kinda Girl Who...

If you're new here, I hope you learn some fun facts about moi and if we're already friends, well, I hope you love me even more after this ;)

"I'm the Kinda Girl Who..."

+ Can clean out a crab

+ Will never have skinny thighs. Thanks, dancer legs ;)

+ Is allergic to lipstick

+ Could get rid of every social network. Except for Pinterest

+ Will do anything to not have to parallel park

+ Is obsessed with her car

+ Has 3,000 pictures on her phone

+Doesn't wear pink

+ Puts fruit in her fro yo

+ Can't play soccer

+ Starts books and never finishes them

+ Sits and talks to all the homeless animals

+Has a Ke$ha song as her alarm. Don't hate.

+ Can never have too many chambray tops
+ Secretly misses the old Nokia cell phone days

+ Says "Dude." All the time.

+Enjoys dressing up for church and plays

+ Stays up late
+ Hates bandwagons
+ Loves deeply but not easily
+ Didn't realize she had a "type" until recently
+ Misses dance and acting

+ Loves seeing bands at a dirty, grimy dive bar

+ Breaks out the Running Man in the middle of a dance party
+ Enjoys a lot of alone time
+ Can never watch The Notebook again
+ Counts in 8's
+Takes pictures of her gleeful self on Ash Wednesday. Yep...

+ Has been in love with Ryan Gosling since before she even thought boys were "cute"
+ Has faith
+ Takes her lunch to work
+ Is constantly learning and growing and making mistakes
+ Loves her mama
+ Can't imagine life without sunsets and the ocean

+ Believes in supernatural ish
+ Wants to be a million different things at once
+ Just wants to surf
+ Always has to mention her love for the 90's in a post like this
+ Is a just a girl. I'm just a girl in the world. That's all that you let me beeee
+ Gives up everything to chase after her biggest dreams

And that's just the beginning...

Farewell/Follow Friday

Today is a special Friday. And when I say special, I mean SPECIAL. First of all, today is my last day at my current job. Hip hip hooray! Yes, you read that correctly - my grand finale. It's time to move on to bigger and better things and next week I will finally tell you where my journey is taking me next [I've made you wait long enough, right?]

I looked back at some of my work pictures [which, oddly enough, consist of mainly my "good morning" pictures and pictures of rescue dogs] and got a little teary-eyed. I know one day, once I've moved on to my next chapter, I'll look back and miss the memories I made there.

Also, today, I'm co-hosting Follow Friday with Hollie and Megan! It's seriously my lucky day, is it not? Let me tell ya... it's an awesome way to find new bloggy friends!

So, here's how it works:

Follow Friday is kind of like a blog directory once a month! There are no minimum requirements for what you need to do to link up! Just submit your blog link [under the one corresponding blog genre that fits your blog - fashion/beauty OR lifestyle.]

However, we would appreciate it if you found at least 3-5 new blogs you'd LIKE to follow and follow them via Google Friend Connect (GFC). Comment and let them know you found them thru Follow Friday! This way, the purpose of this project actually works!

Please spread the word through Twitter/Instagram/your blog because, the more people that link up, the more new blogs we have to follow! :)

And that's it! Happy Friday, friends! And Happy Follow Fridaying if you participate! Time to go enjoy my last day of work! ;)

Fashion/Beauty Blogs:

Lifestyle Blogs:

Journey Forward {1}

First of all, I'm so BEYOND excited to start this journey! I'm thrilled not only to document my own progress and be able to look back on it later, but to read about your journeys as well!

This is the first week of Journey Forward – a link up I have created to get us writing, thinking, and making the change toward a goal we have chosen for this year. After reading about My One Word, I decided to make the commitment for 2012 to focus my energy toward one word. Each week I’m coming up with a new question, challenge, or exercise to get us thinking and writing about our word/goal!

 As I’ve said before, my word this year is “become.” Each day, "become" grows more and more important to me.
The first challenge for Journey Forward was to define our word through the dictionary and through our own words.

 

According to Merriam-Webster, “become” means:

To come into existence
To undergo change or development

I think both of those definitions perfectly explain what it means to become. "Become" is really a pretty simple word with a simple meaning when you think about it.
To me, "become" means to transition; transform; develop into something greater than before. I think of the caterpillar during its transformation into the beautiful butterfly.
I think "become" is a process that takes time. The amount of time can depend on the situation, however, truly becoming is not something that can be done overnight or at the snap of a finger.
”Become” is the process of truly being.

--

Challenge for next week:

Create a Journey Forward pinboard on Pinterest. On this pinboard, pin anything that reminds you, inspires you, or motivates you to keep moving toward your word. It can be pictures that make you happy, quotes that keep you going, anything related to your journey forward!
In your post next week, share the link to your pinboard so that we can all follow each other's boards and spread the love on Pinterest. Then, share a few of your pins! {Just not ALL of them - I have some future challenges we'll need to save those for!}

If you need an invite to Pinterest, just leave a comment below and give me your email address :)

I’ll be keeping this link-up open until next Wednesday night. Now, let the linking up begin!

First Link-Up Prompt

It's Thursday which means, today I get to announce the first prompt for my new link-up! Also, I'm sure you're wondering what the official name is. Ladies {and gentlemen}, introducing...

Journey Forward

I found this name to be rather fitting since this link-up will help document our journey moving forward and toward our goal {and our one word.} I think the word "journey" can be used either as a noun OR a verb, and I love that :)

I hope the name reminds you that this will be a journey. Not every day will be perfect. However, and what's most important, is that we learn from this journey and continue to prosper! I'm hoping for this link-up to develop a community full of other people who are each on their own journey, allowing us to encourage one another and cheer each other on throughout the year!

So, without further ado, here's the first prompt:

Define your word. Start with the foundation. Tell us how the dictionary defines your one word and then tell us how YOU define it. What does that word MEAN to YOU?

I think by really dissecting our word from the beginning, we'll be able to find even more meaning in it! If you don't have one word for the whole year, pick one word that you'd like to work toward this week!

So, friends, start brainstorming and writing and then come back here next Thursday to share your link and meet some new "journeyers" :) Feel free to take the button below and either put it in your blog post or on your sidebar - share the love and get more people journeying along with us! :)

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I don't know about you, but I'm really excited to start being inspired by everyone's posts!!

Let me know what you think!

A New Kind of Link-up

I've been brainstorming for some time now about link-ups and when to start one of my own. I wanted it to be something I loved, was passionate about, and something that really encompasses what this blog is about. After reading about My One Word {you can read my posts about it here and here} and making the commitment to my one word, I've decided I want to do a link-up regarding this theme of personal growth.

As many of you may know, the word I chose to focus on this year is "become." I've decided that every week I will dedicate one post to this.

Now, here's where you come in. Each week, as I post about my journey in "becoming," I will post a question or challenge for YOU! Whether you came up with your own word this year or just want to use the link-up as a journaling session, all are welcome to participate! The idea is to get us all brainstorming, writing, sharing, learning, and growing. I've always found writing to be the easiest way for me to really get in touch with myself. Sometimes that means writing about difficult things and sometimes it means writing about things that make me really happy! You'll probably be seeing a little of both.

{via}

I've learned the hard way in life that there are certain people who want to change and certain people who don't. I, personally, believe that we should be ever-changing - constantly seeking growth and a higher potential. Otherwise, what's really the point of our existence? Unfortunately, some people say they want to change and grow but then do nothing to make those changes happen.

Let's not be like those people. Let's make the commitment and promise to ourselves to work hard toward our One Word. Every day.

As always, I'd love to hear from you regarding your One Word! Feel free to email me here or leave a comment below! Share the love and support :)

So, on Thursday, be sure to head back over here to receive your first prompt and then link-up with me every Thursday!