We aren't fans of resolutions. You end up resenting them because they are so often framed as restrictions or focusing on your shortcomings. "Do Whole 30. Get up earlier. Work harder. Lose the weight."
What if you started your year by identifying the awesome things and what you'd like to grow upon?!
Let me tell you a story... This was before Club Duquette existed. It was New Year's Eve, turning into 2016. We had a few crazy years of having a baby, a life threatening illness, dramatic career shifts... and we knew on that New Year's Eve that we were going to sit down and envision the life we wanted to create, work towards and achieve.
We each had a piece of paper and a pen. And we sat together, each writing on that piece of paper the words, phrases, things we value and wanted to achieve in the coming year. It was kind of a happy word vomit of everything from travel and adventure and increased health to opening a store and getting out of debt. We finished our lists and then shared with each other.
As a couple, it's important to us that we are on the same page not just as a couple, but in supporting each other in our individual dreams and goals. We want to be each other's biggest support. To hold each other accountable for the things we want to manifest in life. And to be a rubric for making sure we are still on the same page TOGETHER.
We shared with each other the things we wrote on each of our lists. We expressed their value and, in turn, we could see very clearly a picture of what our values were as individuals and as a couple. (And it was so cool to see how much overlap there was in our lists.)
Next, we wrote a list of intentions. Things that we wanted to manifest in the coming year. Some of them were pretty straight forward and "easy" to achieve if we kept our hearts in check and focused on our values. But some of it was insane, like WAAAAY out there.
Among those things, we said for the first time in words, "We are going to open a store called Club Duquette in 12-18 months."
It's not as if simply writing it down will make it happen. But we got clear on what we would put our energy into for that coming year. We put our hearts and minds and vibes and intentions into it. And I believe the universe has a way of supporting that.
There was a series of crazy events that transpired (that we will share another time), but would you believe-- what we said we would accomplish in 12-18 months, we did in 9 months. We opened our shop Club Duquette, that same year.
In other lists I wrote that I wanted our shop to be in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Vogue magazine. And it all happened. Maybe it's because we got clear on our goals. We knew every day what we were working towards as a team. Maybe there's some magic involved in it, paired with crazy hard work and vision.
Yes, to all those things.
We do this exercise EVERY year. We sit down, we individually write our values in a word dump, we share with each other and see what main themes are evident, and then we make a list of intentions. We write these things down with confidence, gratitude and belief that these things can and will happen. (Hey, some of them might not come to fruition, but some big big things have.) Maybe come up with a phrase or mantra that you can carry through the year... last year's was LET'S DO THIS. The year before was IT IS WHAT IT IS.
And every year, we look back at the lists and reflect before doing it all over again.
We hope this practice might be something that inspires you in the new year to gain clarity, dream big and work hard. Good vibes, friends! Let's have one hell of a great year!
With love,
Morgan and Duquette