Boldly You: A Guide to Making 2024 Your Most Empowered Year Yet!

Have you ever had the feeling at the start of another year that things just feel the same? That nothing has really changed? Whether you had a great NYE or a lousy one, things just feel normal the next day. (Be proud, put your hand up if you had a lousy NYE! Truly, there are so many expectations placed on that one night. Recipe for disaster!) 

I have a proven way to bypass that Groundhog Day feeling at the start of the year. Often we start out feeling optimistic, somewhat positive that this will be my year. We make New Year's resolutions. And then two weeks or a month later, that resolve has been shafted by the stuff of life. This year, let's grab the bull by its horns and take charge. 

Step One: Do the work babes

If you haven't yet taken the 6 simple steps in my article, Completion: How to Make Peace With Your Year, go back and do it now. There's still time my friend. In step one we complete the year that has just gone. I have been reviewing my year and I've identified some habits that don't work for me and have been able to put new habits in their place. What habits are no longer serving you? What could you do differently?

Step Two: Get rid of what doesn't work

Chris and I spent two full days doing this work after we realised there were things we were hanging onto because they were part of our previous selves…

I was a full-time musician in my 20s. I’m not now. Time to let go of some of that expensive musical equipment I’ve been hanging onto for when I make my comeback :) By the time I do, the cables will have disintegrated or the technology will be out of date. Time to let them go.  I can always get more resources when I need them.

Other objects I bought because they were a good idea. Turns out they weren’t! My treadmill for example. I got it from a friend who was moving overseas and I thought it would be a genius way to move while watching videos.

In reality, the front was too low, leaving me stooped over with no place to rest a device, and secondly, I was all sweaty after using it and needed a shower. I couldn’t fit it in with teaching yoga online, writing my morning pages, walking the dog, and all the morning rituals I already have.

It took something to admit that I had spent money on a good idea that turned out not to be. However, it’s liberating to admit your mistakes and then let them go. Literally.

Step Three: Set up your physical environment for you to win

We're not looking for picture-perfect Pinterest here. We're looking for workability in your environment. What doesn't work in your physical environment that you've been tolerating? I can never find the right charging cord when I need it, and after living in the same place for several years, we’ve accumulated too much stuff! Now, we’ve done a massive clearout, plus I’ve created a charging station with various cord options in multiple locations in our home. 

What's been hanging around in your space that you could put in 'long-term' storage? Collect all long-term storage items that you use only a few times a year and store them in the same place. I made a note of each item and where it's stored so I can refer to it if I'm looking for something. I don't rely on my memory (PTSD brain!)

With this new space, can you carve out a place for rehearsing, prop and costume-making, a yoga practice, or self-massage practice? What are all the items you need to support you in this area? Keep them all together in one place so you don't have to go looking for the coconut oil for self-pleasure and give up when you can't find it.

Things like having a place to live and so give everything a place, and everything can be in its place.

Step Four: Make your plans for the year

Either you are making your plans or you're in the drift of life, taking you this way and that way. When you design your life, the universe tends to conspire with you and things have a way of lining up. Map out your year. No need to make it fancy. I use scrap paper horizontally with two months to a page and every week of the year listed. I blue tack these 6 pages up onto the wall and use page marker post-it notes so that I can move things around easily.

First I start with when I'm taking a break. I tend to plan for one or two holidays plus Christmas and New Year then 4 weekends away - once a quarter. I use blue Post-it notes for breaks and I schedule them first because, without my well-being, I've got nothing to give.

Next, I schedule big events and the programs I run in my business in hot pink. I also make sure I schedule any courses I want to participate in to keep me on track and empowered. I'm one of those life-long learners - I love growth and development. Once I'm happy with my plan, I make sure it's all in my calendar. Then I take it off the wall and move it into a display folder where I can refer to it throughout the year.

Step Five: Use technology to support you, not hinder you

• Do an email inbox declutter. Delete any emails you didn't read from the last year. Unsubscribe from any email lists you don't open or that stress you out.
• Increase your online security by upgrading your passwords and stop using the same three passwords :) Use a reputable third-party app with high security to store passwords. I use Dashlane. 
• Use one calendar and one calendar only - this is where everything you are committed to doing lives. If it's not in my calendar, it doesn't exist.
• Use a digital assistant (Siri, Alexa, Google) to set timers and alarms with soothing sounds to go off 10 minutes before your meetings or when you need to leave for your day. You can snooze the alarm for 9 minutes which gives you a chance to finish up what you were doing and be ready for the next thing. This is also great for starting a meditation practice or giving yourself pleasure time. Your brain will be free to focus rather than worrying that you might be late for your next commitment. 

Step six: Get support

One of my favourite mentors is the Australian international best-selling author, Leonie Dawson (she/they). They are a kindred spirit. A self-confessed swear bear, proudly neurodivergent, unapologetically herself, self-made multi-millionaire and with more fun and creativity than you can poke a stick at. Plus they make me laugh so hard.

So if you want peace of mind, satisfaction and empowerment from taking planning and organising to the next level then follow Leonie Dawson's 21 days to Get Organised. Not only will this set you up powerfully for the new year but for life.

And, as Leonie says, you can then feel really smug that you've gotten yourself organised. Plus, if you're creative, neurodivergent, not a Virgo Type-A Martha type and are a normal human who doesn't live in a Pinterest show home, then Leonie has definitely got your back. Check out all of her freebies. Click here.

Take these actions in micromovements and you'll feed yourself power.

Make this new year YOUR year.

Love,

Danica

P.S. I’m proud to be an affiliate partner of Leonie Dawson. If you invest in Leonie's work in the future, I may receive a commission but at no extra cost to you.

Hello my friend, 🌈 I'm Danica Lani, here to empower you in your exploration of gender, sexuality, and performance. Known as The King Coach, I have proudly mentored, choreographed, and produced 102 first-time Drag Kings since December 2020 and built the uplifting Kings of Joy community. With decades of coaching and facilitation, I've led transformative workshops for hundreds of queer-identifying women, non-binary, and trans individuals, specialising in tantra within a queer context. My mission is that we can be 100% at home in our own skin.