Are you ready to make a plan for a Fresh Start?

With my palo santo and sage lit up this morning, I am about to ease into some super-fun master-planning today!

Are you averse to making detailed plans for the future like I used to be?

Does it feel like there’s no point because it won’t happen, or has it failed you or has it felt like when you make a plan and want something really badly that you’ll be really disappointed if it doesn’t happen? Or, my favorite: do you feel like making a plan will drain the magic from your life?

I get it.  I used to believe- very vigorously-  that planning out life drained the magic from life and made it more robotic and un-exciting.  As college graduation approached, I was very clear that I would take the plan that life handed me (not sure where I got this from?) and that it was the only way to get discovered by the celebrated people that would give me mysteriously cool opportunities in the arts.  What was interesting is that I was discovered by many people in the arts, in fact, so my intention came true (!) … but because I had no real direction, I had nothing to ask for and no solid vision of my own to present for my future, all the celebrated people in the world that I knew had zero effect on my life beyond great social fun.

Without a plan, I had screenplay deals handed to me with no movie written and no plan to write them, hence they vanished.  I had massive jobs offered to me that I was too scared to say “yes” to and I had a lot of time spend in-between magic moments wondering how I would survive.

My own conclusion after finally creating a plan: master planning is actually awesome for magic living.  

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t I still have fleeting moments where I think it would be better to have no plan and go live in Hawaii somewhere that peacocks roam free in the groves… then I remember the magic of a plan to reorganize the universe and I sit down to get it all on paper!

Today, I’m excited to share my favorite master-planning ideas that can help you to make plans and really experience the magic of shaping space, time and life.  

I met a spectacular man- Levert- who makes his own incense and harnesses resins from travels around the world for space clearing while he was set up out on the sidewalk on La Brea near Willoughby while I was shopping (following my plan!) for Christmas Dinner. I constantly meet the best people- from clients who have become close friends to new collaborators to awesome inspirations- while moving plans forward. It’s like… everyone has a purpose and everyone falls into my life at the right time to show me something.  That is, they show up as long as I’m in my groove, making things happen in my universe that I plan and craft.

I’ve been doing this type of master-planning of life for a solid decade now, and while I’ve changed some of my own big goals over the years, the plan has kept me moving forward, even when the things I wanted didn’t exist yet! In fact, in the first plan I made, this blog was a bubble of an idea, my online Camps were a vision (I think I wrote it as “online groups where I can work with lots of people helping each other, doing feng shui and changing their lives together”) and my whole career wasn’t something that seemed “possible” to anyone in the world beyond me, as it had never been done before.

Those were the dreams and visions and plans that lit a fire under me to keep creating and learning and practicing and growing, even when I was really unclear where I was headed in the grand scheme of things!

Here are a few things that I abide by where plans are concerned:

• I know I need a plan when things feel idle or stuck. 
• I know I need a more specific plan or a refreshed plan when nothing seems exciting. 
• I need a revitalized plan when I truly no longer want something I thought I wanted to create. 

Where are you at with your dreams and plans?!

Set the stage for your own magic-making!!!

I pull out paper, markers, and even paint sometimes when I need to plan something. I sometimes like silence, sometimes music without lyrics to get in the way of my flow… but I always light a candle, incense or some space-clearing bundle of herbs like sage or cedar.

And then… it’s time for planning!

While I do believe there are many great methods for creating plans, here are a few big ideas to set down plans that matter to you:

Juicy and gorgeous and fun plans are the only ones that really matter. If it feels like work to do any of this, in my experience, it isn’t going to work.

Plans need to align. I used to have plans that worked against one another— like, ” I want to move to the tropics and start surfing” along with ” I want to chant at my Buddhist temple x number of hours a month to feel amazing.” The temple is only in Los Angeles, you you see how, in a wild way, that doesn’t work? Align things well and they’ll fall in easily. If you want to meet a partner who joins you on round-the-world adventures monthly and you also want to be promoted at your very rigorous corporate job to a dream position, are you working out of alignment? Check to see that things line up and that all of your visions, when manifest, form a whole that is very solid!

Plans are not “backup plans”. After all, every plan you make is a decision to set the universe in motion to make it come true…and if you are trying to create a backup plan for things you’re saying that you already predict your failure to get the dream (it’s like rolling a boulder up a hill and back down again, a step forward and a step backward). Rather that backup plans or worst case scenarios, what if you progressively plan to get to where you want to be, and stay open to the leaps forward you can take?

For example, if you want to start your own business but having stable income is vital, what about creating the day job that you enjoy well enough that pays your bills while you can build up your business, and then, perhaps, in the next step you find a perfect part-time job that fulfills your needs as the business grows and then, finally, a plan where you’re out on your own… and in no way is that a backup plan.

An incomplete / backup plan is: I am going to go out on my own and the worst thing that can happen is that I’ll need to find a job again.  (see the failure built into this kind of thinking?) Or, I am going to give this relationship a shot but I will still keep looking for a new person at the same time just in case.

How you make the plans— your own ritual and methods- are totally up to you. You can’t go wrong when crafting your dreams. You can’t use the wrong adjectives, you can’t do a “wrong” ritual and you can’t fail. You can be incomplete, though. Dare to dream in crisp pictures! If you can be detailed and bring those visions you have to life with excitement, you will be really excited about the results!

Make that space for dreams. If that means you need to clear out toxic ties, unhelpful ideas or any stuff that has bad memories— I am flashing on a few more items to put in my donation bags right now!- please do it rigorously and thoroughly!!!

Dump, clean, polish and deeply de-clutter all of your life. Mix in the feng shui magic and you’ll be able to sweep lots of toxic or simply unwanted stuff from the air, the schedule, the energy systems that take these dreams and make them real… and you’ll find the doors opening that you were hoping for!

Dream big and set the wheels in motion to have a life revolution!!!

xoxo

Dana

P.S.: This season, there’s an eight-week online Feng Shui Camp coming soon to organize and energize your home and life to create breakthroughs: The Breakthrough Camp! 

It’s Feng Shui to align your energy (your chakras) and your home so that you can manifest more of what you want on a higher level with greater ease!

If you’re ready for breakthroughs, they’re ready for you!

For just a few more days you can launch into the once-a-year adventure of The Breakthrough Camp.

Check it out and join us HERE!

xoxo!!!

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And, if you want to dive in to your own personalized feng shui in a modern, practical way, Say hello to Feng Shui 101.  Its the guide I made for you to create your own personalized feng shui at home, in the office, wherever you may be… in 8 weeks.  It’s not filled with strict rules or what you “must” do.  Its filled with information, questions, exercises and even videos and classes to help you confidently create amazing spaces with killer feng shui and live with more flow.   Learn more about the 8-week feng shui adventure & grab your copy to get started right HERE…   And, as always, please let me know what happens!