 Hi my name is Danny and welcome to Esoteric Moment. I just got back from a fabulous vacation that was a gift from my boyfriend's parents and we went as a whole family to Cancun which I had never been before. I hadn't even seen the ocean so it was an amazing trip and it was over New Year's. It got me thinking about New Year's resolutions and goal setting and planning and how I wanted to live and what I wanted to do for 2016. I thought I would make a video talking about kind of two items that I used last year and how I'm going to use those in 2016. There is a lot of talk on YouTube especially in the pagan community about Leonie Dawson and her life and business workbooks. Last year I got for myself and one of my dear aunts and my mom the shining year workbooks. I just got the life version for me and the business life versions for my aunt and mom. I got the e-book version printed it out and I have a self laminator so I did a fancy lamination job and binding for it so I could carry it around. Lots of people love these workbooks and I was very excited about it when I first got it. It's colorful, it's really happy, it has lots of good ideas and projects and you know it fits me very well. It's very bright and exciting, joyful but there isn't much in it that is particularly unique I feel. So two items that I really enjoyed in this workbook was the year in review kind of talking and thinking about what you did in the previous year and then releasing what didn't work letting go of any disappointments so that you can start fresh on the new year. I thought that was really lovely. I also like the idea of checking in monthly on your goals and that is something that I did very carefully. I think I missed June but that's about it. I used the printout calendars at work and kind of saw it every day and laminated that little daily scheduler and that worked really well kind of planning my day using an affirmation and three tasks that was really awesome but the actual goal setting part was not all that different for me from any other normal goal setting that I would do so it's not something I'm going to do in 2016. I love the colors I think it works really well for lots of people but I didn't have the same type of transformation that others have talked about and I don't think it was as useful for me. I also got last year in the spring The Desire Map by Danielle LaPorte. This book is all about how to set goals with feeling and it talks a lot about deciphering what you want in life based on the emotions that you want to feel on a regular basis. Not just you want to have a mansion, you want to be more spiritual but how do those things those achievements those successes actually make you feel? The idea is that you're chasing the feeling not just that achievement because oftentimes your achievements change and I've felt that in the past. I was really attached to the idea of going to undergrad and getting my physics degree and getting my PhD and education was all about this achievement and that's what I wanted in my life. When I actually got to school and the way things happened after school in my life I realized that those achievements weren't what I was looking for I was looking for something else and this book The Desire Map helped me tune into those feelings that I was chasing so when I was looking for academic success what I was really looking for was connection and stability in my life. At the end of the book there is kind of a workbook that gets you to talk about different areas of your life and the feelings that you want in those areas down and crystallize them into just a few words that are your core desired feelings. So in 2015 my core desired feelings were joyful, vibrant, bountiful, and rooted. Those words were fabulous and easy and so empowering to just kind of check in when I was struggling to decide what I wanted to do or what opportunities I wanted to say yes to and what things I was feeling overwhelmed by. So I am sticking with core desired feelings for 2016. I'm actually keeping the same words at Solstice. I read a bit of The Desire Map again. I did a lot of journaling some meditation work and tuned into what I wanted those feelings to be in 2016 and how I wanted to manifest them in my life. I have some more typical goals that kind of go with those feelings and I started from how do I want to feel and what things or projects or activities will I do to make me feel those things. For example, I want to connect with the Bodhran or the the Irish drum that I got at the end of this year. I want to read more, I want to grow lots of beautiful things on the garden and on the farm. I want to forget about self-sabotaging and just let me do the awesome things that I can do. I want to have fun with money. I don't want to stress out about it this year and I want to create space. I want to make sure that my apartment is beautiful and perfect for my boyfriend and I and that I'm making space when I listen and talk to people, that I am honoring the places that I live, the spirits of the land where I am here and the spirits of the land at the family farm and when I travel I want to make space there as well. Those are just a few little things that I'm working on for this year. I could talk forever about kind of the differences between Leone Dawson's workbooks and the Desire Map by Daniel LaPorte. I think that they are geared towards similar audiences although they have slightly different ranges for those people and I think that if you have done one you might want to try the other. I am a huge fan of the Desire Map and I really think you should pick up the book. I want to do a more in-depth review later on this year but as you're starting your new year off and you're kind of finalizing whatever goals or resolutions or feelings you have for the year I think that both tools might be useful and and if you haven't found something that really motivates you for the whole entire year then I think one of these two tools might prove to be really useful. In the comments below I would love to hear if you've read the Desire Map or anything else by Daniel LaPorte frankly and I know that some of you are probably fans of the Leone Dawson's workbook and if you are I'd love to know how many years you've you've used that tool. Happy 2016! I hope that your solstice and Christmas and Hanukkah and Kwanzaa and New Year's was amazing whatever holiday you were celebrating and hopefully I will make more videos regularly in the next year. As always may you find peace in the sacred grove.