"Dear Present Self," an Open Letter to Myself from 2020

I’ve been learning the big lesson of gratitude - that only through gratitude can you attract the things you really want in your life, even if they seem to be nowhere near possible for you in the present moment. It’s hard to do, then, isn’t it? How can you be grateful for something that you don’t even have???

And that’s just the trick - you have to EXPERIENCE something to be grateful for it, so that means that you have to be able to experience something that hasn’t happened yet!!! BUT HOW?!

Imagination.

I’m going to give you an example. I’m going to write a letter to myself, as myself - in 2020, a year from now. But I’m going to do it today, on January 9th, 2019. In this letter, I am going to express gratitude for the things that are going to come into my life over the next year - but of course, they have not happened yet, not now, as I am writing these words. However, I believe they WILL! Why? Because I am going to use my Imagination to really FEEL them, to EXPERIENCE them - all while being myself… in the future.

If you’re slightly intrigued, but not convinced - read on. Read my letter, and then wait for a year. You will either have evidence that I am sharing a magic formula here, or you will have proven me wrong; better yet, you may have to work out your own understanding. In either case, we now have us an experiment.

So let’s begin!

Dear Me in 2019,

Thank you! I am so grateful that exactly a year ago, on January 9th of 2019, you bravely decided to share your intensions with the world and to take that huge leap of faith in believing in yourself enough to make public your goals and aspirations for the year ahead. That’s how our new story began - that was the start of where I am today.

That January was the month when I finally buckled down and faced my fears preventing me from ever finishing my business plans. I realized that back when I was a teenager, I created a pattern of avoiding finishing the most significant assignments because of the pressure of perfectionism that I would allow to get to me. I decided to finally make this trait a thing of the past, remembered no longer - and gave it up. I spent the remaining 3 weeks of January 2019 writing and completing 3 separate business plans, one for each element of my growing empire of businesses. I am so grateful for taking this brave step and getting through writing all 3 of these business plans because it allowed me to finally get a clear vision for my goals and a no-nonsense schedule for all of my activities. Once I got through all 3 plans, I realized just how important and game-changing making that commitment and following through with it truly was for me. I am so grateful for this incredible break-through that I had in January 2019! I wouldn’t be where I am now if it wasn’t for that very important step in my life, my business, and my personal growth.

I am grateful for another commitment that I made - and began executing - early in 2019. I committed to developing a significant body of work consisting of writing blogs, filming videos, and even finishing entire books! I am grateful for setting specific goals each week for the number of videos I am going to make, number of articles I am going to write, and number of pages I am going to finish. There were times that I missed these numbers, but overall, it feels incredibly satisfying to hit (and often exceed!) my objectives. I also began tracking the total number of videos made, articles published, and pages finished - so that I could feel proud of myself and continue staying motivated to grow these numbers. I am so very grateful for that decision, because it allowed me to begin making the progress I desired and allowed me to start developing a significant body of work. I was also able to write, finish and publish more than one book in the year 2019! I am very proud of it, and I am very grateful for having been able to set and follow the structure that I truly needed.

Before 2019 has even begun, I remember starting to take my physical and financial health seriously. As 2019 progressed, I made these two my priority. Physical Exercise (taking walks, going to the gym, strengthening my yin yoga practice) became a permanent part of my day-to-day life; and each day, I started really looking forward to honoring my body with some form of physical activity, even for a few minutes if that’s all I could spare. My quest to explore and progress in acquiring Financial Literacy drove me to dive deeper into research, voraciously consuming many critically acclaimed books on the subject. I also set out to find and connect with like-minded people that were either committed to changing their financial reality, or have already become financially independent and were willing to teach others. I began putting all of my newfound financial know-how into practice and holding myself accountable for my commitments with the help of several mentors and accountability partners. It wasn’t the easiest thing, but I am grateful that I stayed committed to my goals and was able to build my financial savings and begin investing into my future with the same respect that I have for the present moment. I’ve reached complete financial independence in 2019 and I am most grateful for finally reaching that long-anticipated milestone.

I am grateful to the year 2019 for another huge breakthrough that it brought into my life - finding my true worth and beginning to fearlessly sell my products, services, ideas and help. I finally gave up selling myself short and feeling unworthy of charging money for the awesome things that I bring into the lives of other people and companies. I began exercising my Confidence Muscle so frequently that it became bullet-proof and now allows me to take on any project without doubts or fears, to sell everything that I create with ease and grace. I am grateful for releasing all limiting beliefs, projections and advice that I received from others but that were never true for me. I am grateful for being able to trust my intuition completely when it comes to communication, sales, and negotiations. I am grateful for knowing that God never sends me any challenge that I cannot overcome - and this gives me the Strength and Confidence to always face my challenges head-on without fear.

I am grateful that in 2019 I had so many new opportunities for self expression - and that I took advantage of them all! I always enjoyed acting, modeling, public speaking, sitting for portraits (or other art) - and I believe that each chance I take to express myself can inspire others to do the same. This attitude helped me stay open to receiving and accepting new acting roles, new modeling invitations, new public speaking appearances, and new art collaborations. Trusting my intuition, I followed some opportunities that interested me and applied to them - and was selected more often than not. I started believing in myself with such confidence that I added these elements of self-expression to my work and successfully became the spokesperson and model of my own companies, products, and services.

In 2019 I also grew my spiritual practice tremendously. I am grateful for being able to do so much spiritual growth, to have so many incredible, unforgettable spiritual experiences that made me a better leader and a more self-aware human being. I am truly grateful for being able to share my spiritual breakthroughs with the world and offer guidance, healing, counseling and advisement to others. Developing spiritually has always been the part of my life I felt most passionate about, and now my ever-growing spirituality is allowing me to lead and help others. Every time I hear a person tell me that I have changed their life for the better, I feel that my soul’s purpose here on Earth is being fulfilled. I am grateful for staying in balance and setting healthy energetic boundaries to keep myself grounded and in alignment with my soul’s purpose.

I am grateful for all the love in my life, for my beautiful home, for my wonderful family, for my dear friends - I am grateful for the health and wellbeing of myself and all the people that I love. I am grateful for traveling domestically and internationally in 2019. I am grateful for the beauty of nature and life all around me that I take time to recognize and appreciate. I am grateful for my growth and learning, for my successes and failures, and for the many break-throughs that I had in 2019. It was an amazing year that changed my life for the better in so many ways - and I am grateful for following through with my own goals to implement these changes.

Thank you! Happy 2020! It’s going to be another great year!