Article Written For Smiley Blue By: Susan Grandfield Mindset Coach
What if navigating life and all its challenges was as simple as just three words?
Have you come across the app “what3words”? It is an app which gives you a three-word reference point for your location anywhere in the world at any time, and it is described as “the simplest way to talk about location”.
I love simplicity and I also love knowing where I am so there is something about this app that resonates with me. Don’t get me wrong, I love getting lost, exploring, discovering new places and having new experiences but what makes all of that easier and more enjoyable is when I have a compass bearing of sorts, something to navigate to which offers me guidance and a sense of the next step to take when the fog descends and I lose my sense of direction.
Perhaps that resonates with you too?
Ok, but what has that got to do with personal growth, inner work and spirituality I hear you ask? Everything, I would say! Allow me to share my perspective…..
For many years I have begun the new year by choosing a word which best described the experience I wanted to have over the coming 12 months. Over the years I have chosen words such as; peace, allowing, trust, curiosity, and magical. I have found it incredibly helpful to have an anchor point, something to come back to when I get lost in the day to day activities of life and striving to do life in a certain way.
This year, for some reason, three words came to me, not just one. The more I sat with them to try and settle on one, the clearer it became that this year is a three-word year! So, I trusted that and went with it (if the app had any influence over that it was completely unconscious!).
My three words are:
• Ease• Enjoyment• Freedom
They are my energetic reference point, and what I come back to many, many times each day as I face choices, decisions and situations of all kinds. It is so simple, yet so powerful, and these three words have made it so much easier to navigate life at the everyday level of deciding what to eat for lunch as well as at the level of weightier life decisions about whether to end a relationship or to invest money in my business.
It's important to say that this isn’t an intellectual exercise.
It isn’t about pros and cons lists or analysing the implications of one choice over another, it is entirely an energetic exercise. It is about tuning into the energy of the three words. These words came to me spontaneously at the start of the year when I asked myself how I’d like to experience the year ahead and it is the energy with which they came that I return to every day.
I return to it in my morning meditation and throughout the day by asking myself some simple questions:
“Does this situation offer me ease, enjoyment and freedom?”
“Which choice creates the most ease, enjoyment and freedom for me?
“Which decision has more of a sense of ease, enjoyment and freedom?”
More often than not there is a clear and resounding “yes” or “no” which comes as a word I hear in my head and sometimes it comes as a feeling of lightness (yes) or heaviness (no) in my body. And if there is no clear response, that is an invitation for me to do nothing in that moment. It’s an energetic nudge that I’m not in the right place to make a decision right now.
I have introduced many of my clients to this way of navigating the challenges and questions from the outside world and without fail they have all said it has helped them have a clearer sense of connection with themselves on the inside. It’s like they have an anchor point, a compass bearing, a sense of clarity in the midst of indecision, overwhelm, complexity and chaos.
It is incredibly peaceful and reassuring to know where we are.
So, what are your three words?
Sit for a while, close your eyes, allow your awareness to move inwards and to expand beyond the thinking mind and notice what arises. Focus on the feeling of the words rather than the words themselves. We can get caught up in language which takes us back into our head but if you can connect with the energy of the feeling then you know you are connected with who you really are – your soul, your wise inner being, love, God, source.
This practice features in my Inner Work Summer School, launching in July this year. This immersive experience is designed to support you in discovering how your inner world directly affects your experience of the outer world. As you discover more about how the mind works and learn how to create more clarity and focus you will begin to see how you can have more ease, enjoyment and freedom in your life, in the work you do, and in your relationships. Find out more here- Susan Grandfield: The Inner Work Summer School
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