If you are like me and many women I meet, you have spent most of your life doing what is expected of you. What you feel like you need to do. You follow the norm. You try to accommodate, to please, to make peace. Why? Because that’s what we have been programmed to do.

If you have lived most of your life sacrificing your real desires for someone else’s, you are not alone.

It is our default to make other people more important than us. To do what we really want and not what others think is right for us takes awareness, intention, and doing the inner work.

What does this have to do with the fourth quarter of the year? I’ll get to it in a minute. But first, let me tell you what led to this blog.

My dad passed away last month. While allowing myself to grieve, I made sure to maintain a connection with my inner and outer light. I used my daily practice and asked for spiritual guidance. The messages I got were all about cherishing and celebrating life.

I navigated my extended family through a process of celebrating my dad’s life. We had someone singing his favorite spiritual song at the funeral. People wrote messages on rocks and placed them on this gravestone during his memorial service. My sister got butterflies, birds, and toys and all the grandchildren decorated the trees and the bushes around his gravestone during the service. We played happy songs that he loved. I read love letters that my mom and dad sent to each other in 1956.

People asked me about my secret to staying so centered and grounded during this difficult time.

Good question! Here is my answer:

I continued to practice spirituality every day. I asked for guidance. I listened to my inner voice. I connected with a clear intention and a single point of focus: to honor my dad’s memory by celebrating him and his life.

This process that I just shared with you is a process that helps me find my focus again and again when I start getting “all over the place” and lose my focus.

What do you think about using this process yourself to help you refocus?

It’s September. It’s the fourth quarter of the year. I want to help you make the end of the year a meaningful and purposeful time so you can end 2019 strong.

Are you with me, Beacon? Are you committed to living as a Beacon of Change for the rest of the year?

Here is how to find your focus for the fourth quarter of the year:

Mental Work: Thinking

Think what it means for you to end the year strong. Not doing what other people expect of you. Not doing what will please others. Not doing what’s obvious for you to focus on. Doing what you really want.

If you really connected with the wise woman within you, if you truly loved your inner goddess, what would you want to manifest in the fourth quarter of the year? What excites you about the next few months? What do you crave? What does your soul crave?

Spiritual Work: Asking

Living as a beacon means integrating making things happen with letting things happen.

Living as a beacon means combining action with surrender.

Living as a beacon means tapping into your personal power while maintaining a connection with something bigger than you.

Do you currently maintain a solid spiritual practice?

Yes? Bring this question into your practice: What is my single point of focus for the last quarter of the year?

No? Consider joining me for my next in-person or live online Reiki class and develop the most simple and profound spiritual practice on earth!

Emotional Work: Feeling

Once you have taken time to think and gotten clarity on your desire (the mental work) and asked and received guidance (the spiritual work), it is time for the last completely non-negotiable step: feel what you want.

Close your eyes. Connect with your heart. Picture what you want to manifest like it’s already happening.  How does it feel in your body?

My personal focus for the fourth quarter of the year

I have many goals, personal and professional. I have great intentions, but my single point of focus for the remainder of the year is to honor my soul’s desire and listen to my inner voice.

The last few weeks since my dad passed away have taught me to continue to allow myself to be led by my inner voice.

What is your focus for the fourth quarter of the year, Beacon? Write it in the comments area. I would love to hear.