AS IF!
if you’ve been in the simple shui world for at least a year, you’ve heard (or read) this before:
at the start of a new year, splurge on a meal, an outing, or something NEW for your space that totally makes an ‘AS IF’ statement – as in ‘AS IF’ your intentions and ambitions have manifested, how would you behave?
well…
I’m going to let you in on a little shui plotting I do right around now every year.
but first…
you know shui is not transactional, right? what you do today begins orchestrating the required energies necessary. and as they come together and take formation, opportunities are triggered and *luck* happens.
so.
what BIG goal(s) are you musing on?
what maybe feels too BIG for you to even fully consider right now, but given a little warming up, you could totally LIVE into that version of yourself?
what did you not accomplish this year that you really, really want to notch on your vision board as COMPLETE and SUCCESSFUL?
ALL THOSE ANSWERS are how you start shui plotting now — in your environment and in your immediate awareness.
okay, let’s jog back to last September when I splurged on my AS IF.
it was (and still is!) a gorgeous TUMI suitcase.
our girls were moving to Vancouver, so my initial intention was “I am going to travel back and forth as much as I want in style and ease.”
to be clear, I could’ve found a much cheaper suitcase, but this investment was going to require that I say YES to travel opportunities and show up.
once the purchase was complete, I received an invitation to travel to Mexico City and I said YES on the spot.
as 2023 flung its doors open…
I found myself going to Vancouver almost monthly.
I was traveling more to see clients and their homes.
I had a month where I jumped from Sedona to Denver to Salt Lake City.
and as I write this, there are a few trips back to Vancouver on the books, a trip out to L.A., a stop in Charlotte, and an exciting development happening in Austin.
and the newest travel surprise? RETREATS are in the works for 2024 (details coming soon)!
I am no stranger to travel. before Covid, I was flying somewhere at least once a year.
since my *AS IF*, though, I’ve taken 12 trips this year alone and we’re still counting.
another unexpected perk? I’m offered 1st class seat upgrades on almost every trip. (by the way, this is why letting the universe orchestrate on your behalf is just so delicious!)
so, here is the recipe, if you want to give this shui suggestion a good flex:
STEP ONE: plant proof of your AS IF success with a metaphor(s) by getting clever with how you might *see* your success and then…
find something that matches this feeling / energy / outcome, and place it in your surroundings.
STEP TWO: once your environmental metaphor or *success sprucing* is complete, engage with that chi consistently. science has proven that our environments change our brains, so this one commitment will help alter / pivot your behavior toward SUCCESS!
I pulled out my TUMI bag all the time after I purchased it, igniting all the delight it brought me and letting that glee infuse my goal!
don’t think this sounds like shui?
Lillian Too encourages her clients every year to bring home a new, lucky object. she believes it must be noticeable and affect the chi in the room – and should be accompanied by releasing something else.
you can read about this same concept in DEEP WORK by Cal Newport. he calls it the power of a “grand gesture.”
“the grand gesture concept is simple: by leveraging a radical change to your normal environment, coupled perhaps with significant investment of effort or money, all dedicated toward supporting a deep work task, you increase the perceived importance of the task. this boost in importance reduces your mind’s instinct to procrastinate and delivers an injection of motivation and energy. sometimes to go deep, you must first go BIG!”
so, consider this your nudge to start plotting your *AS IF* NOW, and give yourself the wiggle room and runway to prep your home for that inevitability so that when the opportunity arrives, you are READY! xo
