How to make next year the best year of your life.

If we can hone the skill of accepting the present moment, setting our intention, tending to our responsibilities, and being OK with a lack of control, still dreaming, still creating, still believing, even sometimes when it might not make sense, we will transcend into something far greater than we can possibly fathom.

It takes practice. It takes discipline. It takes constant, vigilant awareness of the ways in which we self-sabotage.

And all of this work will be so worth it. Things will begin to fall into place in our lives in the coming year, if we allow the energy of creativity to flow through us.

"But how?" my more practical friends ask. Here are a few tips, and I hope they serve you well. I offer them to you humbly, transparently and from a place of love.

1. Wake up each morning and reach for something that feels good.

Rewire the need to worry, to fall prey to anxiety and drama. Teach your psyche to fall in love with feeling good instead.

2. Feed your joy.

If you're prone to watching drama unfold on the news, find a new hobby. Sew. Color. Sing. Walk. Do something that fuels you rather than undermines your soul. Allow yourself the gift of introspection. Seek internal wisdom. Open up to open-ended questions. There is mystery and joy within. This life can be a miraculous journey inward.

3. Spend time being spiritual each day.

Listen to a guided meditation, pray, contemplate. Take a walk, a run, attend a yoga class. Do something that helps you feel good both physically and spiritually at least a few times a week, maybe more.

4. Create.

How many times in your life have you said, "I'm not creative"? I know many abusers of this statement, and I myself was once one. But it's not true. Creativity comes in many forms. Celebrate however it shows up for you. Making a meal, tending to a garden, creating crafts with children, writing, painting, singing, playing an instrument, nursing a career … it all counts.

5. Commit to listening to your inner guidance.

If it feels good, then it probably is. Know what feels good and what does not. Engineer your life to offer you many opportunities to feel good.

6. Surrender the need to know.

We aren't always going to understand every single thing, and we aren't meant to. It behooves us to let go of the need to know. Soften. Behold the moment for exactly what it is. Reach into gratitude and know this is perfect. Right here. Right now. If something bewilders you, find the humor in not knowing. Life is to be enjoyed.

7. Keep dreaming.

Share those dreams. Let your dreams be known. Let them be big. Do not temper them for fear of the unknown. I've even started a Pinterest board about my dreams. The more you share them, the more broadly, the better. It breathes life into them.

8. Accept the unwanted.

It's contrast, meant to help you sharpen your desires. For the wanted to be received, so must be the unwanted. Look for the gifts in the moment, rather than the patterns of disappointment. Embrace your challenges, for they're what make you who you are.

9. Pay attention to the signals from the universe.

Animals crossing your path, triple-digit numbers, random things falling from shelves. Stop second-guessing your intuition. Trust. Even the galaxies are breathing and alive. Life is a constant conversation if we choose to listen.

10. Identify the ways in which you are resisting the abundant goodness, the infinite well-being of the universe.

Work to soften that resistance. Dream big! Watch those little gremlins whispering in your ear tempting you with lies of fear or unworthiness. Those are myths.

We're meant to dream big. As we bring our dreams to fruition, from the ether to the earth, they naturally condense. Allow yourself, train yourself, encourage yourself to reach for the stars. You are capable of so much more than you know. So go for it.