My coach and homegirl Monisha cracks entirely up during our conversations. This usually happens when she suggests something profoundly challenging to me, and then, after sitting with it, I say “I’m into it” or just “into it.” Always sotto voce.

I know why she laughs. Because she knows me well, and she knows that my “I’m into it” is shorthand for: “I understand what you’re suggesting, and it’s uncomfortable, or a challenge to the way I’ve been doing things. That said, after considering this seriously, from way down in my gut/soul, I’m saying YES.”

She knows that if I say I’m into it, dollars to doughnuts I’ll reprioritize, make the time and invest the energy to doing whatever it is I said I’m into, whether the commitment is minuscule or massive.

When we were invited to watch the 1931 Dracula on Halloween, with the Phillip Glass string quartet playing the score live, I said: “I’m into it.” (And it was the bomb.)

When Lightspeed asked if I’d work on a new startup to bring spiritual well-being to millions of people, I closed my eyes for a few heartbeats, lifted my head up and heart out and said: I’m into it.

These three words sound dry, but as I say them, there is an undertone of depth. If I say I’m into it, I mean it. There’s a connotation not just that “I’ll do it” but also that I deeply approve of it. I’m not just agreeing to complete a task or check a box. I’m assenting to inhabit it. More importantly, if I’m not into it, you won’t hear me say I am.

The countervailing phrase in my personal lexicon is this: Over it. I have an incredible threshold for withstanding discomfort and for thriving under non-ideal conditions. But I’ve also learned that (a) martyrdom is not a good look and (b) if you can thrive in dysfunction, you can create vastly more glorious things in a context of well-being. Oh yeah, and (c) life is actually supposed to be fun. So, when I know it’s time to prune, end, shed or transition out of anything, big or small, I’ll say to myself, my pages or whoever is involved: “I’m over it.”

When I’m “over it,” I frequently decide to metabolize whatever experience I’m over, just like our bodies do. This involves sorting through what portion of the experience or relationship nourishes me so that I should retain that memory or lesson, and what part I should release, like waste.

This final 30 Day Writing Challenge of 2017 for Conscious Leaders and Creators is dedicated to Envisioning 2018. This Challenge is not just for writers: it’s designed for anyone who wants to create something in the world; anyone who wants to put their soul on deck. After we downregulate our nervous systems for a few days so we can tune into our inner guidance, we’ll work on two things:

1. Into it: We’ll figure out exactly what would float our boat if it happened next year. We will create a beautiful, inspired, compelling vision for 2018 not based on what we “should” be doing, but on what gives rise to an involuntary, soul-level “INTO IT.”
2. Over it: By the time we’re done with this Challenge, we will have crystal clarity about what we’ll need and what we must leave behind, shed or prune as we move into the next season of our lives. What makes our souls say “OVER IT.”

If that sounds at all like what you need to make 2018 a soulful year, a year of miracles, join us. It’s free. Register here.