For us Superheroes, celebrating birthdays is about more than just an annual acknowledgement that you were born; they are the remembrance of WHY you were born–a celebration of the unique configuration of qualities and superpowers that you bring to this world and the epic quests you are here to fulfill.

Today is my birthday. I am 32 years old. Though my first 32 years have been chock full of awesomeness, I am just getting started. I yet have so many ideas, excitements and purposes to express.

This year will be the third time I have done a powerful and fun birthday practice, called The Incredibration. Today I share this practice with all Superheroes to use on their own birthdays, and share with their friends and loved ones.

This practice serves several purposes:

1. It creates a punctuation to your year of growth, creating a deliberate container in which to take a sober look back

2. It gives an opportunity to put dangling threads to rest to help create a clean start in your new year

3. It guides you in creating and celebrating new habits in all major life areas for the coming year

So, onto the practice!

Stage 1: Dangling Threads

Start One Week Before Your Birthday

For the seven days leading up to your birthday, take time to identify and put to rest old attachments and unsettled debts. It is also a powerful time to ask for and offer forgiveness.

Essentially, it is a time to put focused energy into cleaning up the year that is ending.

Remember to be clear and honest with yourself about these dangling threads; the more honest you are here, the more clean the journey into your new year.

Stage 2: The Hero’s Declaration

Start at Least a Few Days Before Your Birthday

Gearing up for your birthday, set aside special time for the Hero’s Declaration. This declaration is a chance for your to clearly and honestly acknowledge and own your decisions over the past year. This means the good, the bad, the really good, and the really bad.

This is not a time for self-deprecation or self-inflation; real Superheroes are concerned with personal evolution and empowerment, and to do this you must be able to take sober stock of your actions and glean real wisdom from them.

Some ways to facilitate this reflection:

• Create a ‘photo album’ either containing real photos or representations

• Create a simple visual timeline, moving back from the present moment all the way to one year previous

• Ask trusted friends and loved ones to give you honest feedback about your year

• Revisit geographical locations where you made pivotal life decisions

Stage 3: Upgrading the Firmware

Start on Your Birthday, and Continue for 12 consecutive days

To borrow a tech term, our ‘firmware’ is the operational programming that each of us has installed deep within our psyche: our beliefs, our perspectives, our identity. They are so deep as to be pre-verbal, yet influence every thought, feeling and action.

The good news is that you can hack the firmware of your personal human system, using relatively simple and straight-forward techniques. Lt. Commander Data’s guide to Habit Hacking is an example of such techniques.

Another technique is provided below, in connection to celebrating birthdays. Using the 12 life themes as a guide, envision how you would like each area to be in the coming year, as well as a vision of your best self in each area.

Then on the given day, be that best version of yourself as fully and precisely as possible; in this way creating a new firmware program in that life area.

Day 1: Appearance, Temperament and Personality

Day 2: Wealth and Abundance

Day 3: Friendships, Social Circles, Connections

Day 4: Family, Home, Ancestry, End of Life

Day 5: Creative Play, Entertainment and Art

Day 6: Career, Workspace, Health and Illness

Day 7: Marriage/Romantic Partnership, Partners, Enemies

Day 8: Big Energy Exchanges–Sex, Debt and Inheritance, Death, Transformation of the Psyche

Day 9: Expansive Thinking–Higher Education, Philosophy, Religion, the Spiritual Path

Day 10: Life’s Work, Recognition

Day 11: Hope and Surprise

Day 12: Discerning the Meaning of Your Life, Self-Realization, Mysticism and Direct Knowing

Take time in the days before your birthday to create a simple structure that will support you through these 12 days. Give it your all and supercharge your year of awesomeness!

*Please recognize that these 12 categories and incredibly personal, and only you will truly know how to do justice to each.

Go Celebrate!

Me with my joyfully-earned birthday present to me =)

Superheroes work hard–I mean, really hard. Such hard work makes it important to take time to celebrate: to reflect, appreciate, envision and enjoy.

So when your special time rolls around this year, shift it into awesome gear and reap the benefits all year long. Also, make the birthday of a friend or family member extra awesome by sharing this practice with them. This is my birthday wish =)

In celebration,
Eka, aka SuperSpark

Featured Image Credit