Hi lovelies,
With the New Year right around the corner, I'm not only looking forward to new beginnings, experiences, and seeing what new adventure life has waiting for me, I've also been reflective on the past year, with lessons learned, goals achieved, tears shed, laughter between friends, sleepless nights, and early mornings.
At first, I thought about all of the things that I wasn't going to do in the New Year, but I realized that rather than focus on anything negative, because what you focus on grows, I decided to focus on all of the things that I allowed myself to do differently in 2017. Based on this reflection, and from this place of openness, positivity, and acceptance, I would then be able to create a blueprint for how I wanted my 2018 to unfold.
Additionally, one powerful realization emerged and I wanted to share it with you all. In the comments below, email, or on social media, I'd be honored if you shared with me a few things that you allowed yourself to do in 2017 and how you plan to amplify them in the New Year.
"Care more about how you feel, than what others think."
In 2017, I allowed myself to embrace being selfish, in the positive, self-care way, not being detrimental to other people for your own gain and pleasure type of way. I decided that not only was it ok to do what felt right to me, and to honor how I felt, regardless of what other people thought of me, or more accurately, what I assumed they would think of me, but it was imperative if I wanted to truly lead a fulfilled, happy, and complete life.
This was a crucial component of me maturing as an adult. Knowing that how I feel matters and protecting myself, both personally and professionally, had to be my number one priority as a healthy human being. I had more than a few "friends" come and go in 2017, but I also gained some amazing people in my life and the friendships that I've had since childhood and college only deepened and become even more authentic.
Saying "yes" to myself allowed my other relationships, friendships, business opportunities, and familial connections to flourish, because when I was taking care of myself first, there was no room for bitterness, resentment, animosity, or feeling less than, because I was doing what I actually wanted to do and the only compass that was guiding me with my intuition, my gut feeling that has never let me down.
Another key reason why this mindset shift was able to deepen my relationships and grow my business, is because when I was operating of doing what felt right to me, the only person that was then accountable and responsible for the experience, was myself.
Knowing that I what I do, what I feel, and what I say, matters, is such a powerful place to operate your life and your choices from. And that's the place that I plan to begin 2018 from, the year of my reckoning.
Photo credit: March and May and Tea Coffee Books