2017 Reflections, 2018 Intentions
Cheers to the New Year! It's been a couple weeks since my last post and I've had PLENTY of time to rest and reflect over my year in 2017. It took me a while to post this because I made a commitment to myself to REALLY unplug at the end of the year. I actually wrote the outline to this post before Christmas, but I wanted to just enjoy those lazy days between Christmas and New Years instead of feeling like I had to rush back to my regular schedule right away. So without further adieu, I narrowed down the 7 most important lessons I learned in 2017 and what my intentions are moving forward into 2018:
7 Important Things I Learned in 2017
1. Imperfect Action Always Wins
I used to be the QUEEN of trying to wait until everything was perfect to put myself out there. I'm very self critical, so I would try to attain this self- imposed standard of perfection before going all in with putting myself out there. In reality, I was the only one being so harshly critical of myself and people where actually enjoying and excited about what I was offering even if it wasn't "perfect" to me. I learned putting myself out there, being open to making mistakes, and course correcting along the way is a much better way to make forward progress. Being paralyzed by my own self criticism was getting me nowhere, and I'm done with it!
2. Even Inspiration Should be Taken with a Grain of Salt
Theres a fine line between being inspired by what we see online and being pressured/jealous/comparing ourselves to it, etc. I found myself slipping into a few of these and had to become very careful about how I filter through inspiration and apply it to my own life in a meaningful way.
3. Rest is Highly Underrated
It is very hard for me to sit down and turn my brain off. When I do take a second to chill out or allow myself to sit and do nothing it almost always feels like I'm forgetting something, or I just feel guilty and start thinking about all the projects I could be working on. At the end of 2017 I started making a point to do nothing more often. I actually found I am more productive and focused when I allow my self that time for restoration. Beyond that, I've been thinking a lot about slowing down and enjoying more quiet moments just for the sake of it. I'm beginning to see stillness and rest as valuable in and of themselves.
4. Planting ALWAYS Comes Before the Harvest
This is one of those natural laws that we all know, but for me personally can be easy to forget in our instant- gratification culture. I wasted a lot of time trying to push past my planting stage in a lot of areas which brought me nothing but frustration. It can be easy to become hyper-focused on reaping the fruit it will produced in the harvest stage, but I realized there is value and beauty in the planting stage too .
5. Say Yes to New Friends
I stepped out of my comfort zone a little with allowing new friendships and blossom, and letting go of some old ones that were not adding value to my life. Being open to new friendships has taught me a lot about myself, opened me up to new perspectives, and allowed me to have experiences I wouldn't have had otherwise. The new friends I've gained this year really helped shaped some of the best moments I had this year and I'd like to keep that going.
6. Rewarding Yourself is Not Just OK, but Necessary
I realized this year I was harboring guilt for not meeting certain expectations I'd set for myself and basically punishing myself for it. I would actually skip out out little things like taking an afternoon off or treating myself to a manicure because I felt like I hadn't earned it and therefore didn't deserve it. Sounds crazy writing that buuut it's true and it was in fact crazy. Ha! Rewarding myself is not over-indulgent. I'm finding it actually helps me reflect on the progress I've made and motivates me to keep pushing forward, not to get comfortable or complacent like I somehow thought it would.
7. You Have to Be Your Own Biggest Advocate
As a business owner I learned you really just have to toot your own horn sometimes and not care what people think. To an introvert like me it can seem like a lot talking about myself, self- promoting and even asking for help. One of my biggest challenges as a business owner has been getting my name out there, but I realized I couldn't let any fears, insecurities, or even my comfort get in the way of advocating for myself and my business. My main purpose is to help people live their health potential and I can't do that if I'm too afraid to let people know I exist!
2018 Intentions
I don't have any resolutions this year but I do have an intention and direction in mind. I want to be lead by intuition this year, especially in this winter season when I am reflecting and laying the groundwork for the season that is truly about new beginnings: the spring. This year I will be intentional about how I spend my time, creating goals and doing work that speak to my greatest desires and move me towards my purpose. I want to honor who God has created me to be versus honoring whatever society deems to be worth pursing or valuable at any given time.