28 Dec 2018— The Golden Year

 photographer — dress — turtleneck — earrings — shoes

Hello Lovers,

The days leading up to the new year place us in a whirlwind of nostalgia as we reflect over the past 360-some odd days. I’m no exception to this phenomenon. I’ve been reflecting on how amazing 2018 was for me, but I’ve also been comparing it to 2017.

2017 was, in many ways, a nightmare. I went through two pretty tough “breakups” (these weren’t committed relationships— but the emotional attachment was there). Our family dog died. My car got stolen. My credit was shitty. And I had the lowest self esteem I’d ever had in my life.  But then 2018 happened.

I’ve made more money this year than I ever have. I fell in love with an incredible man. Business is booming, and my self worth has amplified. That’s not to say that this year hasn’t had its share of mishaps, it has. But overall, 2018 has been a Golden year.

There is no secret recipe to how I changed my life. No one-method-suits-all sure fire plan to make next year better than last. However, I can share a few things I did to make the best of this year.

1. Manifested- I am a firm believer in manifestation. I always have been. The difference between last year and this one is my thoughts. Be careful what you think because it might come true. In 2017 I let my fears consume me. I spent my energy thinking about all of the things I didn’t want to happen. I was practically begging for negativity . In 2018 I changed those thoughts. Almost every morning I would journal 5 things I’m grateful for. And I would follow up with 3 things I wanted or needed. The result? A better thought process that led to a better year.
2. Called Myself Out- One of the hardest things to do is face yourself and fess up. Sometimes we are our greatest downfall, and the worst thing you can do is ignore this harsh reality. I wasn’t good with money. I was overly emotional and impulsive. I wasn’t organized. Before I could work to change these things for the better, I had to confront them.
3. Got Organized- I was the queen of disarray. I throw away important papers. Lose keys. Keep 40,000 emails (those are still there. Baby steps). I wasn’t even using google calendar until the middle of this year. Needless to say, being organized changed my life for the better.
4. Stopped being a pushover. I’m a nice girl who hates confrontation. Most of my life I’ve just let mean people be mean people and try my best not to let it affect me. This year was the end of that saga. I let people know when they were out of line, challenged them, and called them on their bullshit. It wasn’t easy at first, but now I’m basically a pro at setting boundaries.
5. Set goals. I had a rigid set of goals I wanted to meet this year. I made sure the things I spent my energy on were aligned with my goals. If it wasn’t, I didn’t do it. No sense in wasting time on things that won’t get me to where I want to be. Now, the goals I set varied from fitness, relationship, friendship, philanthropy, to work. The one thing the goals had in common were that they would make my life better in some way. So the energy I was spending was simply to make my life better.
6. Go with the flow. I’ve always been free spirited and able to have faith that everything will work out. But, for some reason, in 2017 I lost that faith. I spent so much time trying to manipulate and control the inevitable— it was draining. This year I learned to let go more. I learned to trust that the universe was going to provide anything I needed, and that God’s timing may not be my timing…but there’s always a reason for it.

Whatever your 2018 was like, I hope you walk into this upcoming year free from your fears. I pray that you acknowledge your flaws, and work to change them. But most importantly I hope you live. Whatever that looks like or means for you… I know you will have it.