Happy New Year’s Eve!
Dude, it’s almost 2018, are you excited yet?! Cause I am!
Listen, whether 2017 was your official breakout year OR you feel like 2017 positively sucked balls, you get a fresh start.
If 2017 was great, fantastic! But you don’t plan on talking about what you accomplished back in 2017 for the rest of your life do you? It’s a new year, so it’s time for new levels of growth, new adventures, new life lessons, new achievements. Don’t rest on your laurels, instead ask yourself how you are going to build on the success of this year and knock it out of the park in 2018.
If 2018, was a shit show, that’s a total bummer. But guess what? It’s over! No point in wallowing in what has happened, turn your anger/dismay/frustration/sadness into fuel. Use that fuel to set your 2018 on fire! What risks are you gonna take? What adventures will you go on? What fears will you face? What toxic people and situations will you dismiss? If you’re alive and breathing, you’ve got a big opportunity in front of you. Will you take it?
No matter what, 2017 came with lessons for all of us. For me, this year started off with turmoil. This time last year I was feeling a bit stressed and a bit stretched. Right now, I feel relaxed, at peace, filled with gratitude and abundant. What a difference a year can make.
Here are the lessons I (finally!) learned this year that made for a pretty epic 2017.
Body love. You may have noticed that I am not a size two. You also may have noticed that we live in a society that mostly celebrates the size twos and all other women apparently should be grateful that we tolerate their existence. I have been working on the whole ‘love my body’ thing for a few years now but 2017 was the year that I finally, really got it. This was the year that most days I looked in the mirror and said “damn, girl, you fine” and actually meant it. And I am pretty sure I didn’t lose a single pound this year (I wouldn’t know because I no longer weigh myself unless I’m at the doctor’s office).
What I did lose was the mindset that being skinny is better and prettier than being a thickums (as my husband endearingly calls me). How did I do that? By surrounding myself with amazing women who love their bodies (community is everything!), through coaching, by filling my Instagram feed with beautiful, badass women who are more like my size (hello Ashley Graham!) and by treating myself like the goddamn Queen that I am (beautiful pajamas, weekly hair appointments, regular walks in the woods, my evening skincare regimen, eating more veggies and less sugar, and all the massages).
Abundance. I have been making good money for years now, but making money does not, in and of itself, make you feel rich. I know, we humans are so damn complex! 2017 was the year that I set out to truly and finally rid myself of my scarcity mindset. When you operate from a place of scarcity there will never be enough no matter how much you have. When you operate from a place of abundance, on the other hand, you always feel like there is more where that came from. And because you feel that way, your actions follow and, lo and behold, there winds up being more.
Mastering your mind in this way is absolutely essential for entrepreneurs, otherwise you’ll wind up working yourself into the ground, constantly over-investing in your business (instead of ever truly enjoying the fruits of your labor) and never, ever feeling like you are or have enough. It’s a miserable existence, I know from experience. So what helped me shift into full on abundance this year? Well first, I evaluated what actually makes me feel rich (my home feeling like a haven, regular travel and making an impact with my work) and then spent my time, money and energy on experiencing more of that. Also, community plus coaching help a ton (what can I say? If you want to make a big mindset shift community and coaching are key).
Simplify. I sold much less stuff in my business this year than I ever have before, and I made more money this year than I ever have before. Coinkydink? I think not. Simplifying my business model has been a huge win. Instead of offering 17 different programs like I have in the past, I focused most of my year on delivering two programs: Multiply and Million Dollar Badass. Every program or product you offer requires a marketing, sales and delivery machine behind it. That amounts to a very exhausted entrepreneur, less than stellar customer service and leaving money on the table. Simplifying is the answer to your prayers. Say it with me now: the less stuff I sell, the more money I make.
Next year, I will be streamlining even more. My focus will be on my new Glow Up course for women entrepreneurs who want to get to $100k in revenue in 2018 and my Million Dollar Badass mastermind. Dats it, folks. Other than that I am looking forward to continuing to serve this community with my new podcast, my book that I’ll be writing next year and this blog. Simple is better.
So those are my lessons from 2017. I hope they help you plan exactly the kind of 2018 you wish to have next year. Remember, you are in control of your own life. You are not a victim. You get to decide what you want to be, what you want to do and what you want to have.
(Dream + Action) x Not Quitting = Your Dream Life. Go get it.
To your dreams in ‘18!
xo,
PS: Got big goals for 2018? Join my new course, Glow Up, before the year is over (ahem, today!) and get a free one-on-one coaching session. Glow Up is a 10-week course for women entrepreneurs who want to generate $100k in sales in 2018. This program is about implementation, and due to the number of amazing women already signed up, there are only a few spots left. Click here to check out Glow Up before this offer expires tonight.
