My word for 2017 is BRAVE.
I can remember this time last year trying to decide what word could possibly sum up how I wanted to face 2017.
And here I am 12 months later feeling very sure I lived the word BRAVE. For me, this doesn’t show up as some one-time event that I can point to. No, I didn’t climb Mount Everest or volunteer in a third world country (although maybe someday!). My BRAVE was about doing the hard thing of facing and admitting what things in my daily life and work I wanted to change.
From Broken to Brave
At the beginning of the year, I felt broken. My business model of working every moment I was awake was driving me into the ground. My motto of “do what you need to do first before you can have any fun” was sucking all the joy out of me because the work was never done, but I was also thankful to be so busy as an entrepreneur. So it was a strange “catch-22.”
I was feeling unfilled, empty… sad when my kids got on the bus and then pushing myself through with sheer willpower and my innate desire to please other people and, of course, make a paycheck. I didn’t need to climb Mount Everest. I didn’t need a seismic event because my broken was happening every day.
Whining, numbing and bitching does not solve what’s present in your heart — facing it does. I’m way too smart, competent, and energetic to be overcome by a situation that is my own creation (and you are too, btw).
The first step of being BRAVE was taking 3 days for myself and going to a workshop called Brave ~ total serendipitous coincidence on the name! My asshole brain said I was egocentric and selfish to spend this money and time away from my family to go galivanting in California. And holy bajoly, I did it twice this year, what kind of crazy lady does that — I’ll tell ya — a person who is 42 3/4 years old and fucking living the mantra of “life’s too short!”
At Brave was when I first “came clean” that I love being a graphic designer, but I’m also super, duper interested in health and wellness and life coaching. I said it outloud in front of 22 people who didn’t look at me like I was insane cause who pursues a second interest when you’ve mastered one. But several glorious humans raised their hands and said, “I want to learn from you.”
I have such gradititude and appreciation for that moment and more so for those individuals. Cause that “What If?” has turned into a reality.
Action and Fear
How did I go from being broken to BRAVE?
- I asked for help. I knew there was another way to live and make money, but I couldn’t see me own way out of that. Neutral, outside perspective by people who are gifted at calling out BS excuses, while offering encouragement and accountability are absolutely worth having around and investing in. Have you ever heard the phrase, “You can’t see the color of your own eyes?” Yeah, that…
- I made time for introspection. I allowed myself to feel uncomfortable — without judgment. I let myself feel and became aware of the emotions connected to my thoughts. Then I chose what I wanted to think about and focus on, filling my mind things I consciously wanted to think about, so my emotions would be different. And I’ve developed a coaching framework around that very process that I use to help people out of whatever thought patterns are keeping them from what they want. It’s freaking awesome! And it works.
- I took action. A few things…
- I launched a new website, yes, this one…!!
- I’m an ambassador for Plexus, which gives me a platform to share my love of gut health and probiotics. #gutnut
- I signed up for Toastmasters and to date, I’ve given 5 speeches and met some really cool people.
- I’ve made several training videos for Plexus events, which took so much bravery to do and share.
- Stopped working as much when the kids are home, so I can goof off.
- Writing more and sharing it.
- Setting boundaries with clients (as in “don’t text me on a Saturday night about a project update”).
Basically I can sum that up as I did stuff that I was afraid to do. Action and fear can, and usually do, co-exist. You can’t wait for fear to go away to DO something. That probably won’t happen. And you’ll be left living in your fear and never taking action… I think this is called regret. ; )
What do I want?
I feel BRAVE in that this year I figured out some things that I don’t want and started traveling the path of recoginizing what it is I do WANT. This is actually pretty hard for me. I love the urgent… calmly, swiftly, pleasantly solving problems, whether that’s a kiddo who needs something or a client deadline. I love the endorphine high that comes from completing a task and helping others.
But I’m going to give myself permission to want… to continue to revel in the journey of identifying and going after the things that speak to my soul, big and small, crazy or reasonable. And I’m curious, do you know what do you want?? When was the last time you thought about it?
Here’s to 2018!
So, what’s my word for 2018? I haven’t decided yet. It’ll be fun to figure out… and see where it takes me. Cause your *healthy* dose of reality is that having a word or a theme isn’t so much about creating a checklist of goals, but capturing a spirit of how to approach doing what’s important for life to be fulfilling.
