2018 was a year of change…a year of stepping out of my comfort zone, a year of learning to truly believe in myself and take care of myself.
It was a great year but it started off pretty rocky.
I spent some time reflecting on the year as 2019 began and I remembered back to a year ago.
I remember how I felt, I remember how things were going and I remember feeling completely different than I do today.
When 2018 started – I wanted to quit. I wanted to give up.
I thought I was going to have to go find a job in cooperate. I thought I was going to have to go back to a life I hated but maybe it would be easier than trying to run a business that didn’t seem to be going in the direction I had hoped.
I felt ashamed. I felt lost, confused and alone.
But then I looked at myself in the mirror and I really thought about what I wanted in my life. Why I started this business and why I needed to keep going.
I basically GOT OVER MYSELF and dug into the stubbornness I had and told myself NO – You will not quit. You’ve worked too hard and you LOVE what you do. You are in a hard period, it will change and things will get easier but you have to do the work, you have to keep pushing through and you have to BELIEVE in yourself.
So that’s what I did – did it happen overnight? Not even close but I knew, no matter what, I wasn’t going to quit and when things got hard or I felt that fear creep in, I reminded myself that I could do this and kept going.
I decided I needed to make some changes to better myself! The first step — I needed to commit to my health. I had hired a personal trainer but I really wasn’t giving it my attention. I knew I needed to make a commitment to myself and really push myself to take care of me. So I increased my package and decided to make it a priority. I was done with the excuses, I wanted to love myself again. I wanted to make myself a priority and I wanted to focus on my health. This is one of the best decisions I made in 2018. I look back on the person I was before I started this journey and I am SO proud of where I have gotten to in a year. Taking that first step, set me up for a year of change and accomplishments.
In February I also took my first trip to Dallas Texas to visit with my business bestie! We spent our time together working on our businesses, collaborating and truly mapping out what we needed to do in order to be successful (and we had so much fun doing it!) That week really helped bring my confidence back. I had a plan and that felt great! Spending time with someone who understands just how tricky being an entrepreneur can be (and the emotional rollercoaster that comes with it sometimes) is incredibly valuable and I strongly encourage you to find some time to do it, if you haven’t already.
March of 2018 – guess what…things were going better, so much so that I hired my first team member! (Remember that 2 months ago, I wanted to quit completely) things change fast! It was a big leap for me and I was scared but I knew if I wanted to keep growing, I couldn’t keep doing everything alone. I am very happy to say this team member is still on my team and I can’t imagine my team without her!
In May, I was able to afford to fly to beautiful California to see my biz bestie again and attend an incredible event hosted by Hello Life Academy with a lot of the women I network with. What a fantastic event full of growth, learning, professional photo shoots and FUN! I came home ready to kick some serious business butt!
The summer brought a lot of exciting events for our family. My oldest graduated from 8th grade and had a middle school graduation (I still can’t believe I have a high schooler now!) In July I celebrated my 45th birthday and you know what…it was the first birthday in a long time that I felt so truly blessed to be who I was. I felt great after spending almost 6 months focusing on my health, I could see the changes and I could feel it. In August I was able to put money down and buy a new to me 2012 Ford Expedition SE Limited Edition – fully loaded SUV! This was HUGE for me. I did this because of my business. I was able to look at my numbers, save accordingly and purchase something that was just for me. I dreamed about owning a car like this when I was younger…I never thought the day would actually come.
In October I headed back to Alberta Canada for the second time and this time got to stay with one of the ladies I network with and now we are the closest of friends. I was there for 11 days and a lot of growth happened when I was there. I reflected on the year before when I had flown there but really spent the whole time nervous about how I was going to afford anything after paying for the plane tickets. I looked at how different things were and how different I FELT being here this year. Not only was I not worried about the expense of the trip but I was also there to take my business to the NEXT level.
I hosted my first IN PERSON 1 day intensive. I got to stand in front of other entrepreneurs and share my passion for sassy and sexy numbers with them. It was the best day. I can’t wait to do more this year!
While I was in Canada I also got to spend an incredible weekend with Hello Life Academy again – surrounded by incredible business women who inspire me daily. Friendships were formed, new team members were added, more incredible photoshoots were done but you know the most shocking thing that happened. I won an award. ME – the woman who 10 months ago, was debating quitting and walking away from it all. I won the Heart of the Academy award. I was recognized for not only my business but the support and friendships I have created along the way. It was incredible. I still get goosebumps thinking about it. I am so grateful to all the women I have met on this business journey and I can honestly say without them…I would have quit and I am so DANG happy I didn’t!
To wrap up the end to what turned out to be one of the best years ever – for the first time in 4 years, I was able to do Christmas for my girls without needing or asking for help. It felt incredible to look back and see all the things I did in a year and still not have to worry about how I was going to get some presents under the tree. I truly felt like success was knocking on my door and I was right there ready to open it. AND….not only that….I hired ANOTHER team member!
2018 was an incredible year. It wasn’t always easy. There were lots of moments of doubt and hard times but as a whole I was able to move from feeling defeated to feeling STRONG, from feeling like I wanted to quit to feeling SUCCESSFUL, from feeling alone to feeling SUPPORTED.
I am so excited to see where 2019 takes me but I really just wanted to say – if you feel like you want to quit, if you feel alone, if you don’t feel supported…DON’T GIVE UP! Take a breath, dig down deep and keep going. Make the changes you need to make to feel better physically, emotionally, personally, in your business. Whatever it is – make the changes and keep going. You will be happy you did, things always turn around and I can’t tell you enough that the hard times will get easier.
