Happy New Year, friends! How are you feeling about 2018? Do you feel like it’s going to be a great year? Are you entering into it with any renewed sense of optimism or hope?

I wasn’t planning on writing any new blog posts until I got back to the States in a couple of weeks. I figured everyone is getting back to normal anyway! But after the 1st of the year yesterday, I’m feeling really inspired to sit down and chat with you today about my outlook for 2018. I was also inspired by my friend Paige who wrote yesterday about the lessons 2017 taught her and what she’s carrying into 2018.

New Year, New Perspective

I don’t know what it is, but I’m really feeling a renewed sense of optimism for the year. 2017 was a tough year both personally and professionally. I don’t necessarily mean “tough” in a bad way — but it was! I made the overwhelming and tough decision to close down my health coaching business so I could start this business, had brain surgery + a setback after I had a seizure, and I went through all the growing pains of starting a new business on my own.

I’m a strong believer, though, that going through all of those things taught me some lesson. Each one had some learning or life lesson attached to it, and I work hard to really think about what they were.

As tough as 2017 was, I also have tons to be grateful for, like:

• Recovering well from the surgery
• Having access to my neurosurgeon and his amazing team
• All of my friends, family, and strangers who were so unbelievably kind, supportive, and helpful during my surgery & recovery
• 4 trips to Chicago, my favorite city, and 1 to Wisconsin
• 2 new nephews
• Making new friends
• Speaking at my first women’s business conference
• Going to a business retreat
• Attending 2 AMAZING conferences (Good Fest and FearlessCon) in Philly
• Work dates with my friend, Cameron
• The courage to switch businesses
• The tenacity to build a new business very quickly
• Moving to France in November for 2 months — the experience of a lifetime.
• My CLIENTS! Over 60 of you in just the last 5 months. I absolutely adore each and every one of you.

See, even amongst all that craziness, I have so much to be grateful for! It really gives me some perspective when I break it down that way.

But for some reason, 2018 feels lighter to me. What about you? Maybe it’s just a mindset or attitude thing, but I’ll take it. I could go for lighter. I also felt like if I had this sense of lightness for really no reason, my body/mind/soul must be craving it. So I started doing some thinking about 2017 v. 2018 and what I’d like to see more/less of in my life.

Here’s what I’d like to improve + see more of in my life in 2018:

• Play + Joy + Fun
• Lightness
• Exploring my own hobbies
• Balance – more so in terms of working on compartmentalizing my work + personal life
• Exercise or movement that I love (I absolutely LOVE working out & I couldn’t move much before or after surgery)
• Video (in the business)
• Less waste – definitely something I’m taking away from France.
• Community (in the business – I started doing this more in late 2017 and loved it! But I want MORE!)
• Spending more time with family & friends
• Feeling less guilt
• Cooking/eating more at home
• A morning routine
• More structure in my work days

Starting your own business (or 2!) is a crazy thing. At least for now, I believe that sometimes you have to put your head down and work like a mad woman for a period of time. I think it’s all part of the process — its own season. So yeah, I don’t love how I handled my life everyday that I built this business from scratch in 2017. But I also feel like I did what I had to do at the time.

I wasn’t going to rest or quit until I had it up and running. And once I did, it took off pretty quickly — so I did what I had to do (and wanted to) to hang on.

Some lessons learned in starting my own (2nd) business in 2017:

• Sometimes putting your head down and working SO hard it hurts is OK
• Taking random days off (or a few) was also OK. The world didn’t end.
• You’re going to make mistakes, it’s just about how you respond to them.
• Be YOU. The more naturally authentic and YOU you are, the more you’ll attract your ideal client.
• Don’t know what to write? Write about anything that fits under your “WHY” umbrella. Offer DIY legal templates? You don’t just need to talk about legal. I talk about things that affect my clients in business — self-care, inspiration, creating a business you love, etc.
• Community is everything. Get out there and meet people without expectations.
• Empowered women, empower women. I do everything I can to support my clients and colleagues, and I love women who do the same.

If you’d like to reflect on your year and the one ahead, here are a few things to think about:

• What are you feeling about 2018? Why do you think you’re feeling that way — is your mind or soul telling you that you’d like more of that thing in 2018?
• What did you love about 2017 that you’d like to carry over?
• And what would you like to see more of in your life in 2018?
• How would your life change/improve/be different in 2018 if you had more/less of those things?

Leave a comment below and let me know what you’re feeling for 2018. I hope you have the most wonderful year. And even when it’s filled with life’s inevitable challenges, I hope you have the courage and strength to navigate them <3