What I've learned from 2017!
2017 has been a great but hard year for me. I’m a firm believer that with “failure” comes our greatest lessons and also our greatest growth. If we went through life without any resistance we wouldn’t learn anything about ourselves and the world around us.
For the longest time I’ve bounced around from city to city with no place to really call home. While I enjoyed the freedom, I was lacking purpose. I wanted a place to build roots and become a part of a community. Moving to Nashville has been so great for me, while I hate being so far from family it’s gotten me out of my comfort zone and into a space of focusing on myself and my future.
I was searching for a purpose for what felt like forever, as cliché as it is I couldn’t stop thinking “what the hell is my purpose on this earth?”. FINALLY, I stopped looking for it and simply rolled with whatever life was going to give me, and I mean whatever. I stopped being so serious and started just having more fun, letting life come to me and being open to whatever that is. If you never read another blog post or even another sentence from The Second Muse, this would be my greatest advice to you…Be open to whatever life has in store for you. Truly open!
With that being said, these are the top 5 things I’ve learned from 2017:
1. TO TAKE A CHILL PILL: While I’m a spontaneous and relatively laidback person, somewhere along the line I got a little uptight about what I thought my life should be like. Which looking back at it now I’ve got to laugh at where my 20yr old self thought I would be right now. HILARIOUSLY far off (and for the better)! 2017 was when I really started to trust in what God and the universe was going to give me and to go with it, that mentality has changed everything!
2. TO STOP PUTTING THINGS OFF: The start of 2017 I put off a lot of things, I kept thinking “oh I’ll have time in a month or two.” WRONG thinking. It took lighting a fire under my ass to get shit done. This blog is the perfect example, I have wanted to do this for YEARS but I’ve always had an excuse. “I wont have time”, “I can’t think of a good enough name”, blah blah…you name it I used it. FINALLY (3 weeks ago) I was like f*ck it I’m going make this blog before the new year if it kills me. I reached out to Brynna, asked her get involved with branding my website, she knocked it out of the park and here we are now. Why the hell was it so hard for me to do this sooner?!
3. TO KEEP IT REAL: I wouldn’t really say this is something I’ve learned in 2017 because I’ve always made it a point to stay true to myself, but in a world that can be very fake, this year has reminded me why it’s so important to be real. Not only with myself but also with yall. I mean, there is only one ME and I like her, so I’m not going to fake her.
4. TO NETWORK, NETWORK, NETWORK: I would consider myself an introverted extrovert. While I like being social I could go days without speaking to another human being and be completely content with it. I’ve never been the person to really extend myself to meet other people, until this year. Getting involved in the Nashville Community, getting out of my comfort zone and getting to meet new people has done A LOT for me! I have made so many great friendships and connections just by attending networking events and getting more involved. I really wish I would have started doing this sooner!
5. TO MAKE MORE "ME" TIME: For the longest time I have been really focused on work and progressing my career, which is great, but I wasn’t taking enough time for myself. There was no work/life balance and it was draining. This year I started making more time for me, and doing things that recharge and relaxe me has actually made me more focused and creative with work. It’s something I’m still working on but have gotten so much better at implementing into my routine.
With the new year approaching fast I challenge you to look back on your 2017 and reflect on 5 things you’ve learned this past year. This will help with setting your 2018 goals! I’d love to hear what you’ve learned in the comments below!
Happy New Year!
Xo
Colleen