As we near the beginning of a new year and decade, preparation for Good Girl Mafia’s January 2020 campaign is in full swing.  

It really has me thinking:  What are my biggest take aways from 2019?  What have I learned about myself that I can take into 2020 as new information for a new year?  How does it align with my core values?  How does it impact my feeling of empowerment?  

Today I’m sharing my top 5 take aways of 2019 with you.

I’m doing so in the hopes that you’ll also take a moment, an hour, an afternoon, and reflect on the last year.  What were the highs?  Lows?  What experiences revealed something new about yourself?  What old, familiar experiences were processed in a new way?  Spending some time reflecting can really help set you up for feeling empowered in the new year.

We all want to be empowered.  That takes some work and it all begins with reflection.

After some careful thought, here are my top five take aways from 2019

1. Observe, Don’t Absorb - People, relationships and life can be complicated at times.  Things happen.  And they did in my life this year.  A huge shift for me has been from absorbing the situations to observing them.  It has been a result of a lot of personal development.  And, I can’t tell you how much more empowered I feel in various situations because of this shift.  I try to observe and allow, as an outsider looking in, rather than staying in a space of “ought to be”.  Being focused on how we think things ought to be keeps us spinning our wheels in a situation.  So, observe, don’t absorb.

2. Taking Time to Leave Things Behind - After the end of a marriage, leaving a 24-7 job and moving cross country, I was all systems go, go GO.  This year, I stopped and took time to organize all of the loose ends that had accumulated.  The thought of stopping my forward motion to go back and deal with it all stressed me out.  And frankly, it pissed me off.  Why did I have to do all of this?  Why do I have to spend so much time with it?  I felt like it was taking away from the new path I was on.  I can now see that all of the loose ends were slowing me down and holding me back, whether I realized it or not.  It positively amazes me how much lighter I feel and how much more agile I am without a miles-long to-do list.  And the clutter - so much ‘old’ stuff getting in the way of all the new.  None of it was a reflection of who I am today.  And letting it all go and getting more organized has proven to be a monumental shift for me in every way possible.  

3. One-Step-At-A-Time - You gotta crawl, before you walk, before you run.  But I just want to run.  Fast.  As I became more organized in my surroundings, my systems, my life, it helped me slow down.  Or maybe calm down.  Not in a “you’re so hyper so calm down” kind of way, but in a way that resembles peace.  With that peace came a much different flow.  I have become more methodical in my endeavors.  I’m more organized in my mind and the results speak for themselves.  

4. Prioritize FUN - Fun should be a priority.  And that can be hard to prioritize because as women, we wear so many hats.  Leave me to my own devices, and I will work all the time.  I think it’s in my DNA.  And in all honesty, I do find it fun.  But I have learned that I need more of the let your hair down and be free kind of fun.  I have learned that my work suffers when I don’t carve out time for fun.

5. I Love My Life - For me, this is monumental.  There was a time that I would utter under my breath, “I hate my life.”  Just typing the words is positively cringeworthy.  I had become a total cliche; looked like “she had it all”, but she was not fulfilled.  The idea of core values never crossed my mind.  After I took the time to define them, I took action to change my life.  Some people are just a few decisions away from living a life they love.  My life required a total revolution.  Now, I find myself uttering under my breath, “I love my life.”  

Do you love yours?  As we end the decade, now is our opportunity to reconcile the chapter we’re ending.  It’s essential for the preparation for the next cycle that’s just around the corner.  And I’d like to support you in the next cycle.  Good Girl Mafia’s January campaign is designed to do just that. 

See you in January, 2020!