Now that I’m looking back on 2017, I feel like it’s been one of my best years yet. Today in the car, Stephen and I were saying how this year truly has been amazing. And while I’m not one to really fixate on the past– I do think that it’s good to look back on your year. I like to make a mental checklist of some things that I was really proud of, happy about, and then maybe some lessons I’ve learned for the future. So anyway–I just wanted to share some of them with you all!

-I got married! Getting married is one of life’s biggest milestones I guess you could say, so yes, I deem this as significant haha. After we got married, did things really change between Stephen and I? Not on the surface, no. But after being married for about two months, things just started to feel different. I’m not sure how else to describe it. But finding your person that you feel like you can truly share life with is an amazing feeling. So yes, happy to have that as part of my year!

-Growing Professionally. Most of you guys know that I work as a registered nurse, and while I have grown with my role as a RN, what I am really proud of is the growth of my blog. My blog and Instagram were both hobbies of mine, and I couldn’t be happier for what they’ve turned into. This year I really started to look at my brand as a potential business. I’ve always loved getting to know you guys, and creating content but I never thought I’d be able to do this as a career. This year has been a huge blessing to do what I love for work. And while I still work at the hospital, I cut down on my hours to focus on my brand and produce more content for you guys. I’m not sure what next year will hold for my brand, but if it’s as half as good as this year I’ll be happy. Stephen and I have lots of big plans and goals, so I am looking forward to seeing how those develop. And again, if you’re reading this, you are why I get to continue to do what I love–so thank you, thank you, thank you 🙂

-That it’s okay to say no, and in fact you should say no sometimes. This ones for all my people pleasers out there 😉 I’m not too much of a people pleaser myself actually, just because I feel comfortable telling someone “no” if it’s something I truly don’t want to do lol. But! I think between balancing work at the hospital and the blog, I definitely had to be more cognizant of my time and my priorities. As a result, I definitely had to say “no” to things that I wanted to be a part of because I just knew I couldn’t swing it. In general, I think that is just a part of growing up. You don’t always have time to do everything or be everything to everyone. We all have our own priorities and sometimes you have to put yourself first and do what’s best for you.

-Knowing your worth. This lesson can really be applied to any circumstances. Your self confidence, your job, your relationships. I think we could all practice a little more self-love, worthiness, and confidence in many parts of our life. For me though, it really applies to work with my blog and IG this year.

At the beginning of this year I was really just getting introduced to working with brands on sponsored content. In the beginning, I really had no idea what my “worth” or “value” was. It was all pretty new to me and I was really excited to have the opportunity to work with brands. With that said, I didn’t give too much thought into what brands were offering me compensation wise–as long as it was a brand that I truly loved than that was all I really cared about. As the year progressed though, I started to understand more of what my content was worth (this is more in regards to the quality of my content and time it takes me to create it). And while there are clearly a lot of factors that go into deciding to work with a brand, you have to ask yourself if you’re being compensated fairly–does the brand value you? With that said, I did start to say no to brands that I felt like didn’t value me, and I even ended ongoing relationships. At first this was kind of hard because sometimes it would be a brand that I was really interested in working with, or if it was an ongoing collaboration I was accustomed to being compensated a certain amount every month. So as tempting as it was to say yes to certain brands or continue relationships, I had to be confident enough in my own value to walk away. I had to trust my gut and know that other partnerships will come along that are a better fit and truly value me.

-Not everyone has to like you. This year I really accepted that fact that not everyone has to like me, nor will everyone like me. I used to be scared about talking about macros, or saying “Hey! I eat ice cream 3x week!” Because I knew that certain people within the fitness and health community wouldn’t agree with that. But now I’ve learned that’s okay, and it doesn’t matter what others think of how I’m living my life. I’m not going to be everyone’s cup of tea, and it is what it is. I’d rather be 100% myself and truly impact certain people, then just be indifferent and boring lol. And to be honest, as a blogger, you don’t really want everyone to like you anyway. If everyone likes you, you’re doing something wrong 😉 People should either follow you and love your content or be like nah, not for me–and move on.

-Being grateful for my health. Ever since I started working as a Medical ICU nurse, I starting valuing my health a lot more. Working at one of the top hospitals in the country we get some of the sickest patients and it really makes you look at your health in a whole new way. Now more than ever I am grateful for having a capable and able body. People ask me how I get the motivation to workout? Well, this is a huge reason. Be grateful that you have lungs that allow you to breathe, and legs that allow you to move 🙂

-Not placing as much emphasis on my physical body/appearance. This year I really feel like I have adopted a much more balanced approach to fitness. Last year, I was pretty much obsessed with just having abs and being in shape–it seemed like my entire life revolved around the gym and my eating habits. At the beginning of this year though, I told myself that I wasn’t going to be as fixated on physical progress. I can honestly say that I did a pretty good job with this. I still remained overall disciplined with hitting my macros and working out 6x a week but I wasn’t examining my progress on a daily or weekly basis like I would in the past. Even in the last couple months I’ve become better with this (you can read details here). I’ve realized that while fitness is still big priority for me, its not necessarily my top priority. With that said, I hit my macros the majority of the time and still workout 4-6x a week but I don’t let it interfere with other parts of my life. If I want wine at dinner–I order it. If I end up going out to eat 3x that week and it’s not in my macros–I’ll survive. I’m not training for a competition so there is really no need to be so strict with myself. For me, life is a lot more enjoyable when you don’t fixate on your physical appearance and make it more about your physical, emotional, and mental well being.

Well, there you have it! Those are just some things that have resonated with me this year. Can you guys resonate with any of them? Or what are some things you’ve learned or accomplished? xx C