Be Inspired

Finding Clarity in Yourself and the Year Ahead

If you know anything about me, personal development is one of my favorite topics 🙂

I love learning how to improve my life, whether it’s adopting a new habit of reading in the morning when I wake up, or trying a different leadership strategy I learned at a workshop.  For me, I get real energy from trying to discover ways new ways to live a life I can be proud of.

But even though I am a HUGE fan of self-improvement, I have to be honest that this time of year drives me nuts. Everytime I look around (or open my email) in early January, I see messages everywhere about “becoming a new you” or “doing better than the year before” or “being the best at [fill in the blank].”  

I get it, I really do. It’s powerful marketing language that I use myself during this time of year, so let me be clear on the part that drives me nuts.  

I’ve come to realize that being bombarded by these messages can create a lot of noise in my mind, tipping me into uncertainty and causing me to sometimes question whether or not I am enough or am doing enough.  Am I making enough money, spending enough time with me kids, eating good enough meals, working out enough, going on enough dates, having enough quiet time…and the list goes on.

So, I say ENOUGH.

Today I want to remind you that even though there is ALWAYS room for improvement in every area of your life—and, hey, if you want to improve your business, I’d be happy to help you—but, I’m here to remind you that you are enough.  

Whether or not you choose set out in 2018 to work on small issues in your life and business or you embark on the biggest goals of your life, you are enough.  

So shut out the noise from everywhere else and take a few moments to look inside.  

These four questions can help you see more clearly who you are, and what you want out of life—not who others think you are or what you need to improve.  (I’m sharing my answers to help you start.)

• ASK YOURSELF: Who am I?  
  • MY ANSWER: I am a child of God, wife, mother, daughter, sister, dancer, entrepreneur, business owner, leader, mentor, and student.  I am a big dreamer, but I’m also am someone who gets easily distracted.  I am flawed and yet wonderfully made.
• ASK YOURSELF: What do I want out of life this year?
  • MY ANSWER: I want to dedicate more days to my family and enjoy time with them without interruption.  I want to travel less for business and more with family. I want to be more disciplined with my time to email and social media.  I want more lunches with my Dad.
• ASK YOURSELF: What do I want for my business this year?  
  • MY ANSWER: I want to build more leadership within my studio team and open a new physical space in the community in which my studio’s students, faculty, and staff can do great work. I currently help 200+ studio owners in More Than Just Great Dancing® to transform their lives each week.  I want to know them more deeply and serve them in an even more full service way.
• ASK YOURSELF:  What does my “big picture” look like this year?  
  • MY ANSWER:  My family time will be dedicated to experiences (not things).  My new venture, the International Performing Arts Training Center in Onalaska, WI will be launched to the entire dance community.  I’ll make mistakes but I won’t dwell on them.  I’ll celebrate my wins and grow from my losses.  This year looks like “grit and grace.”

Allow your honest answers to come through and help you understand yourself better.  

Use them to set the direction of your year ahead and formulate what success for you will look like.  Zone in on what this means for your priorities, goals, and intentions.  

Understanding who you are and what you desire may seem like a profound task to take up, but it doesn’t have to be complicated.  Only you can see what a successful year will look like, based on the clarity you have about yourself.  And know this: You ARE enough to make it happen. You are were made for great things:)

Best wishes to you in 2018!

Love,

Misty