Cheers to the New Year

Happy New Year babes! What a year 2018 was. So blessed to have another year of health in my family, and for that I am truly grateful to God. It was the year that I finally felt like I figured out this “blogging” world in terms of what works for my followers and I. A year that I traveled to so many fun places with friends and family! But also a year of hurt and challenges. The problem with social media is that we all only see the good, because why on earth would we all want to air our dirty laundry for the world to see on Instagram? The truth of the matter is, life is hard. I don’t care who you are or how perfect you feel your year was, there are things in each of our lives that just knock us down or stress us out. For me, it was one of the most challenging years running my boutique to date. We had the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. This trickled into my personal life and I struggled as a mom, and I struggled as a wife. There were many days I felt a break down coming. I even so much as went to the doctor to think about getting on anxiety medicine because I just felt like I was losing my damn mind. Honestly though, when you open up and start talking to other women, WE ARE ALL THE SAME!

I am sharing this with all of you because when I chose to start blogging, it wasn’t about contracts or collaborations, or linking outfits. I wanted to have an outlet to write and share things I love. I did a terrible job in 2018 sharing my heart and just writing to you all. Isn’t that the purpose of a blog?! My goal for 2019 is to sit down, and just share my thoughts from time to time. Whatever that might be. Perhaps marriage posts, the struggles of owning your own business, etc.

While we are on the topic, this “blogging” world has been a blessing and a curse for me. I truly enjoy it so much, but some days I feel myself in this rat race. “Hurry up you have to get your post up”, “There is a sale get it on stories stat” blah blah blah! That is what constantly goes through my head and I stress myself out! I am super competitive by nature, and especially with myself. I don’t understand why some girls are growing so fast while others are growing snail speed. I also just do not understand Instagram and all of the algorithm changes. If you aren’t a social media influencer you might be reading this thinking, “This is so dumb why do you care”, but maybe put what I’m saying in terms of your own job. Lets say you are a sales rep and some sales reps seem to be having record growth while you feel like you are busting your ass and barely getting by. See what I’m saying?! In our industry, to succeed all of this matters. I think I’ve let it matter just too dang much, and the thoughts of comparing myself to others in this industry consume me way more than I plan to do in 2019. I work full time running a family business and I’m also a mom and a wife, so this blogging thing will just never be my full time gig like others. I am just sharing this with you because I get messages DAILY asking, “how do you do it all?” and gals I don’t. I try very hard, but at the end of the day I constantly feel like I am failing in all areas! Please do not look at all of these women on social media and think they have it all figured out and you don’t because that is not the case. I guarantee if you ask them, you will find that while one area of life is excelling, another area is hurting.

My plan for 2019 is simple. STOP. COMPARING. MYSELF. TO. OTHERS. I know it’s easier said than done but gosh, I really am just done. It steals my joy and I’m refusing to continue doing it in 2019. I hope if you too are struggling with this comparison game that together, we can make changes to just stop. So how do I plan to achieve this?

5 Steps to help me with this comparison game in 2019

1. I plan to set goals for myself: Not that I didn’t do that in 2018 but I didn’t write them down, and truly just flew by the seat of my pants. I plan to set goals for myself with my boutique business as well as my blogging business. When I achieve those goals those will be measures of success that I can be proud of and help build my confidence! I will claim them one by one and cross them off the goal list!!
2. I plan to focus on what I do have: I already do this, trust me, but I think we all forget to count our blessings. Again, easier said than done especially for competitive entrepreneurs but I really plan to sit down and focus on all the good I have going on!
3. I plan to work on learning & improving: This means more podcasts, more online classes to GROW. Like the saying goes, “If you are green you are growing, but if you are ripe you are rotting!” If we are green we are growing, learning and developing. It is easy to think we already know it all and we do not need continuing education, but that is so far from the truth. This is going to be my focus this year, learning more so I can continue growing!
4. I plan to continue leading & not following: Being a leader in my industry is something I’ve always strived to be. Sometimes when people will say “you should do what X boutique is doing” I think to myself, no I shouldn’t. I don’t want to be like them, I want to be like myself. Same for blogging, it is crazy how this industry tends to morph into one (photography, clothing, etc). It is always wise to know what is going on around you, but I plan to be ahead of the curve doing my own thing.
5. I plan to continue traveling: Getting away is healthy for your soul! You always come back more refreshed and ready to conquer life. I plan to keep traveling and going away for little mini vacations so I can relax and refocus. It helps me connect with my husband and he was around long before any of this! I have to nurture that relationship and getting away with him is the only way I know how! Oh, and date nights of course!

I hope you have a wonderful start to your new year! I wish you a year of self development and growth in whatever area of life you are struggling. I am always here for any of you, never forget that! If you have a question or need advice I can do my best to give it! Thank you for following along on my journey and I look forward to a wonderful year together in 2019!

xoxo,

Jena