I know that I have friends, family, clients, acquaintances, probably high school friends, and strangers reading this blog (oh, hi everyone!), which can sometimes make me feel unsure about how much to share, but at the end of the day, I want this blog to be a place that you come back to because you feel more connected to yourself when you read it, so let’s get real, real, shall we? I don’t have anything to hide, and I’ll always be honest. It feels incredibly vulnerable, but authenticity is all there is, so I’m here, and I’m open! Oh, and Happy New Year!

I’m such a big believer that life is a series of lessons the help you grow. It’s always insane to me how many disappointments and successes can fill one year. I had some very serious disappointments in 2016 with some relationships that I held very near and dear. These situations were so painful, and I had to mourn the loss of certain people that I never thought I would have to. It’s a great loss to lose a good friend, and although I have many acquaintances, friendship is a whole different ballgame for me, and there are very few people I am close to in life (which I prefer since being a good friend takes a lot of effort and I do take that responsibility seriously!).

In business, it was my most successful year. The business grew to heights I never would have imagined, I continued my workshops (I might continue these in 2017!), I got an office space, and it’s been one hell of a bumpy ride! Running your own small business is no joke and there are so, SO many messy moments; so many moments you rely strictly on instinct, humility and compassion, but other moments that mean you have to know when to put your foot down. Growing a thick skin, and learning to really understand the term “don’t take it personally” was a huge lesson for me. Your confidence can take a hit when things don’t go as great as you want them to, and that brings me to the absolute most important lesson that I learned in 2016…

Resilience: The ability to spring back and recover quickly from difficulties.

Hell, sometimes, you need to lick your wounds. I’m such a big believer in feeling the feeling, giving yourself a break, because sometimes, it fricking sucks. It hurts. You need pizza and ice cream (my drug of choice… maybe for you it’s a bottle of wine). You have permission to lick those wounds, reflect on the lesson, and then bounce back – yes, sometimes that happens a little slower than we want it to, but the most important thing is that you pick yourself up. I absolutely love Michelle Obama’s quote: when they go low, we go high. Is that not the quote of 2016?! Taking the high road is the only way to keep respect for yourself, isn’t it? When you lose that self respect, it can be a slippery slope to bad behaviour. Honesty and patience are always the best approach – remember, you cannot control how anyone acts, but you can control your reaction, and sometimes that sets the tone, or helps to reset a situation.

Disappointments can make us bitter, jaded, and closed off, but that will only hurt you in the long run. Choose to have compassion and humility, and then bounce back and remember… success is always the best revenge!

And P.S: if you’re ever feeling like you can’t bounce back, just think about Hillary Clinton. Enough said.