Note: this is an updated version of the original article on Jaclyn Aurore.
My New Year’s Resolution was all about new beginnings. At a glance, this sounds both lazy and pessimistic, however, I’m finding that I’ve already started my year off spectacularly.
Without saying “This year I plan to do better,” or any variation of that, I made the executive decision to just do better. Right now. It’s not a New Year’s Resolution; it’s a resolution in the new year. Totally different.
I’m not saying “By the end of the year I will have accomplished such and such,” instead I am saying “Right now, I will change. I can change.”
I wanted to do something different, so I started a new business (more on this later). Boom. Check that off.
I wanted to lose weight, so I started eating better and working out, and I’ve already lost five pounds. Boom.
I wanted to meet new people and step outside my comfort zone, so I joined a group, met a few girls, and went to a little get together. It was lovely. I walked into a house where I knew absolutely no one, and left feeling like I’d met some life long friends. Boom. Done.
It’s hard. It’s challenging. And it’s downright uncomfortable sometimes. But if you don’t take risks, you don’t grow. You become complacent and unhappy. So don’t. Don’t settle. Learn to love life again, by taking the steps to love yourself.
New Beginnings, New Mottoes
I have two mottoes (that really is the plural of ‘motto’, I swear!) now.
The first is “I can.”
I can do it. I can step out of my comfort zone and try new things. I can speak to people I’ve never spoken to before. I can start a new business, while maintaining the professional life I’ve already established.
I can juggle… well, I can’t juggle literally, but figuratively I’m the best juggler out there. I can be a loving wife and mother. I can sing and dance when no one is watching, and maybe sometimes when they are… I can do whatever I want.
I can.
The second motto is “Get over it.”
Mistakes happen. If you take risks, you might find that more mistakes happen than if you just sat back and watched life pass. If you dwell on the mistake, you’re bound to make another. So don’t dwell. Learn from it and move on. Get over it.
This one is difficult for me. I dwell. For long periods of time, I think about what I did wrong and how I could have done it differently. This helps no one.
It’s upsetting and heartbreaking sometimes. I can’t change the past, but I can learn from it. I just need to remind myself…
Get over it.
For me, these two phrases are life-changing. They’re empowering. They push all the negativity out and open the world to endless possibilities.
There is no limit to what we can achieve, we just need to believe in ourselves.
There’s my motivational message for the week!