I had several goals this year. I wanted to save my marriage. I wanted to get out of my comfort zone. I wanted to meet new people. I wanted to become a better person.
I quantified these goals as best I could. I completed the Spartan Trifecta, sold out of belly balls, hosted a NEM retreat, partnered with amazing brands, traveled a lot, expanded my network and wrote a few ebooks. While these are great achievements, my greatest accomplishment was overcoming my fears.
I feared the unknown.
What if I experienced pain again in my marriage? What if people didn’t like my product? What if I faced rejection? What if I’m not smart enough, fit enough, pretty enough…good enough?
I was waiting on perfect.
I used perfection as an excuse for inaction.
I thought my husband and I had to interact perfectly, before I could regain faith in our marriage. I thought my product had to look perfect, before I could market it. I thought I had to plan a perfect retreat, before I finally hosted one.
When I removed expectations and allowed life to flow without restraint, I began stepping out of my own way. I began laughing until my eyes watered, dancing until the sun rose and loving without justification. My world shifted from victim to victorious.
The day after Thanksgiving my husband told me to pack my bags because we would be leaving in a few hours. I became instantly anxious – after all, I look at my monthly schedule multiple times a day and already celebrated my last travel of the year. As I was packing my suitcase, I reminded myself the importance of spontaneity and stepping into unplanned and unknown experiences. I missed my youthful, spur-of-the-moment adventures and was now getting exactly what I wished for months ago.
So we dropped the kids and left on a plane to New York City. While there we attended three Broadway Shows: Hamilton, Wicked and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. We dined at a rotating 360 degree restaurant, the View, brunched at Le Coq Rico and enjoyed a late dinner at Gramercy. We replaced my pawn shop wedding band, attended church at St. Patrick’s Cathedral and slept 10 hours each night. While we almost missed two shows, experienced insane taxi nausea twice and endured a passionate street argument, all was perfect.
All the good, the bad, the amazing and annoying….all of it, was perfect.
I recently told my favorite female photographer, Beth Baugher, that after years of competitive fitness competitions, I was able to overcome an eating disorder by splurging daily on one thing that wasn’t on my typical clean diet. So every day I had a cookie, or a piece of chocolate or a small bag of chips. Keeping something not-so-perfect made me more balanced and helped shape a healthier attitude towards physical, mental and spiritual nourishment.
Since then I still strive for daily surprises. I test my perfectionism mentally – what if I have a second piece? What if I don’t complete a full workout? What if I don’t finish laundry or wake up on time? In a bigger sense…what if I get critical feedback, no response or waste my time and money? The world still goes on – but most importantly, I am still surviving, thriving and striving healthily within an unpredictable and uncontrollable life.
As much control any person in this world believe she/he has, we really don’t know what tomorrow will bring. So take your risks, find your balance, seek your new…discover your version of perfect. Take your fears and squash them.
My very favorite part of this year was getting Ranger, our Golden Doodle. I am an animal lover and am so
happy we finally added to our family. Thank you Mike for capturing this. Visit his work here.
Surprise adventure to New York City
Can’t believe we grabbed these last minutes tickets. It was awesome!
A few days prior I participated in the Gobble Wobble Run in Elk Grove, CA!
A couple days prior to Thanksgiving I shot images for my new Flat Belly Ball! It’s been a busy year! I
love working with Beth! Visit her website here.
Here are some of my favorite accomplishments this year!
28-days to Mommy’s Picture Day
(must join local NEM group to receive)
Download: Protein Designed for Life
I signed up for the Sparta Beast spontaneously in Hawaii (while I was there) two days prior!
Running the Beast and the Sprint was brutal!
OMG I am in love with this pic of our retreat in Miami. Next year we will have a national retreat in Chicago
and a European Leaders retreat in Paris!!!!
Get ready for 2018!! Grab your 12 week Accountability calendar here!
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