The New Year is here, and it is not slowing down. Make 2018 your year of doing, not dreaming. It's time to boss up and make your life your own. Sometimes we stop ourselves from taking chances and betting on ourselves out of fear of failure, and sometimes fear of success. Sometimes we are so consumed with thinking of all the things that could go wrong that we hinder ourselves from fully developing our interests. Other times we are so overwhelmed by the thought of everything going right and not having to struggle for whatever that goal was that we slow ourselves down and lengthen the process. There is no way to know what's on the other side of the mountain you're climbing unless you make it to the top; and you'll never make it to the top if you keep walking back to the bottom. Fear is our biggest obstacle as human beings, but it should not be one we can't control. Take this new year, this fresh start, to tackle fear and boss up.
1. Boss up mentally
If you are not okay with the person you are today, better yourself tomorrow. You are not defined by your past. You are not defined by the things that you fell victim to. You are defined solely by your character. We spend so much of our lives watching and listening for what other people say that we are, good and bad, that we get lost in it. I think the best kind of person you can be is someone that you would be proud to be around. Work on yourself for yourself by yourself. Don't rely on the opinions of other people to tell you what you're supposed to be like. If you want to better yourself in any way, you have to know that as long as you are still breathing you have room to change yourself and morph into whomever you wish to be. God is still working on you. Do your part.
2. Boss Up physically
Stop telling yourself that you'll start your diet tomorrow and that you'll start working out next week. (This is all I say to myself) It's time to make lifestyle changes, and those don't happen overnight. Don't beat yourself up because it took more than two days for you to fully convert into veganism. Don't beat yourself up because you didn't workout yesterday. Don't give up on yourself. Your process will work. You just have to stay consistent. The reason you are trying to better yourself physically could have a lot to do with how hard you push yourself and long your results last. The best results come from true change of heart and desire for better self. Don't starve yourself out of 30 pounds to impress someone. Love your self first in everything you do.
3. Boss up spiritually
I am a woman of Christ. I know that everyone does not feel the same way about religion, but I truly feel that everyone has to believe in something bigger than themselves. Hope has to stem from somewhere. This will be my year to boss up spiritually, and I think it should be for all of my 18+ year - olds as well. I think that it is time that we come from under the watchful eyes of our pastors and grandmothers and aunts and parents and educate ourselves on the beliefs that we were raised on. I started this about a year ago. It's helped me through a lot. Knowing and being able to interpret the values of any religion for one's self is self-motivating and self-loving and the BEST way to tackle fear.
Above all, put love first and be happy in whatever you're doing. Don't make yourself or your vision small for the comfort of others. Be as much of yourself as you know how to be at once; and love that person dearly, before anything else. There are a lot of "bosses" out there who can look and buy the part, but happiness is something that can't be bought. Loyalty and security are things that can't be bought. Peace of mind can't be bought. So, before you are anything else be loved and be happy and be larger than life.
"Our deepest fear is not that we are weak. Our deepest fear as that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frighten us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world... As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others"
- Marrianne Williamson, "A Return To Love", 1989