Happy 2022! Did you just realize we were a few months into 2022?! I’ve been excited to record this podcast for you even though we are a few months in. As I was journaling about 2021, I realized how proud I was of myself. And that is hard for me- to be proud of myself and sit with it. I realized I was celebrating myself and I wondered, “does everyone celebrate themselves?” Today my goal is to encourage you to Celebrate You! I am going to share a lot about what has happened in the last year, including our foster babies and the journey. I can’t wait to share the things I am proud of, both big and small.
[2:45] What has been going on in Mandy’s life?! A LOT of exciting, crazy, hard, beautiful things. In 2021 my word for the year was “listen.” I felt that I was in a season where it was hard, for many reasons. God put this passion and need in my heart for another baby. As much as I tried to quench that thirst, I felt like there was more to it. So, in 2020 we started the foster training process to come foster parents. I didn’t know what that would look like for us. As I looked to 2021, I knew that I needed to just listen- not do more or try harder or think that things were in my control, but just listen. We get into this foster care training; all the paperwork/background checks…it took forever. Should I just have another biological child? God kept telling me no. Sure enough- we had a family that needed us, and we welcomed two beautiful souls into our family last April. The peace that I found when I listened and carried out what I was hearing was profound. I am proud of the relationship I was able to keep with God during that time. I used to accomplish things, but I wasn’t proud of them because they didn’t really matter to me. As I clenched so tightly to these other goals, I was just “one-upping” the year before. I didn’t stop to think why achieving a goal really mattered. I was driven by people telling me how great I was or how successful I felt when I walked into a room. Those are the things I held on to.
Wherever you are, no one gets to tell you what you can or cannot be proud of. I share a tidbit about my friend Julie who is sharing her journey about sobriety. Celebrate YOU whenever you are called to. I share another story about snow gloves, in hopes of encouraging you to celebrate small things too! There is nothing too small to celebrate at all!
[17:05] How can you celebrate you? What if you are in a slump? What if you feel “blah” at the end of the year? What action steps can we use to Pursue You and Celebrate You.
[17:32] Give yourself permission to be proud of yourself. The reason I started by telling my stories/shifts that have happened in the fast year is to share that I did something that mattered to me, and I am proud of that. Are you feeling “less than” because of you didn’t do a single thing worthy of praise? Or are there a million things that happened to you in the past year, but you are pushing them down because you are afraid to acknowledge it. Or maybe you feel it is not worthy of acknowledgement. Look inward and give yourself permission to be proud of yourself. What blocks are in the way? What are you pushing down?
[19:17] Review your year. Really look at your year (maybe the last few months) at what you did. I love to do this through photos. I love to go into my photo gallery and start to scroll. My favorite is when my kids get ahold of my phone and take pictures that I didn’t even know about. Over the course of an entire year, there are so many things that start to trigger the impact you may be making. I can tell you at the end of years, it is easy to wonder where the year went. The photo gallery can help you become less narrow-minded.
[22:10] Write a note to yourself- in writing or self-talk. My favorite thing to do is to thank myself and tell myself how proud I am. Speak life into yourself. As we start to do that, all of those little things that can sometimes take over our thoughts and minds can be overpowered by positivity. We can drown the worries out and re-wire our brain to celebrate ourselves.
[25:02] Redefine your future goals. Redefine what success looks like to you. For me, my definition of my future goals is to start to be open about the goals God has for me. I still have goals- volume of homes sold, etc. But I do not hold those goals so high that nothing else matters. My future goals all have different importance and will impact my life in a different way compared to what they once were. Goals for me might include time with family, sleep, how I live my life, the values I carry. Take some time to ask yourself if the goals you are planning on for 2022 make you proud of yourself.
[27:47] Write a note to your future self. This is one of my favorite activities to do with myself and my team. I share a note I wrote to myself a few years back. Write a letter and set a reminder to open the card later. Be kind to yourself daily.
Give yourself permission to review your year, have some journaling, set goals that matter and then hype up your current and future selves. You don’t need to win the Olympic gold or sell multi-million-dollar businesses. Listening to this podcast shows me that you can be proud of pursuing you! I am proud of you. Next time you look at yourself in the mirror, I hope you can be proud of yourself, too! As you are pursuing you, never let a day go by without seeing how much you deserve to celebrate you.
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More Episodes You’d Be Interested In
Episode 73: Marriage Advice That Changed My Life
Episode 72: Are You Pushing To Failure
Episode 71: 5 Things I Didn’t Expect Becoming A Foster Parent