Will you take advantage of these 10 ways to celebrate your life, your journey–your identity?
You know that feeling when you make a decision on let’s say moving, taking another job, having a baby, launching a business, taking a vacation, actually creating a savings fund, signing the paper to jump out of a plane, and well, you get the point, right?
Stomach in knots, excitement in your smile, nerves with your bladder, or feel like you could throw up or eat a can of chocolate icing (I’ve totally done that….mmm yea, last week).
Please tell me you’ve had that Holy Sh*t We’re Doing It feeling because this feeling gets you moving and shaking outside of your comfort zone, which ultimately deepens the layers your identity is currently made up of.
Personally, I thrive off that feeling. I crave high energy and the rush of doing something exciting and pushing me beyond my current knowledge.
I’m celebrating 10 years of just that and I demand you do the same.
Reflect back to the last 10 years of your life and write down all that has happened during each of those years, review and come up with a theme for those experiences. You don’t have to come up with themes, but I think it’s a fun experiment.
For me, that’s exactly what I did for myself to celebrate 10 years of entrepreneurship. My themes look like this: Vision, Holy Sh*t We’re Doing It, Crossroads, What are you willing to Do, Conflict, Guilt, and Action, Adapt, Don’t Quit/Cancel, The Reality of Life, Leap and What Really Matters.
Last month was all about having visions and this month, Happy September by the way, is all about Holy Sh*t We’re Doing It because during the 2nd year of the past 10 years of my entrepreneurship journey was my first launch party and celebrated our first ever online issue!
I have empowered over 800,000 women to date, write for Huffington Post, write for EmpowHER, and write for BlogHer– in addition to running a successful online magazine, being a wife, and a new mom of twins! It’s time to celebrate!
I want YOU to celebrate YOUR STORY, and here’s 10 ways to do just that.
1. Reflect: I dare you carve out an hour before bed one night and reflect on your last 10 years of life. Think about everything you can remember for each year. You don’t have to form complete sentences either, just dump it all out.
2. Self-Acceptance: Acceptance doesn’t mean resignation, it means to work and understand that sometimes it is what it is and have the awareness so you can discover the appreciation. Think about who you are internally. What are your morals, values, opinions, and characteristic and personality traits? Reflect and own them, embrace them, envision how they have made you, YOU.
3. Appreciation: Think about all that you’re grateful for, all that you have found appreciation for. Do this for your mind and soul, first. Then give some love to your physical self.
4. Achieve: Oh how I LOVE this. Please, please, please do NOT skip this step. I want you to write down EVERYTHING you can think of that YOU are most proud of. What have you done that makes YOU smile from cheek to cheek?
5. Complete this Sentence, “I Love My…”: Most women deflect their answers away from them. This MUST be about YOU. Write down all and everything you love about yourself, internally first, then sprinkle the body love in there.
6. Take a Vacation: Research shows that taking any break from a 9-5 routine can lower a woman’s risk of a heart attack by 50%! There are of course many other reasons why taking a vacation or a break are crucial to your health, both mentally and physically.
7. Have a Drink: Yup, have a glass of champagne with your bestie!
8. Take a Nap: Holy sh*t you’ve been working so hard for 10 years now, take nap.
9. Share: Challenge a friend, sibling, daughter, mom, colleague, or your husband and share what you both have reflected on!
10. Connect: Connect and meet with other women. Go to conferences for women, workshops, networking events, meet-up groups, and celebrate with them!
This is the year to think about, reconnect with, and celebrate you! I’d like to also invite you to join the celebration happening at IdentityLIVE.net.
Identity Magazine is all about empowering women to get all A’s in the game of life — Accept. Appreciate. Achieve.TM Every contributor and expert answer the Identity 5 questions in keeping with our theme. Their answers can be random and in the moment or they can be aligned with the above article. As a team, we hope to inspire and motivate ourselves and inspire you to get all A’s.
1. What have you accepted within your life, physically and/or mentally? What are you still working on accepting?
I’ve accepted that celebrating isn’t always a big shindig and that I needed to find various ways to celebrate ME daily. Sometimes that’s working out, sometimes it’s indulging, and every 10 years it just may be a big celebration on a cruise!
2. What have you learn to appreciate about yourself and/or within your life, physically and mentally? What are you still working on to appreciate?
I appreciate my husband for such support on this HUGE leap in launching such a big vision and I appreciate my drive and ambitiousness.
3. What is one of your most rewarding achievements in life? What makes YOU most proud? What goals and dreams do you still have?
Most recent rewarding is putting this cruise out there having faith and hope that my vision will come to life–100 women celebrating themselves and other women. My goal is work my butt off to fill the rooms onboard!
4. We all have imperfections, so we think. The truth–we are all perfectly imperfect. What are your not-so-perfect ways? What imperfections and quirks create who you are–your Identity?
I launched this celebration without having it perfect and dove right it. The website isn’t perfect, but I’m about taking action and tweaking along the way.
5. “I Love My…” is an outlet for you to express and appreciate all the positive traits that make you…well… YOU! Sharing what you love about yourself will make you smile, feel empowered, and uplift your spirit and soul. (we assure you!) Identity challenges you to complete the phrase “I Love My…?”
I love my courage to face my fears and nerves in order to grow and evolve as a woman and an entrepreneur.
