My Greatest Lessons of 2017

As I was looking through my journal, it is hard to believe that 2017 is coming to a close. This has been an amazing year for me filled with amazing moments, tremendous growth and extraordinary victories. I hope you had an incredible year as well. If you have followed my work over the years, then you know that I believe strongly in finishing every year strong. One of the keys to finishing the year strong is finding the significant moments and lessons that shaped your life over the last twelve months. While there is not enough space to detail every lesson, I would like to share with you a few of my most important lessons of 2017. So many people look forward to me writing this piece every year. I hope it is filled with wisdom and insights that empower you to live your greatest life. These are my biggest lessons of 2017.

1. Embrace uncertainty as a gift. One of the words that I can use to describe the beginning of 2017 was uncertain. I was presented with what seemed like a great opportunity at the start of the year. I was excited and making all the preparations to walk through the door and seize this major opportunity in my life. It seemed like everything was on track and I was really excited to embark upon a new chapter. However, this opportunity quickly fell apart and I was frustrated. I could not understand what happened and why it did not work out. When that opportunity did not manifest I found myself living in a place of uncertainty. Honestly, I am not a person that loves uncertainty. I am a very organized and strategic person. I love to know how everything comes together. It was a painful experience but I refused to allow it to defeat me. I realize now that it was a huge learning experience. Uncertainty is not designed to unravel your life. Uncertainty is designed to unleash your capacity for greatness. Everything in your life will not go perfect. However, there is a pearl that is being produced through the pressure. You will not always have certainty but you can have clarity in every season of your life. One of the best things you can do is learn to enjoy the journey.
2. Separate from those that cannot recognize your significance. 2017 presented me with a couple major business opportunities. I was really excited about a number of new partnerships. It was shaping up to be a really big year and the plans were in motion. Unfortunately, just when we were getting ready to finalize the plans everything fell apart. The partnership dissolved and I was left with a really distasteful impression of a particular business. I learned that day that it is so important to separate yourself from people that cannot discern your significance. People will use you for their own selfish gain but they will not support you in the growth and manifestation of your vision. Refuse to keep wasting time trying to build with betrayers. Stop looking for the disloyal to help you fulfill your destiny. When people expose who they really are expel them from your life. Your value does not change because of the failure of someone to recognize it.
3. You always have to shed the old to shift into new opportunities. While I have had some losses this year, I have also learned so much about myself and about life. I believe that some things had to exit my life this year for the entrance of new things. Over the last twelve months I have been blessed with incredible new relationships, new opportunities and new platforms. What you are willing to shed will always shift your life. You have to stop holding onto things that no longer serve you. It will be uncomfortable but it will also produce uncommon success in your life. I am grateful that I was denied access to those things that were not destined for my life. Sometimes we think we are losing. However, we are often being liberated from everything that hinders our ability to live at the next level. Often we have layers that oppose our liberation. You have to be willing to rid your life of the unnecessary in order to produce the uncommon.
4. Love yourself enough to choose you first. This year brought a major shakeup of some of the key relationships in my life. All of a sudden I found my inner circle looking completely different than it did a year ago. I would be lying if I told you it was easy. However, I came to the conclusion that I had to choose myself first. I have spent so much time trying to protect the happiness of others that I forgot to protect my own heart. One of the greatest breakthroughs I experienced this year was when I learned that some things just do not belong in my life. I tolerated a lot of one dimensional relationships. In other words, I had a few people in my life where I made all the contributions but received no added value. Finally I realized that part of loving yourself is choosing yourself first. You cannot force something to be that should not be. Also, you cannot attract what has been assigned to your life until you first abandon what should not be in your life. When you learn to love yourself you are empowered to live a life without limits and boundaries. Anybody that cannot appreciate you for who you are should not be part of your life anyway. Self hatred is sacrificing your heart for someone that never cared about the safety of your heart. You are significant and you should stop choosing yourself last. You are deserving of more. When you require more you will receive more.