End of the year: Reflecting on 2017

It’s always this time of year that makes us reflect on the past 12 months, isn’t it?

I had the most relaxing time with the fam at Mammoth this past week. We did a bit of hiking, sightseeing and a TON of lounging. This trip was SLOW and let’s be real, sometimes even a big boring, but it allowed me to relax, recharge and refuel for the new year.

Reflecting back on the year, 2017 was the year of breaking glass ceilings and pushing boundaries. Now, I’m not saying that I went into the year head-on and filled with hope, it’s actually quite the opposite. I pride myself on being a big dreamer and a vision-driven person but I learned that I’ve actually been playing it safe. These “big dreams” I had set for myself were somewhat easy and predictable and it came from an underlying fear of failure. It’s funny because I feel like this is a lesson I have to relearn over and over again. The reason why I said 2017 was the year of breaking glass ceilings is because it was the year of action. The past few years were spent toiling and sowing. I felt like I was working so hard with little to no results. The first few years of running Chasing Linen was really hard - both financially and emotionally.

This year was the first year where I actually started to reap from what I had sown. The returns weren’t crazy massive but it was enough to fill me with hope. That small seed of hope started to grow quickly and I started to gain more confidence in my business. This momentum kept me going and it allowed me to continue pushing boundaries and therefore, break new records. Now to be clear, these aren’t massive goals achieved but small wins are so much more powerful than you think. It’s the small things that happen on the daily that pumps you back with drive, vision and momentum to move forward.

All in all, this year was absolutely amazing. It was amazing because I learned that goals are attainable and small wins are powerful. And even more importantly, I’ve learned that failure is not an end-all-be-all. Failure is simply a step towards growth. It allows you to gain the knowledge that will help you get to where you want to go. This whole goal setting thing is not a straightforward path, it’s a journey and sometimes it can get messy.

Now that I know failing is okay, you can bet I’m going to be taking more chances in the new year. Here’s to growing, building, and breaking new ceilings in the new year, cheers!