Here are 5 simple lessons that I have reflected on as I close out 2018, and get ready to welcome an enhanced energy for 2019. I hope that all of my 2018 lessons will encourage you to step on a path that helps you to take control of your life and focus on living your life for YOU during 2019!

1. Your happiness should be at the forefront

Recognizing the level of happiness you are feeling is a glorious notion. I find that acknowledging the people, places or things that bring overwhelming feelings of happiness helps to define when I feel most happy. Feelings of happiness will help to manifest your life and encourage you to thrive through the difficulties that life brings each and every year.

2. Get involved in things that bring you joy

Growing up I was a dancer. I took recreational hip-hop and jazz classes in elementary school through high school. When I began my graduate degree I decided to sign-up for a dance class because I remembered the way that dance brought me joy. Not only did participating in dancing bring me floods of joy throughout the semester, but being involved in a weekly-dance class helped to manage my feelings of stress, and brought a sense of emotional balance into my life.

3. It is okay to not know what your plan is

Throughout 2018 I realized that it is better to have an outline than to have a specific plan. An outline provides you with the flexibility to alter or modify the plan as you go. Modification is key because life happens, circumstances change, and opportunities arise. For example – As of right now I do not have a distinct plan for after I finish my graduate degree; however, I do have goals and ideas of what careers I would like to pursue. These goals and ideas are part of my outline, but if things change then I am okay with a detour from my plan.

4. Take a step out of your comfort zone

This is one lesson that I revisit year after year. Some situations I still choose to stay well within my comfort zone, but I try to step out within moderation. Everything is good in moderation isn’t it?

This past year I went to a concert alone. That decision was a step out of my comfort zone. I was used to arriving, and navigating the entire concert experience with at least one other person, but this time I only had myself. I drove to Toronto by myself, took the transit by myself, and chose a place on the floor to stand by myself. BUT I HAD THE BEST TIME EVER AT THE CONCERT! So try this year, in 2019, to take a step out of your comfort zone at least once.

5. Be unapologetically yourself

Always & forever. Never shy away from who you are in order to impress someone else. People will love you for who you are, and that is better than faking it to impress people who would not appreciate the unique person that you were created to be.

Throughout 2018 I have learned the importance of making my own decisions, having my own opinions, and being myself no matter who I am holding a conversation with. Understanding that I can be whoever I decide to be has made my confidence escalate, my positive vibes boost, and my self-esteem to be higher than ever.

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Goodbye 2018, you were grand. Hello 2019, I’m ready for you!

-Liv