Ahhhhhhhh! Where has the year gone?  I feel like just last month, I was toasting a glass of Veuve Clicquot Brut, eating white chocolate covered strawberries glancing over Lake Michigan dreaming up the fly things I wanted to accomplish in 2017. I remember relishing in how grateful and appreciative I felt for the AMAZING year that was 2016. I reflected on the monumental milestones I had of first watching my baby girl graduate from Whitney M. Young and enter Syracuse University as a happy, precocious, curious and incredibly vibrant freshman.  How could I be so blessed, but I was and I absorbed every part of that.

Kicking off 2018, I was committed to being more consistent with my daily affirmations and claiming 2018 to be another great year (I was pushing it-I know), and it has been good but certainly different than any year I’ve had.  With an unwavering commitment to living and being my best self, I found myself working against myself at times and challenging myself every step of the way. It’s like, I knew I wanted a reset. A fresh start in my career, balance, travel and just being more present and enjoying more of the things in life I wanted to. For the first, in a long time, I felt I could make choices I wanted to and not had to (extremely liberating but scary). A great position to be in after working my ass off and doing what I felt I had to do for so long.

Branding and marketing have open doors and allowed me to make a nice living for close to twenty years now, the principals, strategies, and platforms are embedded in my essence, so I’ll always have that. Still, I wanted to use my expertise and experience in ways that allow me to have more creative input and freedom over my daily workload. Feel me? So my strategy (I strategize marketing and branding for a living, so no secret I have a strategy for everything) was to add daily affirmations to help rewire my subconscious thinking to revamp my business and job to do less of the work I no longer felt motivated by or passionate to do. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve always been appreciative of ways to make money, but I knew I had gotten to a place where I just felt burnt out and not motivated and more often than not, less than inspired by my day-to-day obligations.

Like I’ve shared, I kicked off the year doing daily affirmations, and just like its supposed to, thoughts and ideas started bubbling to the surface. It became crystal clear it was time for me to pivot my career and really pursue the balance, fulfillment and career freedom I’d dreamt of.  I started processing clear visions and ideas of things I could easily do, that I love and could make money from. I wrote in my journal, repeated affirmations and prayed daily; the more I did that, the more vivid, vibrant and lifelike my dream existence was becoming. I was going to pen a book, rebrand The Brandista Guide to The B Guide (I hope you enjoy my fashion, beauty and lifestyle tidbits), start my digital education platform The Brandista, revamp Dream Big Conference and the list goes on. A list of dope, empowering, ‘rockstarish sh%t I absolutely have the know-how, experience, and connections to make happen!  It was almost scary but I felt so motivated by, inspired and excited for the new ventures. So what happened?

When the book was completed and I started booking speaking engagements and tour dates, I stopped my affirmations. Not the smartest thing to do, but I did. Within a month, fear had snook its sneaky self in and consequently, I  found valid excuses as to why I couldn’t do a stand-alone book tour, or revamp the blog to be more lifestyle driven, or make time to meet with vendors and do due diligence on the product line. UNREAL, but the reality is, once fear found its way in, I unknowingly slipped back into my comfort zone. Working nine to five, on accounts and things I was NOT  inspired by or passionate about, to arrive home around 6 pm and work on other business obligations, fall asleep between midnight and 2 am and start the, less than fulfilling, cycle all over again. Why? Because it was easy money, it was comfortable and it would keep me from being my best self, or be pursuing my big dream. Ironic, as queen of encouraging people to dream big, I neglected my own growth and flat- wimped out!

Well, as with anything, the cycle came to an end. God didn’t stop whispering because I wanted to pretend I didn’t hear the call. Instead, I found the courage and I walked away from commitments that weren’t serving my dream, I rebranded the blog, I’m researching the product line, I’m coaching and helping others find their magic at The Brandista and I’m back to my daily affirmations. Brandistas, this life is a journey, and while we’ll have detours we have to believe in ourselves and encourage our sister friends to do the same, cause we really do have that magic- it’s so darn dope!  Like Mrs. Barnett, my fifth-grade teacher often said, up one-day ROCK bottom the next! Dust yourself off and get back up again, and again and as many times as you need to. The struggle will get real, we all struggle.  I struggle, I have major setbacks but I’ve come too far to not fly, and best of all, I’ve had these wings all along

Consider these positive affirmations that support you in overcoming things you’d like more confidence stronger with:

• I am a powerful co-creator of my life.
• I  am beautiful, smart, and capable of making choices to lead towards my dreams.
• God supports me in living my best self and I’m committed to doing my part.
• I’m working smart and diligent towards creating the life I imagine for myself (visualize it, see it, feel it and do what you have to do to believe it at your core).
• I’m proud of my journey and I’m learning and growing every day.

We can do it, you and I, we just have to be patient with ourselves and support each other along the journey.  Watch the conversation you have about yourself with yourself. Have fun + enjoy taking charge of the biggest influence of your life: your own thoughts and connect with your creator!

XOXO,

The Brandista