Hello 2018!!  I know we are well into January now, but it’s taken me a bit to get back into the groove. Let’s talk a bit about new years resolutions. It’s easy to say “New year, new me” right? Yet, I think its so much harder to follow through for the rest of the year. Committing to new goals is always important, but what I find to be even more important is the process and execution of those goals. The things I tell myself on January 1st, I like to also tell myself the first of every month and I think it’s important to always continue to make things happen.  I have to say, yes,  I do love the Holidays because it always gives you a little chance to catch up with friends and family and take some much needed down time to regroup. Also, I love January! Maybe it’s more simple than that, though. Maybe it’s only because it’s my birthday month (which way yesterday btw, weee! Sup fellow Capricorns?!). I wanted to start 2017 by looking back at all amazing things that happened as well as share the top things I learned in 2017.

 2017 was a big year of growth and change for me. John and I moved into our first new home together (have you seen my home reveal post? Click here). I got to travel to some amazing places I had never seen before, made some new inspiring friends in the blogging world and got to work with a few new brands I love, and did my first jewelry design collaboration (check it out here). It was a great year! I feel that without gratitude you just wont get anywhere in life and I’m so grateful for all the good moments that brought me happiness and the bad for teaching me a little more about life and how I can improve.

 Things I have learned in 2017:

1. Work smart, not hard. This year was all about learning how to delegate and focus my attention on things that needed my attention. I used to spend hours editing just a few photos instead of taking time answering emails from brands and trying to work on content creation.  I finally figured out how to transfer some of my work to people I trust to save me time and focus my attention on things that really needed my attention. This has been such a life changer! Not only am I working smarter, more efficiently and gaining more traction, but I feel that it gives me more time to spend with John, friends and family and helps me not burn out. Just because you are busy does not mean you are being efficient.

2. Don’t wait for that “one day”, make it happen today! This was my year of making the “one day ” happen. I felt more motivated than ever and started to believe the old saying that the universe will conspire to give you what you ask of it. I would see a beautiful picture on Instagram or in a magazine and say, “I WILL GO THERE THIS YEAR!”and lo and behold everything worked out great and before I knew it, I was standing a the edge of Monument Valley, the top of Zion national park  and the tip of Mexican Peninsula in Tulum staring at the sea. Using affirmative language helped this a lot. Instead of saying “some day, maybe I will go to …etc” using” WHEN I GO” is so much stronger. It flips a switch in your brain that starts to do anything possible to make it happen. Basically my take away for this is only you are in your way of doing and getting what you want in life.

3. On that note, your outlook and attitude are absolutely everything. Positive thinking helps you focus on the good and leaves  no room to think negative, non-helpful thoughts. I spent a lot of time thinking about how I could do better at the beginning of the year (comparing myself to others, why didn’t I get that collaboration, why am I not growing faster.. etc).  When I started to make a conscious effort towards positive thinking, I would notice my thinking naturally would lean more positive than negative and there was no room to focus on anything negative. Instead of complaining and just worrying and getting nowhere, I would focus on how to fix a situation I wasn’t happy with and making it happen. More collaborations started trickling in, I started to actually notice when a door was open for me instead of missing the opportunities because my negative thinking was getting in the way and slowly but surely everything started to fall into place. The power of positive thinking is no joke!

4. Authenticity is more important than making money.  If I don’t 100% believe in something I am promoting it affects my brand. I’ve learned that no matter what I can not work with a brand that I am not 100% behind. No matter how much I try to make it work, it will always come through in my work. The content will be harder to produce and the photo will most likely look forced. From now on I want to make sure the brands I work with always align with my visual, brand and values.

5. Self love is the best love – take time to yourself and always make that number one priority. Being present is key and most important above all!
   Much Love! – Francesca