Let’s all be honest for a second. 2016 was a rough year. And I know you’re probably tired of hearing that because it seems to be all people have been talking about for the past couple of months, but I think it rings true. It was a rough year in a lot of ways for a lot of people that I know, including myself. Now that doesn’t mean that great stuff didn’t happen, because it did. And I’m wary of looking back on the whole year as something I just need to forget and pretend never happened because I learned a lot from that year. But I’m also glad it’s over and ready to jump into all 2017 has to offer because I think it’s going to be a great year.

If you didn’t know, I turned 24 about a week and a half ago. It was my golden birthday (aka I turned 24 on the 24^th) and I got to spend it in Disneyland! Countless cast members wished me a happy birthday, I got to spread glitter all over the park and I felt like a real life princess! And as my birthday was approaching, I got to thinking about what I wanted my golden year of life to be like because I want it to live up to it’s potential.

For the past couple of years, I’ve picked a word that I wanted to be my focus for the year. Something that I could carry with me, day to day, and reflect on at the end of the year. And if you know me, you know that I love words so this is a very fun thing for me. As I reflected on what I wanted 2017 and my golden year of life to be like, I finally settled on a word: MAGICAL. There are a few reasons for my choice:

1. It’s my golden year of life and I want it to be a glittering, sparkling and an all around magical year that I can reflect back on. I want to make choices each day that bring a little more magic to my life because how great does that sound?
2. I had some very exciting things happen to me (going to Disneyland for Christmas, friends coming up for New Years & winning tickets to go to the freaking BACHELOR PREMEIRE PARTY IN LA!!!! ***blog post to come about that one!) so it just seemed appropriate.
3. When I was getting my nails done recently, I was sharing with my nail artist about how Kelsey and I won tickets to go to the premiere of the Bachelor in LA and she was so excited for me and told me that in her culture, if something great happens to you at the start of the new year, you are destined to have a great year!

Thus, I decided that magical would be my word for the year and something I would strive to make my life reflect through the choices I make. When this year is over, I want to be able to look back and say that I lived life in a way that reflected the magic of my golden year of life. And I hope that by making choices to cultivate a magical life, it will become something that stretches beyond just this year.

With all that in mind, I have been thinking of a few things I want to make my focus during this magical year. They’re kind of like goals, some of them concrete and some of them a little more abstract. I’m not very good with resolutions and I always want to overload myself with things I want to achieve and I never get any of them done because it’s just too much. This year, I decided to pick three things I would focus on that would help me create a magical year.

Be Fearless. I talked about this a bit in my last blog post on my old site, but I really want this to be a focus of mine this year. I know that I tend to hold myself back from things because I’m fearful that it might have an unsavory outcome, but I know that that is no way to live life. If I want to create a magical year and a full life, I can’t be afraid of things anymore. With this focus in mind, there are three things that I would like to achieve this year that would show I have done my best to live a fearless life.

1. Take a dance class. I’ve talked about doing this forever, but I’ve always been a little afraid that I’m not the dancer I claim to be. But honestly, who cares?! Dancing is one of my favorite ways to move and makes me feel so free and beautiful (despite my strange dance moves), so I think this is something I need to do.
2. Travel solo to a new place outside of California. I did a bit of traveling last year and loved getting to explore new places, but I kind of want to see what it would be like to travel on my own. Getting to set my own agenda sounds wonderful and freeing!
3. Finish writing two novels. This has been a goal of mine each year and each year I fail because I just don’t carve out enough time for the thing I love most in this world. But no more! I will achieve it this year! And I don’t mean finishing in the sense of it being ready to send off to a publisher, by any means. Ready to send off to friends to read and edit is my ultimate goal here.

Obviously being fearless goes beyond just achieving these three things, but these are three concrete goals that I can measure my success by. If I could accomplish these three things in this area of focus this year, I would feel like I lived a life without fear and pushed myself to try new things that I’ve always wanted to do, but never felt like I could actually do.

Be less wasteful. I know this one is going to be majorly difficult, but it’s always something I’ve felt strangely guilty about. I’ve just become more aware of the areas in my life where I could waste less and thus feel better about how I’m using all that’s been entrusted to me.

1. Collect moments, not things. I struggle with feeling like I have to have all these nice things that other people have in order to have a good life. I also struggle with being really present in moments. Combined, these things can be really negative and I’ve seen how they’ve turned me into a negative person at times. This year, I want my focus to be on buying less things in order to feel like I have a good life and more on living in moments and realizing those memories are what make a good life.
2. Use my time wisely. For me, this means using the free time I have in my schedule to pursue the things I’m passionate about. I’ve used not having enough time as an excuse to ignore my writing when in actuality I did have enough time, I just didn’t want to put in the work. I don’t want to let myself do that anymore.
3. Be a good steward. This is something that I learned from my time at Chick-Fil-A and will probably always carry with me. Simply put, it just means using everything that has been entrusted to you – time, money, recourses, etc. – wisely and with care.

These are going to be a little harder to achieve since they aren’t as tangible as the last three, but just writing them down helps me to be more mindful of these things daily! And I got a planner that I actually plan on using, so already I think that’s a big win.

Take care of myself. Last year was rough for me where my person is concerned. A lot of different circumstances played into me creating a really negative outlook on life, my purpose, and myself and that left a really sour taste in my mouth. That’s not the person that I want to be, so I wanted to spend this year building a new me, but that means focusing on taking care of myself physically, spiritually, mentally and emotionally.

1. Be mindful of my nutrition and find a workout routine that I love. If I’m being honest, this is the area in my life that has always been (and will probably always be) the biggest struggle for me. I want to lose weight, eat better and live a healthier lifestyle overall, but I’ve always gone about it the wrong way. So, instead of making my size a goal this year – even though it’s still in the back of my mind – I want to focus on finding a workout routine that mixes in all the things I actually like doing and being more mindful of my nutrition and the things that I’m putting in my body.
2. Seek out professional help. I think I’ve always know that I’ve struggled with some sort of anxiety and compulsive need to overthink everything, but this last year was bad for me in this area. I’ve thought about seeking help, but never really knew the right steps to take. Plus, I was worried about how others might react. But this year has taught me that mental health is not something you should ignore, nor be embarrassed to pursue.
3. Choose me. I am a people pleaser in the sense of I want other people to be happy. I want to be the one that shows up for you, supports you, and helps you any time you need it. I’ll go out of my way to make things easier for someone else, even if that makes it harder on me. But I’ve realized that while it’s great to hold your friends as a high priority, that doesn’t mean that you aren’t allowed to choose yourself once and while. In fact you have to be okay with choosing yourself if you really want to be happy.

Out of all of my focuses and goals, I think these are going to be the most challenging for me because they are all so me-centric. But the last thing I want is another repeat of last year and I think taking these three things to focus on where my personal health is concerned will help me avoid that.

I honestly can’t wait to see what 2017 brings! With all the exciting opportunities in front of me this year and with a few new focuses in mind, I know that it’s going to be a year full of possibilities and MAGIC! Stay tuned for updates on how these things are coming and be on the lookout for more blog posts!