5 Things I Let Go Of That Changed My Life

I love the New Year. I love looking back on where we were a year ago and how far we’ve come since, and I love seeing how much we’ve grown and accomplished. This year is no different. We’ve set our goals, we’ve made our peace with the most wonderful time of the year being over for another year, and we’ve welcomed the New Year with excitement. We have big plans for 2018, and we’re excited.

But we’re also excited about what’s changed in the past year. One of my favorite things to do is look back and take note of some of the positive changes that occurred during the year, and most of the time those changes go along with giving something up. 2017 was a year for the books, and it’s been eye-opening seeing how many things we gave up/changed/altered about our lives in the past year that have made life a lot sweeter.

1. Excessive Drinking

We have always been social drinkers, but 2017 was a bit eye-opening for us in terms of just how much we were really consuming. There wasn’t any specific instance or time when we thought we needed to tone it down a bit, but we did. I think it was a culmination of different things. It was a lack of energy, a desire to be more present and feel better, and it was the stage the twins were in.

They turned 3 last year, and they became so much easier. We began taking them more places with us and really enjoying our time with them, but that comes with being that much more exhausted at the end of the day. There came a point when we took the kids to Disney one Saturday night, came home, went to bed, and woke up feeling energized and amazing. Not drinking on Saturday meant waking up Sunday filled with energy – and really good moods.

That feeling was addicting. It wasn’t long before we were going weeks without a drink. During the Fourth of July, I drank sparkling water in my Yeti all night – and I woke up the next day feeling amazing. I loved it. We both loved it. We definitely still drink – there’s no stopping us from ordering a bottle of wine with dinner and enjoying a glass of red each night or drinking when we have a party or attend one. But it’s changed – a lot. It’s one or two drinks instead of 5 or 6. Sometimes it’s just water in the Yeti and no drinks.

We didn’t set out to make this change, but it just naturally occurred. The benefits have been being more energized, healthier, more present, in a better mood, not nearly as tired, and waking up every morning feeling really good has been a plus. It’s also allowed us to be better role models for our kids, and that’s a really good feeling.

2. Letting the Little Things Get to Us

Okay….so….it turns out I’m a little bit of a control freak. A lot neat freak. A major “my way or the highway,” kind of gal. But sometime during the year I managed to stop letting the little things get to me. Let’s not panic, though. I’m still a neat freak. I still can’t leave the house unless it’s perfectly clean or go to bed without it being perfectly clean, or allow anything unused to spend even a second out of place during the day. But…I made great strides letting the little things go.

3. Responding Immediately

I wear an Apple watch, so I get all my messages and my alerts and my calls immediately. I don’t miss a text because my phone is on vibrate on the counter or a call because I can’t hear the phone over the kids. I get everything immediately, and I always felt this overwhelming need to respond the second I got a message or text.

I’m getting better about not doing that. Not that there is anything wrong with being a quick responder – I like that about people. But it was to the point I was interrupting myself, my work, my thought processes to respond to messages in the middle of completing a deadline, and it was slowing me down and making me more productive. I still see the message – though sometimes I don’t read it if I’m really into what I’m doing and don’t want to take a chance of disrupting the flow. I just respond later if I’m super busy, and it’s made it so much easier for me to finish what I started.

4. Letting Go of Guilt

You know, I still feel a little guilty when I’m away from the kids or when I’m out having fun with my girlfriends while Craig is home with the babies, but I let a lot of that go over the course of 2017. Craig and I spend every minute of every day caring for our four kids, my business, his career, and our home. We don’t want to feel guilty when we take off for a weekend in New York twice a few times a year or dating regularly. We want to enjoy the moment and really stop feeling guilty about being away, about asking our parents to babysit, about the kids missing us…our marriage needs our focus and attention, and we realized that we can’t feel guilty about that.

5. Fear of Going Outside my Comfort Zone

I spent the past decade building my business, acquiring a long list of amazing clients, and working hard to earn my reputation in this industry, and I’m very proud of that. I’ve had some amazing opportunities, but I’ve missed out on just as many because I’m very comfortable in my comfort zone and not an inch outside of it.

When I had the opportunity to attend an event in South Florida in January last year, I decided I was not going to let my fear of attending events alone without knowing anyone bother me. I booked a flight before I could talk myself out of it, and I went. I struggled, of course. I hate being in situations where I don’t know people and everyone else already has a friend or a group with them, but I stuck my hand out, smiled, and said, “Hi, I’m Tiffany. What’s you’re name?” and went from there. I made a few new business connections, networked, and really stepped outside my zone of comfort.

And you know what? I hated every second of it, but I was super grateful I did it. I spent my flight home taking notes, making lists, and reveling in the fact I did something that makes me so uncomfortable and made it through. I had no regrets, and decided at that point I was going to push myself to get outside my comfort zone so I could build my personal brand and blog in addition to my professional business. It was liberating, and it’s the thing I’m most proud of letting go.

The New Year is all about embracing new goals and making positive changes in your life, but it’s also about reflecting on what you’ve learned, how much you’ve evolved, and how you can continue to grow in the new year. Looking back on my year in 2017 and getting to see just how much I grew and how much I changed has been amazing. I’m proud of myself, and I’m proud of how I continue to change, grow, learn, and evolve. I feel like I matured a bit in 2017, and I like that (but don’t worry…I don’t plan on maturing too much or ever growing up. I hear it’s a trap, anyway!).

How have you changed in the past year? Where were you a year ago, how were you feeling, and what changed in your life and about you over the course of 2017?