We’re coming  to the end of 2017 and when you’re looking back at everything that’s happened – it’s been a big year yeah?

Today, don’t think about all of the pain you’ve felt.   Instead, take a moment to reflect on the STRENGTH you’ve found.  You’ve been through a lot, but give yourself a pat on the back – you’ve come through stronger and more resilient.

Maybe you’re looking back at 2017 and thinking:
– Damn… I could have handled [your challenge] differently
– I’ve learned a lot but not put it into action…
– I’ve started a lot of products but not finished them
– I’ve spent money on things I’ve not even downloaded
– I don’t have what it takes… [and all the other inner voice chatter…]

We’re so critical of ourselves, yeah?   But take a sec.  Tell that ‘you’re not good enough‘ voice in your head to shut up for a minute and REALLY look at everything you’ve learned and accomplished this year. I guarantee you’ve had more successes than you give yourself credit for.

Not too shabby, yeah?  Do you want MORE out of 2018 than 2017?

You’re not alone.  This is as much of a slap of clarity across the face for me as I hope it might be for you too.

I was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Almost 12 years ago I had cancer (still here and kicking!!!).  The diagnosis came by complete fluke… the doctor was searching for something else and ‘accidentally’ the biopsy needle nicked a tiny 0.5cm tumour.  About the size of a grain of rice.

They rushed to operate.  I had surgery to remove the lump just over a week after they found it – and while they operated they discovered it had grown to 2.5cm’s (FIVE TIMES THE ORIGINAL TINY LUMP!) and spread through my lymphatic system.

Talk about a wake up call!  The doctors moved fast, removing cancer, lymph nodes, pushing chemo through my body and hitting it with radiotherapy  – and thankfully I’m still here to tell the story!

Cancer is so common now that it would be absurd to not have had your life touched in some way by it – my heart goes out to you if Cancer is your challenge right now, or the challenge of someone you know or have known and loved in the past.

You’ve probably seen it.  Dealing with any life threatening situation, or the passing of someone who’s touched our lives makes you look at the world differently.  Regret is dumb.  You might have had a bit of a moment of clarity, however fleeing – where everything just came into focus and you can see what’s important to you, what drives you, what it is that gives your life meaning.

Every day I’m grateful to be here.  When i say by ‘fluke’ – if they’d searched a week earlier they wouldn’t have found it… or operated a week later – it would have been a whole new level of (very likely terminal) challenge.  It really makes you think…

Life is short and full of very real, ready and open opportunities.

So what’s stopping us?  I don’t want to give you a bunch of ‘woowoo’ feel good fluff.  In this article I want to give you real, applicable things that YOU can do to make 2018 your best year yet – and hopefully help you shake yourself free of the stuff that’s holding you back.

Have you got opportunities (in business, relationships, health, finances) that are incomplete, either started or done half way there….

Today i want to help you wrap those up.

Why haven’t you done them?  Why have you been putting them off… ?

I think it comes down to one of two big motivations.

1. You don’t want to feel uncomfortable
2. You don’t want to ‘look’ bad

Is it worth it?  If you’re happy then there’s no need to rock the boat – keep on doing your thing… but if you want more happiness, freedom and authentic self expression in your life then I challenge you to keep reading.

Those two things are holding you back from everything you want in life.

Is feeling comfortable and avoiding the possibility of embarrassment worth experiencing the success you want?

Today’s the day to get ‘uncomfortable’ AND happy!

Most of us have unwittingly backed ourselves into a corner of endless stress, heartache and headaches that we just keep reliving over and over

To break out of it you’ve got to do something differently.

Something unusual for you.

Embrace the uncomfortable because – face it – normal isn’t working as well for you as it could be!

Here are 8 things you can do coming into 2018 to nurture massive growth, see incredible breakthroughs and breathe life again into every area of your world and beyond!

1. Challenge your rights and wrongs.  I’m not saying to give up your core values, but you’re never going to experience that arm stretching, spinning around at the top of the mountain type of freedom when you’re closed off to new ideas and feelings.  In fact, opening up to new ideas often gives more strength to your core values.  Freeing yourself of things being right or wrong brings more compassion and freedom into your life when you can look at a situation as just that, a situation.
2. Do something hard.  Go into it without expectations of getting it ‘right’ straight away.  You’re gonna suck and that’s perfectly ok.  I’ve just started painting – it’s not pretty!  I realised, I can’t paint because I can’t draw… so I’ve got to go even further back to basics and learn how to draw.  It would be easy to give up, ’cause all I want to do is paint.  I don’t want to spend time learning to draw (badly.. haha) until I can turn those skills into painting.  Your ‘hard’ might be tougher than a silly art project, but choose something and get started.  Want to build a bigger/better marketing list?  Or write a book?  Start it and finish it.  It doesn’t need to be perfect… it just needs to be complete.
3. Find an accountability partner or community. We’re all so worried about how WE look that we forget that everyone else is trying to do the same and are so involved in their own lives that it’s easy to let good intentions turn into nothing.  Do you want to create a product but keep getting stuck?  Find someone who wants to as well and keep each other on track.  Post in the comments below if you’ve got something you WANT to do but keep getting sidetracked – find someone who can be that person for you.
4. Set meaningful goals and work toward them.  Your happiness will skyrocket when you’re focusing your mind on a purpose that motivates you strongly with a clear goal in focus.  I know… goal setting is boring, it sucks … you have to think and plan.  And … if you lose focus and don’t meet your target we convince ourselves we didn’t really want it anyway.  When you tie it to something you can get excited about you’re much more likely to follow it through all the way to the end.
5. Embrace being human.  It’s so easy to hide behind our gadgets, stop making eye contact, forget to ask about people.  Get present, turn your phone off sometimes.  We’re all so worried about appearing perfect, looking good to other people that most of our interactions are becoming more rehearsed, pre scripted and lacking in REAL connection.  This isn’t an attack on millennials – I love my phone as much as the next person, but bringing in a few hours where the phone is OFF (not just silent/DND) can reset everything.  Contrary to what your brain is screaming at you now, you will in fact, be fine.  If there’s an emergency big enough, there are other methods that people can use to reach you – and, your brain will appreciate a break from all of the notifications and distractions.  It will all be there still when you get back.
6. Make time for people that matter.  Be intentional about the times you spend with (or without) people.  Instead of just being places because you have to be there, CHOOSE where your time is being spent.   Stick to it so that when you’re there, you’re actually there.  With practice it gets easier to slow the mind down and start to become present again – once again, huge happiness booster!
7. Invest in YOU.  It doesn’t matter how much you think you hate exercise and eating healthy, we all know that when we’re doing it – we function better.  Our thinking is clearer, we’ve got more mental focus and energy.  This is my biggest challenge… just throwing it out there on the accountability side of things – so I’m giving you permission to keep me in check.
8. Have ‘New Years’ Every Month.  The end of the year is a time when we all just slow down, take a break and reassess things.  We get excited and look forward to a fresh start, a clean slate, a new chance to do that thing we’ve been wanting to do.  Why not make things a bit more fun and do this at the end of EVERY month.  Treat yourself to a nice dinner, a glass of wine and reassess.  Be kind to yourself, what did you nail – what challenges did you face that made you stronger, what new (or old, unfinished) challenge to you want to take on this coming month.

May as well make it count, yeah!

So here’s my challenge to you for 2018:

CHOOSE the life you’re living.  Choose to be uncomfortable.  To get up and go to the gym when the comfortable option is to sleep in.  Choose a life that’s incredible instead of living a mediocre life.  Choose to stand up for your beliefs when you might have otherwise remained silent.  Choose to ask that question, instead of remaining silent out of fear that someone might laugh.

Choose a life of discomfort and looking silly – every day… prove to yourself you’re more.  With everything you’ve been through to this point of your life… you’re meant for bigger things than normal, boring and (bleh…) average – and if you ever need a kick in the pants, bookmark this page, there’s a whole world of people ready to nudge you back to extraordinary!

• Did any of these jump out at you?
• Have you faced a challenge that woke you up in 2017 or earlier that kicked your ass for a bit – and then … you just got back into ‘comfortable’…?
• Do you want to make a declaration about what 2018 is going to be for you?

Share your stories, journey’s and goals for 2018 in the comments below!   Your comment might be that little nudge that someone else in the Wildfire Concepts community needs to hear to make their move into a BIGGER, BETTER 2018!