Dear Future Me (the 2014 edition) - When I Grow Up

Dear Future Me (the 2014 edition) - When I Grow Up Photo by Sean MacEntee and new added by me. This is the fourth time Ive written a Dear Future Me letter. You can read the others  here  and  here  and here  (and why I didnt write one last year here), and the idea behind the Dear Future Me letter from the amazeballs woman I stole it from (hi Jess LC!) right  here.   Before writing this letter, I was also struggling with my Word of the Year. Boundaries? Simplify? Efficiency? Ease? Discomfort? Growth? They all didnt click quite right with me. But from this letter, the Word of The Year became clear (and I had no fear! didya hear?): New. Hence, the photo above.   I was also surprised as to how general the letter was this year. I usually get super specific as to exactly what I do for myself and my businessbut that didnt show up this time around and thats OK. I think being more Open lends itself to sticking with New. Like past years, I decided to keep some things privatebut this is about 95% of the letter below.   January 1st, 2015 Dear Future Michelle, 2014. It feels like the year of Uncomfortable Growth, but in all the right ways. Uncomfortable to scale back on your business, on All The Things you normally aim to do, on being oh-so-aggressive with meeting your financial goals, on no longer aiming to help All The People. Uncomfortable to niche down, become smallerbut it feels expansive, even though it’s contradictory. It feels expansive because 2014 was the year of enjoyment, of energy, of simplification, of taking care, of stillness and steadiness. It was also the year of Newness. You enveloped a new way of treating yourself: by slowing down, by establishing and upholding boundaries,   by taking breaks and doing more of the things that are “just” fun, by not putting so much on your plate, by not feeling like you’re spinning your wheels, by making health and nutrition your focus, by making decisions based on relationships and connections. You enveloped a new way of running your business: by saying No with kindness to anything that wasn’t part of The Yes Bubble, by streamlining and becoming more efficient,   by not buying into things you don’t need, by taking ownership instead of relying solely on delegation, by truly trusting that the turtle wins the race, by living by Fun and Ease. You enveloped a new way of treating others: by communicating what you need (even if it’s not what you think the other person wants to hear), by upholding your integrity and honesty and kindness, by asking for help, by not leading by obligation or guilt or fear, by being fully present for all conversations, by reaching out and checking in earlier and more frequently than usual, by forgiving and releasing more easily than usual. 2014 was nothing short of a year of transformation. You can feel it now, inside. You can look around and see it, outside. New beliefs. New intentions. New strengths. New relationships (or the same relationships, in a new way). New hope. A new start. Love,  Current Michelle Did you come up with a Word of the Year and/or write a Dear Future Me letter? If ya did, dont forget to load it in to futureme.org and schedule it to be sent on the date at the top of the letter. So cool! Anyway, Id love to hear what you uncovered in the comments!