Work is good when it points you in a specific direction…
I knew what my goals were…
but where did I want to go with them? 

I believe there’s a point in every persons life where they look around at the life they’ve built for themselves and ask the question, “Is this it? Is this all I’ve got?”. I’ve spoken to enough of you both young and old to know that I’m not alone when it comes to hitting this wall at some point.

As common as this may be, this year is the first year that I’ve looked around at my life and asked that exact question. It’s a new feeling for me. Each year up until this point I’ve looked on to the next year with childlike excitement and expectancy. This is the first year that the thought of the number on the cake makes my stomach turn a little.

Oh…did I forget to mention that my birthday is in 12 days? Well…my birthday is in 12 days. I turn 27 in 12 days. 27.

This is the first year that I will look at the number on my cake and say…woah…thats a big number and feel a little weary of it I must admit.

Weary not necessarily because I feel old, but simply because of where I thought I would be by now and the knowledge of what I still need to do to get there.

Where did I think I would be? Well I for-sure thought I would be living on my own, or that IF I were staying at home it would be out of convenience, not need. I also thought I’d be married with children (HAAAAAA). I thought I’d be some kind of world changer…I really at that time, and still do, have a passion for children & teens who don’t have the resources to even have the dreams that I dreamt for myself, and wanted to be a part of something that would help get them those resources so that they could dream the biggest of dreams. I dreamt of high-rises in New York City and little yellow taxi cabs. I dreamt of traveling all over for work connections and business meetings.

I think a little bit of the weariness that comes with this birthday is the question that I’ve been asking myself…are those dreams still possible? Are they still possible with the student loans I’ve accumulated? Are they still possible with the 9-5+? Are they still possible with the extra bills I’m now responsible for (because adulthood..)? To be honest, I’ve been afraid to dive into answering these questions before today, afraid because I didn’t want the answer to be no. Which…it isn’t. It just requires something different, a push. A restart.

what comforts of now am I willing to sacrifice to get to where I want to be?

Obviously some of those original goals are not going to happen (like I’m not planning on having any babies tomorrow THANK YOU, NEXT), but after some thought and getting them down on paper, (I think best when it’s written down) I’ve decided that yes, some of those dreams may still be attainable, even if they look a little different. They come with an extra question tho, and that question is, “what comforts of now am I willing to sacrifice to get to where I want to be?” Which is followed up with a question that challenges me to renew my vision for myself. “Where exactly do you want to be, Nicole?” I may not necessarily feel as drawn to life in a big busy city as I was at 17, but I gain a similar level of excitement (maybe more so) when I think about the ability to achieve financial freedom over the next year. I may not be able to be the youngest organizer of a non profit organization, but I can put in the foot work to connect with the ones in my community and see how I can best partner with them. I definitely wont be able to travel as much as I’ve dreamed this year, but I can set myself up financially and guarantee myself a few trips for the following year with proper budgeting and discipline.

It looks like year 27 isn’t going to be that awful after all, and quite honestly I knew it wouldn’t be. It’s just going to be a year of work. And work is good when it points you in a specific direction and I think that’s what I was lacking when I first looked at the upcoming year. I knew what my goals were…but where did I want to go with them? I needed to refocus real quick. I had the goals (my target) but I didn’t have the direction or intention of how to set myself up for those goals. It’s one thing to say “this year I want to loose 30lbs” but it’s another thing completely to say “this year I’m going to go to the gym 3x a week and eat these types of foods so that by this time I will be down by 30lbs”. Someone who really helped me break that down mentally is Stacy Flowers. I found her on youtube and her video “5 Habits that changed my life” helped me to connect that difference between intention and goals. It makes perfect sense, but sometimes I just need someone to say it out loud for me to go “Ohhh….right” and put it into action.

Today I’m determined to look upon year 27 with excitement. There will be fatigue. There will be frustrations. There will be tears (many I’m sure…i’ve become a cry baby lately and it’s a beautiful thing..but that’s another post). But there will also be seeds of discipline & self control, seeds of prosperity and wealth, seeds of increase that I will be sowing and I will be eager to reap the fruits of this coming season.

The new year is approaching us, I know I’m not the only one looking ahead and wanting something more than this year was able to provide. So let’s talk about it. Tell me about your goals, your dreams that you thought you had to let go and how you’re going to use this new year to restart, renew and refocus your vision. Let’s not stop at simply setting goals, but let’s be determined to live everyday on purpose. Let’s be intentional. I’m rooting for you! I’m planning on keeping track of my goals for this year right here on this page. If you enjoyed this you’ll want to subscribe so you don’t miss out on any of these posts.

Chat with me below. Let’s walk together on this journey!