As I sit here and type this out its a little bit surreal! We all survived the hardest year we never thought we would have to face! Seriously!! Have you forgotten where we have been together since March?! Maybe you need to do a quick year in review and give yourself a huge pat on the back!!

It’s SO easy to think YAY it’s a new year!! Time to plan everything out to a t and make sure that this is MY YEAR. After 2020 I don’t know if any year will truly be our year. Every year is God’s year. God knows all the details to our life. He knows where we are wanting to go but he also knows where he wants and needs us to go. That is KEY in planning.

Looking to Our Heavenly Father

As we leave 2020 and look forward to 2021; the number one thing I am looking to is my Heavenly Father. He is the one that carried me through 2020. I wasn’t unaffected from this year. I don’t think anyone was. We were all dealt what we could and currently can handle. Our Heavenly Father would not give us a trial to overcome if he didn’t know that we could handle it. We have the ability to transform a trial into something beautiful not only for ourselves but for others.

My Mental Health was the number one area I was affected. It definitely took the hugest toll of everything this year. I’m shocked that I’m here where I am today! I am most proud of one thing this year. That I started Nicole Carey Co. and that I am following my heart! I’m SO excited to see where it will take us together! This is just the beginning!!

Gratitude

Everyone left this year with something that they could learn from themselves, others or the world in general. My number one thing that I have learned this year is: Gratitude.

Never in my life have I had more gratitude. The people I have in my life, the things I have around me and most importantly my faith. My faith has held me up throughout the ups and downs of this year!

2020 taught me that no matter what, we are able to push through the adversary that we are faced and that there is always good in everything that is placed in our life. YES — EVERYTHING!

Whether you find the reasoning behind something that happened to you this year right when it occurred or in five years from now.. you will truly look back and be grateful for that experience.

Having goals and a life plan are so SO important but without gratitude our goals begin to not be as bright, happy and optimistic as they could. Sometimes its not about what happened to us.. but how we take what has happened to us and transformed that into something that is beneficial to us.

Creating from your Trials

2020 for me; I saw a void in my creative side of life, found extra time with being at home and found the gap I needed to fill in order to push towards my goals. I found gratitude for the trying time/year I was placed in, used it to propel me forward and found a HUGE silver lining in what could be considered to most the most horrible year of life!

We can always wish for a better outcome or a better situation in our life. There is nothing like using our current reality to our advantage in all areas. We can learn more about ourselves when we process, use and let our trials push us towards our goals. Or, we could sit in our own pity and “why me” attitude letting it dismay us. I think you already know which of the two I would choose!

I love doing research on companies & entrepreneurs. Their mindsets within their own life and how they got to where they are today. Most every successful entrepreneur used their disadvantages to their advantages. All of them have such inspiring stories of how they got started and what pushed them to want more in their life.

Successful businesses that we know of today were once founded in a Recession of some sort. Isn’t that crazy?! Do the research for yourself and you’d be shocked! Companies like: Microsoft, Netflix, Airbnb & SO many more! These people all took what was hard for them and made it work for them in return. Look where they all are today!

Where do you want to GROW

All of the businesses listed above, saw something they could create from their trials that they were placed in. They each wanted to GROW and create something from what they knew or what they were passionate about.

Starting Nicole Carey Co. this year has shown me an immense amount about myself. Who I want to be. Where I want to grow. How I’m going to get there. What I need to give up now in order to do so. It’s been interesting to watch my goals shift and morph since June while some have stayed completely the same!

I have now had Nicole Carey Co. for six months! December 30th which is tomorrow marks 6 months exactly since I launched NCC. Boy has it been one crazy ride! I have a laundry list of areas that I want to grow and succeed in during 2021. From the bottom of my heart, I am so very grateful for each of you! Without you this would be nothing and I can’t wait to see where 2021 will take us together!

I challenge you to look at where you’re at now and where you want to be. Find how you’re going to get there and what you need to change to do so! Growing and goal setting isn’t easy. BUT! It sure is worth it once you start to see yourself change and grow into who you want to be!

Cheers to 2021! May it be WAY BETTER than 2020 in all ways for you and your family!!

xo,