2018 Affirmations

Last year, a good friend walked me through an exercise to come up with a life mantra. I am a naturally suspicious person, so it took a few minutes of getting over the “woo-woo” nature of the exercise for me to take it seriously. When I got through his questions, I had come up with this mantra: “I have the courage to do the things that I am afraid of.” 

It was powerful stuff.

Something about looking myself in the mirror and reminding myself that, even though I might be scared, I could do it scared changed how I saw myself. I believe in the power of words, clearly, and knowing the power of words inspires my writing. After that, I started looking into affirmations and learning more about them.

At the beginning of this year, I set out to write down a few of the most meaningful for me in this season. I expect them to change, but here’s what I’ve got right now.

I am enough. 

Simple. Clear. And yet oh-so-difficult to accept as truth. This is where I start to get centered. In a world that quite literally profits off of me rejecting this truth, I affirm that regardless of where I am or what I am doing, I am enough.

What I do does not define who I am. 

This one helps when I am running around between my 3 jobs, frazzled and unsure of why I signed up for this entrepreneurship life, exactly. It also helps me when I have been asked one too many times, “What do you do?” I have to work to internalize that the clear link that people expect to find between how I spend my time and who I am isn’t always there.

I value time more than money. 

Sometimes this one helps me when I’m feeling broke. Seriously though, I frequently have to take a step back and remind myself that I chose this life, and I am investing for a time. That means that it doesn’t make sense for me to measure my success along how much I’m currently making. I have to actively remind myself that money means rich, but time means wealth.

Homebuilding is a worthwhile pursuit. 

I have moved around quite a bit in the past few years, and now I’m finally in a place where I can put down roots. As I am doing so, though, I’ve gotten some pushback on why I am doing so. I’m not married or degreed up, so I have been told by well-meaning people that I shouldn’t yet start to build a home for myself, because “what if you have to leave it all behind for school? for him? for the next chapter of your life?” My answer to that is that I am my own home, and if I want to buy decent furniture that I’ll keep for awhile, that’s exactly what I’m going to do. More broadly, this one helps me not second guess the decisions I’ve made in the face of well-meaning criticism. I’ve made the choices I’ve made for a reason; people’s lack of understanding of my rationale doesn’t mean that I need to change.

I am financing my dreams. 

Honey child. Let me tell you how much entrepreneurship has humbled me. When I first started out, I knew I was going to cling to my independence tooth and nail. Going backwards was not an option for me. A panelist at an entrepreneurship event last year said that when he was getting started, his philosophy for keeping the lights on at his company was making money by any legal means necessary. That means side hustles, part-time jobs, less than glamorous tasks, whatever it takes to make this dream happen. This one reminds me that however I make my money these days (as long as I can do it legally and with integrity) is nobody’s business but mine. (You get the pun there…ha…okay I’m done.)

I have the courage to do the things I am afraid of. 

This one went through several versions. Originally, it was, “I have the courage to do the things that others are afraid of,” but I didn’t like that it was tethered in any way to other people, and also I don’t know what others are afraid of. I know that I routinely do things that people would never do, and yet you will never catch me going skydiving because I simply like living too much. But when I got to this version, of making my courage relative to what scares ME personally, I knew I had an affirmation I wanted to keep.

I trust myself to do it. I will. 

I have to remind myself of this. Two years ago, the idea for my first company was a sketch in my notebook (literally sketched the homepage of a website in colored pencil). And now it’s real and exists in the world. My dreams don’t just stay dreams. I work to make them happen. For those moments of doubt, or when I’m feeling low, I have to remind myself to trust myself. I extend my trust to others who have earned it; I must do the same for myself.

Here they are one more time, all together:

I am enough.
What I do does not define who I am.
I value time more than money.
Homebuilding is a worthwhile pursuit.
I am financing my dreams.
I have the courage to do the things I am afraid of.
I trust myself to do it. I will.