Spring Fever & The Change I'm Craving

“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”

I’m currently writing this from my bed in workout clothes with coffee number 3 in hand. It’s already 3pm. It appears to be beautiful outside today, although I have not yet left the house as I basically locked myself in my room until I came up with today’s topic.

You might be thinking, “Weren’t you supposed to work on your bad procrastinating habits?” Ok maybe you were’t thinking that, but I totally was. I really am working on it, I swear!

After literally debating with myself for hours on which topic to cover, (please tell me I am not the only one who does this) I felt compelled to simply just write what was on my heart today.

Here it is.

In just a couple of weeks, we will be transitioning into a new season and if you haven’t already noticed from this “not so wintry outfit” – I’ve got spring fever. I’ve got it bad.

It’s not just the increase in temps that I find myself longing for. I mean don’t get me wrong, I am completely ready to ditch the layers, but what I am craving more than anything else right now is change.

While I have already implemented some incredible changes in my day-to-day routine that have been helping me tremendously, there is still a different kind of change that I am seeking. It’s that take me to the next level of my life kind of change. You know the one I’m referring to, right?

Every so often, I find myself going through these stagnant phases, where I feel a bit too complacent. Maybe it’s just me being too comfortable or playing it too safe? I wouldn’t call this a rut. I actually take it as a sign that I need to start challenging myself more, whether that be creatively, professionally, personally or even a mix of all the above.

Right now, it’s definitely a combination of the three.

naty michele wearing a beret and off the shoulder top

Creatively, I have been at a standstill. I am constantly trying to come up with new ideas for my content to keep it fresh and engaging, but lately I have been a little torn in terms of the creative direction that I want to take here.

I know that my blog posts have become less frequent over these last several months. I’ll spare you the excuses as to why. As someone who still wholeheartedly believes your blog should be your number one and wrote a lengthy article on the topic, I do feel like a hypocrite sometimes when I write only 1-2 posts a week.

Insert hands covering eyes emoji.

I am still in the process of “figuring things out” for this site as we dive deeper into 2018. And that’s OK, right? After doing this daily for 6 years, you often get to these little stops along the way, where you’re looking back on how far you’ve come and ahead at how much further you still need to go. During this time I tend to not only reflect, but reevaluate as well.

I actually see this as a positive thing because it means that you are trying to grow. It’s good to be hungry for more.

Professionally, I am more than ready to take the next step. The only problem here is that I still don’t know exactly what that step should be. I’ve played around with the idea of wanting to create a new platform and while that’s still on my agenda for the year, I know what I’m truly craving for goes further than that.

I should quickly note here that I know I have touched on this topic before, so forgive me if you are tired of reading/hearing about it. The more I write about it though, the more motivation it gives me to figure it all out.

I have always wanted this blog to serve as the foundation for what is still to come. Call it a stepping stone if you will. It has definitely pushed me creatively over the years and has helped me to expand and improve on my writing. It feels good to have reconnected with my very first love.

Since I am one of those people who literally wants to do it all, I’m working hard to narrow down my focus so that I can finally answer this burning question of, “What comes next?”

As I watch my close friends welcome new babies and plan weddings, I can’t help but think about what it is that I want next for my own personal life. I think what I need the most right now is this move to NYC as I believe everything else will begin to finally fall into place. I know I said that I wouldn’t bring it up again until I heard back from the board, but truthfully it’s all I can think about. It’s honestly been my biggest distraction lately!

Everything in my life would change and for sure it would challenge me completely. I’m such a firm believer that living outside of your comfort zone is when you are truly living your life. While I have definitely stepped out of my comfort zone many times before, like taking several solo trips out of the country, living completely alone in New York City would keep me on my toes every single day. It would push me and help me grow in ways that I probably didn’t even know were possible. I want that, but more importantly I need that.

So I write all of this to basically say that my word for 2018 is “Change.” Just like the quote I shared up above states, I am focusing all of my energy on building the new.

I’m looking forward to the upcoming switch of seasons as I know with this transition will also come new opportunities and much needed growth.

As always, thank you so much for reading! I hope you’ll share with me some of the changes that you are hoping to make this year. Here’s to challenging ourselves a little bit more every day. We got this!

P.S. I can’t stop wearing Parisian inspired outfits. I think I have also been craving for another solo international trip. Hopefully this will be on the agenda very soon!