Hmmm kaaaayyyy, we’ve all heard this statement a few hundred times + it seems that everywhere we turn someone is telling us how ‘finishing the year strong’ is key for setting ourselves up for success in the new year. Whether you’re an entrepreneur hustling for a killer Q4; or someone who has put health as a priority + isn’t willing to let the Holiday Season Food Frenzy kill your groove, finishing the year strong is a way of finding completeness with the year. It’s about closure, the ultimate in Follow-Through, and about giving yourself something to REALLY celebrate on New Year’s Eve. I am not here to argue this perspective, but I am here to offer some perspective, because, well… LIFE.

As a relatively new solo-preneur, I have put much blood, sweat + tears into setting goals; employing strategies, re-visiting what worked + what didn’t + working hard at doing what I have to in order to ‘finish strong’ from quarter to quarter, month to month, week to week + day to day. I take workshops + courses, listen to podcasts, read books, engage in challenges, hire coaches + participate in support groups to keep my biz flowing in the direction of growth + to keep me in the game of finishing strong in all that I do.

I was on track to finish strong. I had the plans + the inspired motivation to execute a strong finish in 2018. I saw this as an awesome segue to a strong 2019. And then Life lifed.

When Life Throws You A Curve

My mom died + in the weeks I spent by her side during her graceful transition to her Spirit + Soul Life, I lost track of my goals + my plans + what I needed to do to achieve a strong finish to the year. My goal was to help my dying mother feel loved + feel safe + feel ready to let go. My goal was also to step up my mindful presence when it was most needed. To give myself permission to fully just Be where I wanted + needed to. I would never have the luxury of a do-over of this experience.

I detached from all things biz in the most responsible ways I could. I didn’t abandon my business, but my attention + energies did go in a different direction. One that I CHOSE for myself. I stepped away from my plan to finish strong in the final quarter of the business year + instead chose to SHOW UP strong for my mom in her final days of LIFE. And it taught me that we can plan + plan + plan our lives, but LIFE is gonna life + that is where the lessons lie.

A New Kind of Finishing Strong

You see, Beautiful Dreamers, in the re-jigging of my focus, my plans to finish the year strong took on a new look + my focus shifted in the most beautiful + self-honouring way.

• instead of trying to be more visible in my biz, I gave myself permission to get quiet + to look inward to see what I truly needed to heal.
• instead of filling my days with tasks, I gave myself space to lean into the grief + not try to bypass the healing process.
• instead of telling those who asked how I was doing that I was ‘fine,’ I told them the truth. Sometimes it was, “I’m okay,” sometimes it was, “I’m really sad” + other times it was, “I’m pissed off at the world.” But I chose to NEVER say I was fine when I wasn’t, just for others’ sake.
• instead of being the one to be there to support everyone + help them to rise, I allowed myself to lean on others, to ask for support + to practice the art of receiving, which is never an easy task for me, but I did it.
• instead of ‘muscling through’ in true superhero fashion, I let myself feel ALL the feels associated with such a great loss. I did some deep inner work to release myself of the pain + guilt + old stories from my past. It got ugly but it felt like freedom.

A Shift in Thought

I think about my plans to finish strong this year + whatever that meant to me before my mom passed away has shape-shifted into something even more empowering + healing than numbers + dollars. I am finishing the year strong in a different way now. A way that feels much more powerful, much more in flow + much more aligned to how I want to feel in my life, always. As I set my intentions for 2019, I have the reminder that Life happens FOR US, not TO US + sometimes we have to re-define what that means for ourselves. But, regardless of the twists and turns life hands us, when we are true to what really matters to us, we will always finish strong.

With light, love + empowered action always,

Shari xo