It’s the last day of November, the month that I swore I would launch Blooming Business Kits, and I have no launch to share.

Instead, allow me to share this:

My dear friend Heather Crabtree sat across from me in a rocking chair.

It was the end of Day 3 of Inspired Retreat and we had just wrapped up a long hike to the waterfall. We were sitting there in our rocking chairs with our feet up, quietly rocking away in the September afternoon sunlight.

We exchanged normal conversation, which for us, is always what’s next in our business/what are the problems right now/where do we want to be/how do we get there. Standard entrepreneurial friend talk that is so much better and REAL when you’re face to face, versus digitally over texts, phone calls and hangouts.

She turned to me at one point in our conversation, and said both lovingly and seriously: “Amber, I really know that 2017 is your year. I hope you know that, too. I hope you give yourself the opportunity to really shine. You deserve it.”  

Her words have rolled around in my head for 3 months now.  

After Inspired, I started taking small steps to what 2017 could look like for my business. As I do with any new idea, I then over-ambitiously planned for the end of 2016. I added new resources to help grow, I planned, mapped and strategized all the things I’ve wanted to do.

AND I was even going to take you along for the entire ride with me sharing all of it through blog posts, emails, Facebook lives, etc., etc. etc….(see this post here!)

Then, life happened.

So, right now I’m feeling sort of scattered, maybe a little disorganized, and the classic “I’ve fallen behind” business paralyzing syndrome creeps in here and there.

Yet, somehow in all of this, I’m remarkably not defeated!

Before you call me crazy asking what juice I’m drinking, let me take you back to the start of 2016…

You see, I’ve been thinking about the year as a whole a lot lately. Earlier this month in the Cultivate What Matters Shop, we released the 2017 PowerSheets goal planner workbooks. As a team, we have already started to prepare for 2017 goal planning, so I’m mentally preparing for my personal PowerSheets that I’ll work on the week of December 12th.

In January, I selected my word for 2016: light.

I love choosing a word not only because it is a prompt in PowerSheets, but my friend Ali Ewards founded the One Little Word movement and the word always serves as a good guiding point for me. 

The word light has served me well. I wanted to feel lighter this year, be a light, and find light in some of the darkness and heaviness I carried in 2015. The word was like a warm, cozy and encouraging sweater promising that there was good ahead.

Definition of light:a natural thing that makes things visibleprovide with light, illuminate
to make something; start burning
not dark

2016 was indeed a year of illuminating, making things visible, and to start burning again.  

Ali explains the process in choosing her own word and that more often than not, the word finds her, and she’ll “sit with it for a while.” I found many words coming to me this month that I “sat with” (one standout was “whole”) but when I came across “shine,” it felt just right.

Now, I know it sounds a lot like light, but in actuality is different and immediately felt very different for me. Shine delights me in a whole new way.

Definition of shine:
of the sun or another source of light
to give out a bright light
a quality of brightness, especially from reflected light

I didn’t think back my conversation with Heather until this week. It’s funny how the word has been weaving itself in the story. It feels like a natural continuation of the word light but in a completely different manner and chapter of this season of life.

So on this close of the eve of December, I have no course to share. 

I know that good things take time. We’re just getting started, friends.

Like you, I’m only able to do so much. I had planned to give you a behind the scenes of making the course, and how I’m running a business, on top of working full-time, and having young children…and I was going to package it in all these helpful ways! Instead, this is your look.

I’m waiting, just like you. Hanging in there, just like you. The spark has ignited, but we all simply need more time. 

This is just a season, friends.

I know that my day to shine will come…just like you. 

I do however, have plenty of other things I have been working on to inspire you! Check these out:

My Creative Empire Podcast interview is live! Have a listen.

Inspired Retreat is April 9-12, 2017. You can find the recaps of our last retreat here and here. Speaker submissions are open through Monday. Registration will open in a few weeks!

I’m joining my friend Leah Remmilet’s 12 Days of Giving on Instagram. Don’t miss out when we get started December 1!

Facebook Live: Making the Most of 2016Facebook Live: 3 Things I’m Telling Myself Right Now