Setting an Intention for 2018

December is racing by and while we still have over two weeks left in 2017, I feel like January will be here before I know it. I've started thinking a lot about next year and what I hope to achieve both personally and professionally. I don't have all of the answers yet, and I don't ever expect to, nor will I be making a list of resolutions. Instead, I'm going back to something I've done in years past and choosing a word to guide me. 

This was my birthday present to myself. PC: The Giving Keys

This year, I've settled on "let go," technically a phrase I know, and treated myself to a bracelet from The Giving Keys inscribed with these words. I let things stay with me longer than they should. Too often I allow events and people from the past influence how I feel about myself and future endeavors. I forget the positives and focus on the negatives, missing the lessons learned and the fact that these "failures" wouldn't have even been possible in years past. I can fall into the trap of living by out-dated rules and beliefs set by society and myself. For 2018, I'm going to work on letting it all go.

In 2018 I will be brave, go after new opportunities, embrace people and places and most importantly myself, unencumbered by the past. That isn't to say that I won't allow the valuable lessons and experiences I've had guide me, but I won't let them rule me. I will take the past for what it is, and allow the present and future to unfold without excess baggage (though the occasional carry-on may slip in from time to time). 

Now, before I let the future take over, I'm going to thoroughly live in the present and enjoy these last 16 days of 2017!

Do you have a word or goal for 2018?