Celebration is a necessary part of growth.

It is so easy to focus on what we need to do, what we haven't done or all of the fear and anxiety we have about our future selves.

But it is not without accomplishment and hard work we have gotten to where we are — even if the location is different than planned — and we have got to take time to celebrate that!

So go on, give yourself some space to celebrate! What is something you are proud of yourself for enduring, overcoming, taking on, walking away from or purely acknowledging in your life?

Hold it. Honor it and remind yourself in the moments when everything feels beyond impossible or like you have gotten anywhere that it’s just a new mountain. It’s meant to feel hard. And, this is not the first time you have stood in the face of adversity.

Are you creating your own suffering?

Have you ever caught yourself saying something like":

“I have to do…”

“She made me…”

“No matter what I do…”

“No one else will…”

It’s easy to make other people the problem. It’s easy to write a story that absolves you of any power or control. You’re stuck. Life is hard and there is nothing you can do.

There’s convenience in this. If everyone else is the problem, you have no control, sure, but also no responsibility. Your life is a product of uncontrollable circumstances and all you can do is ride the ride. It’s not worth trying to make things better or different — they just are the way they are.

But are you ready for a painful yet super exciting reality? You actually can control a lot more than you think. Sure, you can’t stop someone from making an ask, having an expectation or projecting some feeling or thought onto you. You can’t control what you or anyone else has done in the past. And there’s no true way to control or predict the future.

But you can control how you respond. You can control how much of someone else’s story you take on. You can decide what defines you and from what mindset and emotional root you lead your life.

There is always a choice. Don’t create a story of perpetual suffering. Dare to walk bravely into a story you get to be the lead in.

Don't buy any more self-help books.

How many self-care books do you have on your shelves right now?

How many podcasts, events, workshops have you attended trying to find the right answer to unlock your best life?

Stop. Those tools are great. Powerful even.

But they don’t mean anything if you aren’t taking them deeper.

The only way to see meaningful change in your life is to show up and put the work in.

The skills, insight and ahas have to be filtered through your own story and process. It has to be painful, lonely, intense and overwhelming — at least for awhile. You have to unlearn the stories you have lived under and write something new. You have to be willing to let go of everything and trust that you are worthy of rebuilding.

What are you waiting for?

One of the best pieces of advice I have ever been given was:

“Start before you’re ready.”

Ready is subjective.

Sure there are some objective components to readiness — some universal standards — but when it comes to whatever that thing is you have been longing, wishing, wanting and hoping to do, you’re ready.

There will never be a day you wake up and feel like it’s the perfect time to start.

So just start now.

Let it be imperfect and all over the place. Learn as you go. Just stop wasting your time waiting for the right moment.