Have you ever heard the quote about how a flower doesn’t care what the flower next to it looks like, it just blooms anyway? We can all learn something from that, but this isn’t a conversation about knowing your worth and shining brightly in the garden of life. 

No, this is about not asking those around you to bloom before they are ready. 

One of the hardest parts of your self-development journey is accepting that the people around you might not be on a journey of their own, or at least not in the same place that you are. Once we start down this growth journey, we are ready for everyone to join us right away. You know the difference it makes in your life, and you begin to recognize all the ways those closest to you could live fuller lives, and you want so desperately for everyone to be there with you. 

One could liken this moment to when you first fall in love. Everything is good, you walk on clouds, and you want to shout from the...

When was the last time you got dressed up for a date or an outing? Do you remember how many times you changed your mind about what you were going to wear? Or how you were going to do your hair? You might have had the perfect outfit in mind all week and when the time came to get dressed you had your whole closet on the bed looking for something else to wear. It might be a bit of a stereotype that women change their minds a lot, but it is something all humans are allowed to do. 

Maya Angelou told us to “do the best with what you know, and when you know better, do better.” Think about the changes that have happened over time because someone chose to change their mind. Someone said, there has to be a faster way to get from place to place, so they began looking for an alternative to horse-drawn carriages. Someone chose to stop accepting joint pain as a symptom of old age and created joint replacements. Someone chose to reach for a faster communication solution...

For the last few weeks, I’ve been talking about self-love and self-worth, and of course, you’ve heard me talk before about self-discovery, finding Purely You, and continuing to grow and evolve. This is my bread and butter, one could say. Without people who continue to want to be better versions of themselves, I’d be out of a job. 

Despite all of that, there is one thing I haven’t really talked about before, that I think is important for you to understand. 

Self-Acceptance does not hinder self-growth. 

Sometimes on this self-growth journey, we begin to judge ourselves for where we are at now. Or get impatient with where we want to be. This is one of those times, we have to take a lesson from our toddlers. 

At that age, your little one is not shy about their feelings, the good, the bad, and the ugly. They do not care what people think of them. And they are not in any hurry to be something other than exactly who...