Wrapping Up 2022

This year has been a BIG and BUSY one for my family; some highlights: in January we moved out of the suburbs of St. Louis into a quieter area…we were ready for a change. This brought on a lot of new lifestyle moves, a new school, new daily routine, and all new activities for the kiddos. We completely uprooted our “normal.” After 13 years in the aesthetic industry, I launched my new practice Racquel Aesthetics in Chesterfield as well as hand selected and hired 16 of the most amazing women to build the practice with. In addition, I launched my skincare brand RFA Medical Grade Skincare, which is sold in the practice and online, allowing me to help men and women all over the world. Last but not least, after 1.5 years in the making we finally finished our farmhouse renovation…our labor of love! Our farm is our secret escape where we will build family memories for the rest of our lives.

Whew…I’m tired just thinking of all that we did in one year! I’m not going to lie and say it was easy. It was very hard at times. It was a lot of late nights sitting in my office with Sal until 1-2am and waking up with the kids at 6am. It was a GRIND. It was working every hour of the day between building my dreams while trying to be the best mom and wife I can be. I say this because I want to be living proof to show you that if you can dream it…you can achieve it!

This was a very transformational year in my life. I took a lot of scary leaps in both my home and professional life. I left a very wonderful, comfortable career and lifestyle to chase my dreams. I got very uncomfortable in hopes of building my dream life. Looking back on the year I can say that every ounce of sacrifice and hardship was 100% worth it. Without change we cannot grow, and I have grown in so many ways this year. I am so thankful for all the hustle, support and growth this past year and know 2023 will be filled with so much gratitude for all the waves that we have created in 2022. To end the year strong I am going to give you a couple tips that will help you close out this chapter and be ready to start the next!

New Year, New Who?

Setting goals and making plans for the new year is always very exciting and usually big things, the whole “new year, new me” mentality. But why don’t we have more of a “new year, new love for me” mentality? It can be easy to get caught up in quick new fads, habit building ideas and becoming “your best self” but the commonality between all those is they do not happen overnight! You can’t just wake up Jan. 1st with a whole new mindset and outlook on life, it takes time and dedication. Not to say you can not become the person you ultimately want to be, just don’t put super short timelines on it. Start with small habits and remember it is okay to not always be motivated, literally no one is!

How to Plan for A New Year

First things first, give yourself grace; we are all just coming down from the holiday high and getting back into a work/school/life routine. Secondly, remember to not start a lot of new things at once, you will get burnt out and “fail” (I use this word loosely) which can make you discouraged. When I set new goals, big or small, I start with the goal itself, then break it down into an estimated timeline. If there is no end date you can work your way up to your goal. For example you want to workout 5 times a week – start with 1-2 for the first couple weeks, then increase to 3 and so on. When there is an end date you can break down the timeline more and then place actionable steps that need to be taken daily/weekly/monthly to be able to accomplish that goal.

Focus on What You Can Control

Too many people are unhappy because they do not accept the things or circumstances that they cannot change or have no control over. This leads to unnecessary frustration, disappointment, suffering and stress. Have you ever heard the prayer?! “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.” You do not have to be religious to see the value offered in this prayer.

Unfortunately, many people make no effort to change the aspects of their lives that they are unhappy with and can change. Instead they try to change things that they have no control over. It really is simple: we should focus our time and energy on the parts of our lives that we can change and accept the ones that we cannot. I know this is easier said than done, and it is something I am working on myself!

Strive for Happiness

You can have a stable workout routine, meditate, journal, have a killer morning routine, get 8 hours of sleep, love your job and whatever else you want but you don’t NEED it. This is what is trendy and what social media makes you think will make you happy and finally “living your best life”. I will bet you are probably happy in the way your life is right now. I always start planning my social calendar with dates and events that bring me the most joy. Sal and I have our weekly dates which mean the world to me, then I add in spaces for dinner with friends or family, kids birthdays, holiday/vacation time and any other yearly events that I make me happy. This gives me lots of great things to look forward throughout the year when you see the rest of the monthly calendar fill up with work and other life things. 

Keep going, we are almost through 2022 and I know you can make it through. I hope 2023 brings you all the best blessings you could ever imagine!

Set Goals

I know in a few weeks a lot of you will be setting your NYE Resolutions! To be honest, I am not a huge New Years Resolution type person. I feel like most people set something unrealistic and then forget about it a week later. I would rather set some goals for myself to work towards through all of next year. Instead of making resolutions, setting measurable goals is more likely to lead to success in seeing your hopes and dreams come to fruition.

Your goals should always be SMART goals. This means they are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-based. For example, instead of saying “I will go to the gym 5 days per week every week” and then being let down when that doesn’t happen change it to “my goal is to maintain a healthy lifestyle long term” and then you break it down into the SMART categories for a real plan. For this fitness goal that would be weighing in weekly, tracking macros, etc. This will give you the motivation to keep going and tracking the progress helps with a sense of accomplishment.

Now is the time! Some other helpful tips when it comes to going after your goals are to avoid comparisons, embrace the failures, enjoy the process (truly, truly enjoy it!) and borrow confidence when you need it. Take action and make goals happen. If you don’t, they never will.

Make YOU A Priority

Sometimes when life gets busy and crazy, the first thing we allow to slip is our wants and needs. You hear me say this all the time, but you can’t pour from an empty cup. If you want to take care of those around you best, then you HAVE to take care of yourself first. And that’s the truth! So take some time to do just that – squeeze that little workout in, get that mani/pedi, take 10 minutes to meditate, whatever feeds your soul – do it! Remember that happiness is a state of being and not a state of circumstances. You deserve this!

Goodbye 2022… You Helped Me Grow

Love finds you when you love yourself, support finds you when you support yourself, and gratitude finds you when you appreciate yourself. The answer is YOU. For a life of value, you first have to value yourself. We are only given one life, one chance at fully living. Know your worth, believe in your dreams, create your own happiness, and design a life you LOVE.

Finishing 2022 strong isn’t about accomplishing every single task on your to-do list. It’s about doing what you can, doing it well, and still enjoying the moment while doing it.

We got this!

XO,

Racquel