When was the last time that you reflected on how far you’ve come?
On Wednesday night, my husband Frankie & I were at Adriana Enoteca, one of our favorite Italian restaurants in San Diego.
We both left our phones in the car so we could be fully present with each other- no technology distractions!
Towards the end of the evening, Frankie went to the restroom and because I didn’t have a phone to distract me… I started to look around at all the people. Prime people watching time!
I then noticed the hostess at the front stand as she was wiping down and cleaning the menus. Closing duties. It reminded me of ALL the times I wiped down menus as a hostess at the age of 16 and 17 at Cables Pub & Grill in Greeley, Colorado.
I then went into this little trance like state, thinking about the last 13-14 years of my life. 16 year old blonde little Janelle wouldn’t BELIEVE her life today!
So I decided to have a fun visualization with myself & the visualization went like this:
2022 Janelle hops back in time to 2008 and walks into Cables Pub & Grill. As I walk in, there is 16-year-old Janelle, ready to greet me and seat me at my table, with menus in hand.
And since I look sooo different then how I used to look, 2008 me doesn’t even recognize 2022 me.
I say to her, “Hi Janelle!”
And she’s startled, like, umm how the heck do you know my name creepy old lady?!
I explain to her that I’m her from the future, the 30 year old version of her and she’s like, “woah we actually look pretty dang good in the future as a brunette with short hair?!”
From there, I tell her about her life the next 13-14 years.
“Janelle, in the future, you’re going to start believing your life matters like you never have before.
You’re going to become the most authentically confident version of yourself, not the fake version of confidence that you portray right now. You’re going to step into your power & begin living a bold, risky life.”
2008 Janelle looks a little skeptical.
“You’re going date your current boyfriend for 6 years, but then you’ll have the insane courage to leave him behind because you know deep down he’s not your person, and you’ll no longer be a woman that settles for anything but the best.”
“Okay…..” she says, unsure what to think of it all.
“And then you’re going to move to San Diego in 2016!” I tell her.
“What?!? That’s amazing, I frickin love the ocean! What will bring me there? A job? An even better boyfriend?”
“Nope. Girl, you do this one ALL ON YOUR OWN. No job. No boyfriend. No friends. Just you, courageous enough to move across the United States because you’re no longer willing to settle for anything but your dream life.”
“Wow. I can’t believe I do that. That’s so awesome! And so scary!!!”
“Yep. And you know what else? You start your own women’s empowerment brand.
You quit your safe job that guarantees money and you start making your own money by helping women level up in their mindset & in their life!”
She looks at me with her jaw is on the floor and says, “That’s really hard to imagine since right now I struggle with thinking about dying young and my funeral… plus why would I be special enough to start something like that? And who would listen to me?”
“Well first of all, that’s a total lie that you’re supposed to die young. The truth is that your creator has big plans in store for your life. And that brings me to the other thing- every human created with uniquely beautiful talents and therefore is special enough to make an impact on humans lives and step into their calling. Oh, and by the way, you're a best selling author too!"
She stood there, speechless.
From there I opened my phone and I showed her pictures of her handsome husband and tell her all about the awesome marriage they have, her sweet little Australian Shepherd puppy, her parents & brothers and their new wives, all of them thriving, her beautiful newly renovated home in San Diego... the list of blessings go on and on.
I showed her pictures of her speaking in front of large groups of people and hugging women after workshops. Pictures of texts where women said to her "thank you, you changed my life!". Pictures of her traveling and exploring cities and countries she never knew she'd get to see.
16-year-old me looks at those 2022 pictures and truly can't believe what an incredible life is coming for her in those next 14 years. She's filled with awe, hope, and inspiration!
At the end of the visualization, I pictured giving 16 year old Janelle a HUGE hug and saying, “Girl, be proud of yourself. You have an incredible life ahead of you. It’s all going to be okay. I’m proud of you. Keep going!”
At this point, Frankie is coming back from the bathroom and my trance is coming to an end. I'm back in 2022 at Adriana Enoteca and there are tears of emotion welling up into my eyes.
In that moment, I felt proud of myself. Really, really proud of how far I've come.
And while of course there are SO many days where I forget to be proud of how far I’ve come and instead all I can see is how much further I want to be.... All my goals and dreams that have yet to come to fruition. On Wednesday, I was reminded yet again the importance of finding all the reasons to be proud of myself instead of looking at everything I haven't yet accomplished.
So what about you?
I bet you’ve overcome some pretty wild challenges and have had some big things you're proud of over the last 5, 10, 15 or 20 years of your life.
I encourage you to take some time this weekend or up coming week to do a similar visualization.
Go back into time and encourage your younger self. Tell her all the things she’s about to overcome. Tell her about all the incredible things coming her way.
And yes, for those wondering, there will be a part 2 to this visualization coming soon, where future you comes to you today and does the same thing :)
Please reach out and let me know how your visualization goes, I can't wait to hear all the reasons why you're choosing to be proud of yourself today!