2015 was probably one of the worst years of my life.

Boy did I struggle this year but I also learned some of the biggest lessons of my life. It was also the most successful year ever for me. Here are the four biggest lessons I learned followed by how to have your best year ever.

Failure comes when you keep trying new things. I’d rather keep failing than giving up. I’ve started and ended multiple of my own businesses. From each new venture I learned a new lesson. There was always value and experience that I gained from each time I tried. Every business brought out new skills in me that I never would have gotten otherwise. For that, I’m forever grateful.

For example, there’s a network marketing business that you’re interested in working with. You’ve researched it and found good and bad reviews. You’ve looked at the product and like it. So far so good.

Yet you’re crippled by fear of failure. The fact of the matter is, you may fail. You may buy your whole starter kit and get ready to go and then you fail. However, you may also have amazing success. This may be the business that you needed to get your life going again.

You will inevitably learn a lesson from whatever you try. I’m not telling you to go around and frivolously try whatever comes by you. Yes, think about it. But don’t avoid an opportunity based on fear alone. There’s a lesson behind everything you try. It may not even be an obvious lesson but it’s there for you somewhere.

I was going to say “keep a small circle of friends” but I decided to change it. Here’s why.

My circle of friends got much smaller in 2015. At the end of 2014, I had tons of friends. I had made it in the “in crowd”. I thought I was winning.

Then I realized that I didn’t relate at all to the “in crowd”. There were certain rules to follow, a way that things had to be done, a certain way to be a good Christian, a certain way to dress. I guess wearing leggings 80% of the time is not the cool thing to do; you must leave your house wearing jeans or else.

Every time I was around that group I felt like I didn’t measure up. I have a pretty good sense of other people’s feelings and around this crowd, I always felt like I didn’t measure up. I finally realized that I’m not into the judgmental and shallow type. I can’t stand being around people who aren’t genuine so why waste my time?

I decided to devote my time to those around me who bring me joy, help me grow without judgment, and genuinely care about me.

This can apply to any aspect of your life. A relationship, a friendship, a business. For me, it was network marketing. Not because I haven’t had amazing success with network marketing. While I’ve loved the companies I’ve worked with in the past, I just don’t do well selling for them. I’d rather just enjoy their products. I have too many of my own business goals and ideas to represent another company. I tried with several companies. I really tried. But I couldn’t be genuine doing it and I don’t do well with goals and competitions. Just not my style.

However, I know many women who love the motivation behind network marketing and thrive in that atmosphere. That’s why I still love network marketing companies and what they’re about. But for my overall wellbeing, it’s not for me.

Your heart usually knows the answer. Trust that woman’s intuition you have. It may not always be right but it’s there for a reason. Don’t force yourself to make something work if it’s just not working. Let that door be closed.

I got sick over a million (slight, okay huge exaggeration) times this year. I passed two kidney stones, got strep throat, laryngitis, the stomach flu, and caught my children’s sicknesses. This is not because I’m unhealthy or irresponsible. Trust me. I wash my hands, sanitize, take my vitamins, and every other precaution to avoid sickness.

Now here’s the irony behind every time I got sick. There was always something good on its way. Every. Single. Time.

When you’re going to experience some serious breakthrough in your life or you’re about to do something amazing in your life, there will be inevitable obstacles. For me, it’s usually physical sickness.

This just might happen to you. It happens to the best of us. Next time something goes wrong when you’re all ready to do something amazing, don’t let it discourage you. Find the lesson in the setback and keeping chugging along. For me, I passed enough kidney stones to push me to being healthier than ever. While it was the worst pain ever, I don’t think I would have ever been this healthy otherwise.

When I’m sick, I know that I need to look at the big picture. Many times, it’s God’s way of forcing me to slow down and take a rest. That’s when I embrace the fact that I need to chill out. The only thing I don’t do is let it drag me down. I may be missing in action for a few days but it will never mean that I’m not coming back.

I don’t want you to make any resolutions this year. Here’s what I want you to do instead:

Naming your year gives it a theme that you can keep at the forefront of your mind when you need to be inspired. I also strongly believe in putting out the positive energy that you want so you can manifest better things in your life.

I personally named this year “Fearless” and dedicated the verse, Isaiah 41:10 to this year. This is going to be the year that I face my fears and don’t let them cripple me.

Think of how you want to grow this year. Ask yourself what you want, what’s your minimum to be happy, and what’s your minimum to be of service. I personally do this by creating a vision board and cutting out the pictures and words that represent what I want. Something about having that to look at engrains those desires subconsciously into your head and increases the chance of you making them come to life.

Cues are reminders. How can you remind yourself of what you want this year? One awesome cue would be your vision board. Write down or print out quotes that inspire you, bring you joy, or give you strength. Seeing them everywhere will inevitably inspire you. If there’s something you want to do more of, make it easier for yourself to do it. If you want to floss more, keep the floss out or put it on top of your toothbrush. If you want to eat healthier, have only healthy food around or put a picture of how you want your body to look in front of your fridge. It will definitely make you think twice.

This year, commit to your mind, body, and soul. Being a successful work at home mom requires an integrative approach. You can’t be healthy without feeding your mind with personal growth. Having a successful business won’t work for you if you’re always negative and don’t feed your mind with positive things. Having happy kids doesn’t work if you don’t give them attention. Every cause has an effect and it takes a variety of actions to keep moving forward.

For a little jumpstart to the New Year, click here join my 5 Day Challenge start getting your stuff organized starting now. Also, share this post with all of your friends and pass on the inspiration. They need it too.