THE REBRAND
I am writing this T-minus 3 hours until relaunch (woohoo!) I actually had another entry in mind for June 1st but it only felt right to christen this clean slate with a brain dump:) Today I will talk about what it means to rebrand: evolve, grow, pivot and reflect. This word has been over used in my vocabulary as of late in relation to my blog, myself, my future *insert panic attack here* Let’s unpack all of this together and my goodness it feels so good to be back!!
There are so many thoughts dancing around in my mind that I do not quite know how to begin. Lately this feeling leaves me wary to start or do anything. A chaotic potential that overwhelms me; both exciting and suffocating. I feel like I often ride the line between freaking out and FREAKING OUT! This rings true for me in almost every aspect of my life right now.
I have been home from college (a vast 33 mile distance) for roughly two weeks now, and I am ready to go back to school. Give me back my scrapbook of friends across states, weekly structure and stress. Stress you may ask? You’ve got that right. I thrive on healthy (emphasis on healthy) amounts of structure and schedule in all areas of my life. It’s like I need stress and stakes to stay motivated and succeed. Without these three elements in which college provides, I am left with a seemingly empty, relaxing summer.
This is my worst nightmare.
All of this time allows for excessive thinking; something an anxious person does not need to do at all. These past few weeks I have been festering in my fear of the future until I realized something; I am in desperate need of a rebrand.
THE BLOG
As you may have noticed, things look a little different here at HAGO! I am about to dive into my internal rebrand but I am going to sidestep for a second to talk about how rebranding the blog directly correlates with my own personal growth.
This blog is truly one of the best things I have executed creatively. I am so proud of the community we have built together and the helping hands we are able to lend each other. My activity over the past few months has been sparse due to some overindulgent self-reflecting. All of my decisions feel like super high stakes big-girl decisions. As I am entering the big bad world real soon, all of my choices from this point on seem to weigh heavily on my heart and mind.
For example: Brushing my teeth in the morning does not even remotely qualify as a super high-stakes big girl decision. I have been brushing my teeth my whole life and arguably could polish my pearly whites in my sleep. But why all of a sudden does this feel like a daunting task?
The blog began to feel like a chore: a big black box on my to do list begging to be erased by my anxiety only to discover the silky Sharpie ink beneath. This passion project became a stain on my agenda and I was so perplexed by how everything changed so quickly. I would say to myself, “I love this, why can’t I do it?” The frustration was agonizing and I felt like I was letting all of you (yes you hello dear reader) down in the worst of ways.
The blog morphed into a super high-stakes big girl decision in the midst of me trying to figure out how to budget, have good credit, what alcoholic beverages are actually good (turned 21 yay!) and many other adult tasks.
Now that I have this cruel gift of time, I am able to see how heavy my life has been feeling due to the unnecessary weight I have burdened my decisions with.
And, I kind of think I know how we can fix it together.
BIG GIRL DECISIONS VS BEST GIRL DECISIONS
Let’s take the power back over our decision making. Not every choice we make or task we face requires a big girl decision. Trust yourself. You have gotten this far, what has changed? You are confident and capable so be decisive and only categorize real stressors as big girl decisions. Most times, it’s actually a best girl decision: aka doing what is BEST for YOU.
Let’s practice:
BIG or BEST: brushing your teeth BEST
BIG or BEST: dropping out of college BIG
BIG or BEST: worrying about the future *trick question: neither*
I worry about what I cannot control for no reason. I cannot control it therefore the big-girl decision is overpowered by lack of information that I have no way of knowing.
The second you realize you are trying to control the uncontrollable; that is when you take back the power. Save your stress for actual legitimate stressors. Life is not all sunshine and rainbows, there will be hurdles. In this season of my life the hurdles seem insurmountable. I am about to be senior in college. That is so scary! But, it’s only as scary as I let it become.
REBRANDING MYSELF
I do not want to feel weighed down by the future. I am kind of FREAKING OUT, but I do not have to. This summer I am showing my anxiety who actually runs the show. I want to be freaking out because I am right were I need to be and we are all in this together. Growing, changing and rebranding our way through life. I am reminding myself that change is good; it means I am truly alive.
Some of the main goals of my rebrand are: blogging ofc, creating content I am truly passionate about, not forcing my career progression, saying yes, listening to my body, and showing myself what it means to be loved.
I absolutely do NOT have all of this figured out but I cannot wait to piece together this puzzle of potential. If you read all the way to this point, I wonder if there is a rebrand on the horizon in your life? Maybe you are drowning in big girl decisions and need to remind yourself of the best girl decisions. I am right there with you! Let’s use this summer to look adulthood right in the eyes and say, “I’m as ready as I’ll ever be!” We have our entire lives to be adults so let’s focus on the BEST not the stress of the BIG.
This is not going to be easy but together we can do anything! You my dear are so awesome and worth every best-girl decision. It is so so good to be back on the blog and I cannot wait for you to see all of the content coming your way! New Music Monday, Helping Hand, HAGO Weekly, and so much more!!! See you on Monday for our first ever New Music Monday and as always, HAGO.
