Last week, I was tapped as an expert coach on goal-setting and motivation for an article with Fast Company.
A great piece about checking in with your goals now that we’re at the 2017 6-month mark.
So I thought it was also the perfect time to check in on the column I wrote for Blue Skies Mag kicking off this year.

How HAVE you been making 2017 rad?

Not sure?
Read this list.  
Do this list. 
Do ALL of it… and watch what’s left of your 2017 transform.
Rad for real…
xo
  Mel Signature - Transparent  

Blue Skies Magazine, November 2016
Life Coaching Column #78
Issue #83
 

“How to Make 2017 Rad”

By Melanie Curtis
I posted a meme the other day and it went viral.
IMG_5093Like mega. Not like BuzzFeed-viral, but a ton for something I posted.
As of right now it has 202 reactions and 63 shares.
That’s a lot of shares.
No one actually cares about social media stats, duh, I bring them up because these particular stats show that this particular meme for some reason struck a chord.
Why?
Because this particular meme is awesome.
It’s about how to make 2017 rad. Aka awesome. Ake excellent. Aka the best year we’ve all had both individually and collectively.
 
As such, I thought it was a great idea to go through this epic meme and expand on each point. Let’s do this:
  1. Stop doing sh*t you hate. Seriously, team. This is not to say don’t be responsible adults. Be responsible adults. Being responsible is not the same as doing sh*t you hate. You may not like everything you do in the responsible realm, but it’s connected to a deeper value that’s good. Keep being responsible. Sh*t you hate, on the other hand, that’s the sh*t you LEGIT do NOT need to do but you keep doing it. Per the epic and totally on point, Bob Newhart… Stop it.
 
  1. IMG_4553Love your body more. Hahaha… ya know, if you went to the gutter with this one, f*ck yeah, go for it. Love your body more. If you look at yourself and don’t think you’re sexy, you’re wrong. You are. Not every hottie out there is going to want you, but some hotties will. Just remember this, and love every bit of your hot bod however it looks. If you’re motivated to treat your bod better by eating better food and getting more exercise and sleep, consider me raising the proverbial roof to that as well. Hotness and healthy. YES.
 
  1. Hang with awesome peeps. Hang with peeps that make you feel awesome about you. Be an awesome peep by reminding others how awesome they are when the thought strikes you. Or make an effort to say this kind of stuff more, to do things that to you equate awesome… awesome finds awesome, be it, support it, spend your time with it.
 
  1. Smash some goals. Here’s the thing. We’re skydivers. We like to press our own boundaries. Not necessarily in safety, but in what we can DO in life. You’ve already jumped out of an airplane. That in and of itself is f*cking huge. SO FEW people in this world EVER do that. As such, you have a perspective on accomplishment and what’s possible that SO FEW others have. Use that this year to set new goals to expand yourself beyond your current boundaries, whether it’s in the sport or in life at large. Join us in our BOB accountability group if you want support in making it happen. BOB stands for “beyond our bullsh*t.” Because that’s how we roll. Um… duh.
 
  1. Walk barefoot. This one is awesome because it’s so simple but points to something epic. Buck the system. Shoes are the system. Touch the earth. Feel the grass on your feet. Be free.
 
  1. IMG_2841Share your magic. You have magic. You have f*cking MAGIC. Did you hear me? I don’t know about you, but I respect a legitimate, authentically flown freak flag SO MUCH MORE than homogenized sameness. NOT to say that fitting in is a bad thing to feel.. I FOR SURE feel that sometimes, and that’s ok too. Because that’s also real. Tap your courage to express yourself more this year than you ever have. I will too.
 
  1. Be freaking brave. Yes. Pretty much everything truly extraordinary in life requires courage. Whether it’s smashing a goal, sharing our magic, trying something new the air, letting ourselves truly love and be loved. Sometimes we fall flat on our f*cking face, and that’s ok, because we learn… because being brave is always our actual success.
 
  1. Flaunt your awesome. The next time someone gives you a compliment… just say, “You’re welcome.” Hahaha…
 
  1. IMG_1980Love harder and love louder. I’ve said this time and time again and I mean it every single time, especially knowing what we know in skydiving that our mortality is very real and predicting the next moment is never within our control… as such, know this… do this… tell your people you love them. Right now. Out loud. Knowing they know is a gateway to great peace inside.
 
  1. Be kinder to yourself. Dude. Most of us would NEVER talk to ANY other human being the way we talk to ourselves. Back to Bob Newhart… stop it. But it’s not just stopping the dissing of ourselves, it’s also putting effort and attention into loving ourselves too. Sound super cheesy, but I challenge you to acknowledge yourself for the good person you are IN DETAIL every day for at least a month. Write that sh*t down and see what happens.
 
  1. Be a nice human. Not everyone will appreciate this, but do it anyway. A nice human is who you ARE, it is not a calculated way of being to elicit any specific response from another. Other nice humans often will appreciate this effort, but that is not required for us to do this one.
 
  1. YesGive assholes the boot. Remember, you are not an asshole because you give an asshole the boot. We are allowed to decide for ourselves at any time what is acceptable for us, and what’s not. Valuing ourselves enough to effect boundaries that reflect our chosen values… that’s one of the healthiest things we can do for ourselves any time of year.
 
Boom, done, dusted. Bob Newhart and BOB are the bomb. 2017 officially fully handled.
F*ck yeah, Tizzle 2.0, out.
 

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