My first mentor in the corporate world used to tell me "If you're not fighting against the tide, you're not doing anything worth doing."

That statement always felt OFF to me, but he said it so often, and I trusted and respected him so much that I thought "He must be right."

I was thinking about this the other night while amped up from too much iced coffee (oops!).

The last few weeks have felt tremendously HARD - I've felt like I was fighting against the tide in so many areas of my life: work, business, self-care, home. Quite honestly, IT SUCKS. I feel like someone who's not quite myself.

But I realized something - this statement absolutely needs a disclaimer. Sure, to do anything remarkable, you'll be going against the grain and you'll be in the minority. I'm VERY independent by nature. I think I can do it all myself and when I think of fighting against the tide, it looks like a solo journey.

BUT, there will always be other people there, fighting similar fights, pushing you on, motivating you, encouraging you, sometimes JUST BEING THERE reminding you of the value you bring when you can't see it yourself.

Bottom line: If you try to do it alone (whatever IT is), you will fail.

Fighting against the tide isn't about you vs. everyone else. When it is, there's no point.

Fighting against the tide is about finding those few, select people who GET IT and keeping them in your back pocket while you take on the world. If you don't have those people, you need to find them.

I didn't really have them for a long time. I do now. They came to me in all different forms: from bosses to friends to family to people I don't even know but look up to.

This Thanksgiving, I'm feeling especially grateful to have people like this in my life.

Yes, the last few weeks have been hard. Yes, I've been swirling in negativity. But, yes, I'm being led out the other side. This is something I couldn't do quite so seamlessly on my own.

Thank you to all those who have been with me along the way. xo