2016 Year In Review – Best Year Of My Life

How would you act today if you knew this year is the best year of your life? How would you show up in your life? How would you talk or walk? What time would you wake up? What would you do in your free time?

You’ve got to start somewhere and the secret is in starting with the little things, the things you do daily. If they do not take you to having your best year yet, then it’s time to change something.

Based on this teaching, we shaped our 2016 and made it the best year of our lives. Of course, we had hardships, days when we thought we were completely lost, days when we lost thousands of dollars, days when we were in real excruciating pain…but we also had the most amazing days of our lives. All in all, 2016 was the best possible year I could ever dream of having.

This was our second year in business. We exceeded our income goal and we worked less than ever before. We focused most of the year on personal areas and we still made it big in our professional area. We learned to feel more and do less.

If you compare this article with the one I wrote last year: 2015 Year In Review: First Year Doing Business, you will notice how 2015 was a year of struggling and focusing mostly on growing our business, while 2016 was more about relaxing and focusing on personal matters. I believe 2017 is the year of execution, the year when I will put into practice everything that I know.

Let’s see our 2016 Year In Review

January 2016

• Got engaged to the love of my life, my high school sweetheart, my business partner, and my best friend. It was a huge surprise, we were at the Schonbrunn castle in Vienna. And the ring, oh the ring, was the one I had on my vision board for years.

Look at that ring!

• Increased our comfort. We realized that it was time to put ourselves first and not our business. We started the year buying an amazing mattress to help us sleep better, that is comfortable, that is good for our health and that would make us feel rich.

• Took our first loan for the wedding. I was really scared that because of not having money saved to pay for our wedding, I won’t have a dream wedding. So, even if I hated it, I had to get a loan.
• Asked my parents for a loan to use for personal comfort. This was huge and scary. I don’t like asking for money in the first place, not to mention asking my parents for money. It felt like a failure. But I felt worse knowing that if I don’t do it, my comfort, my health and the way I feel would suffer. I am so happy I did it!

February 2016

• Won a scholarship worth $885. Was really looking forward a new course or mastermind, but I knew it was not a priority – money wise. That did not mean I could not attract it.

You don’t need to have the money to pay for what you want. You need to WANT it and somehow it will show up in your life.

• Won wedding discounts worth $500. It was Friday evening, we had nothing better to do so we went to a wedding event. They had a candy bar, a cocktail bar, a live concert and a lot of vendors showcased their services. When we got in, one of the vendors that we knew, greeted us and told us about a raffle where we can win prizes. I love to win so I told Mihai (my husband – business coach at mihaiherman.com) “I want to win a prize!”. Said and done. All night I was bragging about how I was going to win. (it might have been the alcohol talking) At one point I thought “OMG, I bragged all night, what if I don’t win? That would be embarrassing.” When they started to call the raffle winners, after 3-4 prizes, they called Mihai. He won a 25% discount for sound/lighting services. (I was not impressed, but it seemed that this was what he wanted and wished for) The next prize was candy bar discount, from our favorite candy store. I said in my mind “Me, me, me, me, choose me!” and they shouted a different name. Bummer! But the person they called was NOT present, so they called a new name. Care to guess which one? MINE. This is how the soon-to-be Herman family won 2 prizes that night. Who would have guessed that from hundreds of participants, both of us would win? Not to mention that there were like only 10 prizes.

If you want something and you believe you can get it, you can speak it into existance.

• Started interviewing amazing female business owners. I wanted so bad to connect with successful females that do amazing work in the world and the only way I knew how was by interviewing them. It was life changing. Thanks to this project, I made new friends, doubled my prices and learned that no matter how successful or rich somebody is, they are still human. They still have fears and sabotages.

Rachel Collins – Importance of Self Love

Megan Schopieray – Running a Business From Home

Hannah Ransom – Natural Birth Control Myths

Olga Bochareva – How to Release Fear

Julia Wells – Get Clarity Through Action

Karolina Chesters – How to Appreciate Our Body

• Wedding planning. I was so stressed out to book all the vendors, come up with a wedding theme and fit my dream wedding into my tiny budget. I did not want to compromise, so I had to find a way to have a perfect wedding on a small budget. Everyone told me it was IMPOSSIBLE. But, I knew myself and I knew that with a little bit of magic, positive thinking, smart budgeting and lot of divine intervention, my dream wedding would be possible. And it was.

Never ever make your dreams fit your budget. Always make your budget fit your goals.

• Not having a place to shoot videos/interviews. Back then we lived in a one bedroom apartment that had ugly and old furniture. I could not find a nice spot to shoot stuff. This was so frustrating for me. I wanted whatever you saw in the background to be pretty. Shooting my interviews in an “embarrassing” venue made me realize that I am not the place. My worth is not connected to where I live. My value is my knowledge, my compassion, my speaking skills, my coaching skills, the love I have for everyone and everything.

Don’t tie your worth to material things. Your worth is what lies inside of you, not outside.

March 2016

• I got published on the Huffington Post. For a blogger or any author, to be featured on Huffington Post means that you are somebody with a voice, that you are serious about writing, that you are a good journalist. It’s the higher place you can be featured in the online media world.

Check out my articles on Huffington Post:

How To Measure Success In An Unorthodox Way

A Guide For Perfectionists Looking To Add More Balance To Their Life

I always thought this dream was too big to even consider it. Like “Who am I to be published on HuffPost?” and then, after Mihai did it, I realized “What if things don’t have to be so hard? What if scary goals can be easier to manifest?”. I set the intention, I wrote the pitch, went to bed and woke up a publisher.

• Created my own community of Successful Women. It’s an amazing group, where women that want to be successful or are successful join to lift each other up. It’s free and you can join too if you click here!

• Hosted my second workshop. It was about how to shop for groceries in a smart way. It was awesome and I love live events, where I speak in front of people. It’s one of my strengths.
• Had a perfect “save the date” photoshoot. Everyone said the weather will be bad and I woke up with a rainy day but did not lose faith. We had the sun, we had rain, we had magic happen. The photographers were AMAZING – kudos to Blanche and Bogdan Photography.

• The fear of not having enough money was very real. I was scared I won’t be able to pay for wedding stuff or even pay rent in the next few months. I took a break from work to write my book and plan the wedding while Mihai was just starting his career as a coach.
• We started looking for a bigger apartment. We lived in a one bedroom apartment. Yes, it was a big one bedroom, the biggest we could find in the city, it was close to the city center and we had the river right in front of our window…but, it was time to move. We needed more space and more comfort.

April 2016

• • Ran my first 5 K. My story was that I never did sports, I am not good at sports, I have to train for many years to be able to do anything big, like a 5 K race. And then one morning, I just had this urge to get out there and do it. With no training, no HOW, just inner power. It was raining, it was cold, but oh man, it was awesome!!! In that moment I realized everything we want we can get if we convince our mind that WE CAN. It’s all in our heads.

• Celebrated our first biz anniversary.

• Went on vacation, to get away from our environment and come back with new thoughts and a fresh mind.
• Doubled our income. We had our first 5K month.

• We were completely stuck. We had no idea how to move forward. Our business was not generating enough money. We needed to get away and refocus. We took a loan to buy my wedding dress, that we spent on our 2-week vacation. We knew we either make it big or lose it all. (we like to risk a lot) So, the vacation turned out to be PERFECT regarding money, business, and mindset. We learned we can make more money than ever if we work less but work in a relaxing mode.
• We decided to start our 6-month vacation around US, by compromising moving into a bigger apartment. It was a scary decision, a big compromise, but we knew it could lead to something great. (which it did!)

May 2016

• On both of our goal list for 2016 was the HEALTH aspect and we finally had the extra money to do something about it. So, both of us went to all the checkups possible, all the doctors possible and for me, going to the dentist to have ALL fixed was a major goal. I have been postponing it for years and now, finally I started doing something about it.
• Our wedding website was live. Cause why not create one?! Here is where you can access it: mihaiandroswitha.com

• May was the first month of the year when financially speaking we started to do really well. We bought all the things we could not afford in the past, we did all the things that we wanted to do…it was an easy month.

June 2016

• After I started to run, my dream was to be in a #colorrun. And it happened to be one in our city. Even if that day I felt so bad, my body was hurting and had no energy, I still decided to go and have fun. Sometimes you just have to make it count.

• The heat was no longer a problem, we had AC. In 2015, we spent the first summer in Romania, after 5 years and we hated it because it was so hot, unbearably hot. We promised ourselves to never go through it again. Even if our landlord did not like the fact that we wanted AC, we still managed to convince him to let us BUY one.

• We realized, one Saturday morning that “hey if we want to move to US after the wedding, we need to have our paperwork done by that time.” This meant for me to change my ID, my passport with my new name “Herman” and apply for a visa BEFORE the wedding. All this being said we realized we need to get married FAST. So, all the plans were turned upside down and we scheduled a city hall ceremony without telling anyone. We wanted to do it on paper, so we can finish the paperwork…and not tell everyone.

July 2016

• I’ve always wanted to be interviewed but never did anything about it. It’s like wanting something, you don’t really want. So finally, the opportunity came for me and I jumped on board. It was AWESOME! I got so excited about giving interviews that in 2017 I want to make this a regular thing. (not to mention having a book published now) Here is where you can listen to Cynthia Louis’ Podcast!
• Got legally married. And no, it was not private. We felt the need to tell our parents and a few friends…but little did we know that by the time we got there 50 people were invited. It was a really nice ceremony, followed by a nice lunch and to our surprise, we received so many gifts. I had my dress made by my friend and the best fashion designer Laura Chirita.

• Organizing what to wear, where to have lunch and all the paperwork for the ceremony. I made such a big deal out of it. It was such a big step, the getting married one. I was changing my name. You can see more about my July, in this article: How July Shaped My Whole Year

August 2016

• We got the US visa! Yaaaay! It was not easy, but I could not accept NO for an answer. So, I did what I know best – talking, and we got the YES.
• We went on vacation. We needed a new break, especially with the big wedding approaching.
• We booked our Carribean honeymoon. 
• We stayed for the first time at Marriot. Felt like a million bucks! And the best part – we stayed FOR FREE. The whole vacation was paid for by an awesome friend + a family member. Ask and it is given. (we had no idea how we will pay for all of it, but we set our mind to leave Tuesday morning, with or without a plan. Monday night we got a call saying we have a place to stay – Marriot + we got an early wedding gift that covered all other expenses)

• All the paperwork, running around from office to office, wedding stuff to make and to plan…it was really crazy and tiring. We so needed that vacation to relax and be away for a few days.

September 2016

This was by far the hardest month for me this year. I went from emotional pain to real excruciating pain. I could not eat for 2 weeks, I could not exercise because I was sick. I felt anxious, angry, frustrated, scared…

• I survived.
• Faced my biggest fear – having one of my wisdom teeth removed. It was an hour long procedure, where the painkiller did not work and lots of blood. But I DID IT.

Never ever do such a thing before a major event. Take into consideration that 1-2 weeks you will not be able to do anything. Nobody told me this, everyone told me that my fear is irational and that it is not as painful. Bullshit. It cliped my mandibular nerve, so besides having teeth pain, I had nerve pain too. I could not sleep for 10 days, I could not open my mouth for 2 weeks. I could not speak or eat. And I had to plan the wedding – the last details.

• Booked our airfare for going to US and figured out where we will stay.

• I don’t want to go into details, but at one point this month I was about to cancel the wedding. I just could not do it anymore.
• Wedding planning did not go as planned. Bummer. Everything that could go wrong that month – went wrong.
• Had many fights with dear people. I felt like no one cared about how I felt.
• Having to deal with some family members and their inability to cope with our wishes. This was more painful than my tooth ache.

This month is one of those I kind of erased from my memory because it was so painful to bare. In order to be able to forgive some people and forget what happened, I really needed to move away. This is where the US vacation came to the rescue.

October 2016

• We HAD THE PERFECT WEDDING. After all the hardships, all the planning, all the stress and all the dreams…we did it! We had the perfect wedding. Every detail, every person, every feeling…perfection. I have never ever been happier in my whole life. I danced all night and just enjoyed each second because it was magical.

• • We went on our honeymoon.

Plan your honeymoon right after the wedding. You need to relax.

• Became nomads. We packed the apartment, moved everything to my parents’ house, packed 2 suitcases and started our 6-month vacation.
• I turned 25 years old. 

Don’t have your wedding and birthday in the same week. You won’t be able to enjoy both at the same level.

• • Bought our first car ever. And it’s a convertible and it’s purple…and it’s an asset. We will get double the amount we paid for it.

• Starting over. The wedding was over, we were overseas and I had to find something else to focus on. Hint hint: my book and making money.
• The biggest company we worked with – a billion dollar company, shut down overnight, leaving us and 15,000 other bloggers without payment. They owe us thousands of dollars. Not to mention, they were our every month clients, we just lost one income stream in one day. Having to face this was not easy. We were counting on that money.

November 2016

• Decided to have #NoMoreExcuses. You see I had this story where I would tell myself multiple times that I cannot make a lot of money, that is hard for me, that is easier for Mihai, that is hard to get clients, it is hard to make money… Well, this month I had to face the facts. Mihai had a medical condition that did not allow him to work, we were not doing very well financially speaking and I had to step up my game. I had to change my story.
• Finished writing my book. Almost all my goals for 2016 were accomplished, besides the book being published. I needed to step up and finish it. Which I did! My book is called YOUNG, CREATIVE AND OVERWHELMED.

• Learned to deal with my biggest fears ever. I did a lot of personal growth, read a lot, talked a lot, found answers. I am so grateful for 2 of my best friends – George and Andrea, who were there for us in this hard time.
• Learned to live in abundance, when the reality did not portray abundance. This is the secret.
• Had a real Thanksgiving dinner with AWESOME PEOPLE. 

• Bought all the things that I wanted and needed – #BlackFriday. Upgraded my lingerie, my running shoes and my makeup.

• Seeing my husband in pain, day after day, was heartbreaking. I wanted to take his pain away, I wanted to do something to make him feel better.
• Being positive and having faith. It’s so easy to be in a joyful state when things go well, but the real challenge is to be joyful when things don’t go as planned.
• Live in the moment. I am a very organized person and I had everything planned out for us by the time we get to US. We had a big budget to get us until the end of the year, without HAVING TO WORK. You can imagine that when my plans went south – due to the money we never received – I freaked out. I started living in the future “What will we do next month?” and also in the past “It was so easy 2 months ago when we had all the money we needed and extra”. I was not living in the present. I had to learn, once again, to be in the present, enjoy what is and have faith regarding what it could be.

December 2016

• After the rain, you always get the sun. After a “rainy” November, December came with the best vacation EVER. We went to Carlsbad, California (close to San Diego) for 3 weeks, in a million $ home, driving a BMW convertible. All our problems went away and we had THE BEST DAYS.

Everything is temporary – always. The bad and the good. Enjoy what you like, learn from what you don’t.

• Published my first BOOK. It took way longer than expected to finish the editing part and I literally published it 3 days before NYE. Luckily I was holding it in my hands on 31st of December. This was a MAJOR accomplishment.

You can BUY it here: http://bit.ly/roswitha

• Hosted 3 live workshops, helping women get clear about their goals and limitations when it comes to 2017.

You can learn more about it here Why New Years Eve Resolutions Don’t Work

• Every day was a blessing. Every day was pure perfection. 

• Understand that we are worthy of good things. Understand that we have to power to manifest everything that we want and need.

As you can see we had a tremendous year, filled with ups and down, wins and loses, pain and happiness, but in the end, and I say it from the bottom of my heart “It was the best year of my life”.

Now, I’d love to know.

How was your 2016? What were your lessons? What were your blessings? What were your wins?

Leave a comment below and let me know.

Remember, share as much as you can in your reply. We are all here to learn, get inspired by one another, and you may never know who you are going to influence today. Be the sparkle you want to see in others.

Thank you so much for reading, watching and sharing your voice. You are awesome and I am honored to have you here.

With love,