By Cheval John

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I had expected to go to another level this year because of the wins I accomplished the previous year:

Speaking at two social media conferences (social media day lima in ohio and social media day houston)
Working as a volunteer at the social media command center during super bowl 51
Getting interviewed on some live streaming shows.

I was hoping the business was going to take off because of these wins.

That was not the case.

It seemed like I was going backwards.

I ended up working full time again as an employee at a lodging company because it was the right thing to do and my business depended on it.

From that, I realized that I was not getting any younger and I needed to watch out more for myself.

So I started exercising again since in more than a decade and hired an online personal trainer by the name of Monique Kabel to get me on the right track.

The interesting part is Ms. Kabel is based in Canada.

I found out about Ms. Kabel through Instagram because she was posting uplifting messages on her account.

She competed in the World Beauty Fitness and Fashion (WBFF) Competitions and knew a lot about getting ready to compete against others in the fitness industry.

She was not like half of those who would post their photos with a link to a product or service most of the time because of their influence.

Or try to sell to people when they connect with them.

She basically shared inspiration to those who needed it and also show a lot of her workout routines on instagram stories.

So I decided she was the one to be my personal trainer and it was the best decision.

She uses the Trainerize app to put together personalized workout routines that fit me.

This was the best alternative to going to the gym because of my work schedule.

At the same time, I learned a lot from my employers because they started from the ground up in the hotel industry.

Their example of how to be fiscally responsible to the point that I have become more disciplined in how to spend money.

This also helped me to keep Ms. Kabel as my personal trainer too.

It seemed like I have neglected my business (producing content here via blog post and podcast) due to this transition back to full time employment.

I realized that I needed to be selfish and take care of me first in order to be more creative and take care of the business.

Looking back on it, this year was not a setback at all because of the valuable lessons I learned from this experience which I will share with you now:

You Must Take Care Of Your Health

I can’t emphasize this enough.

Do not fall for the so-called hustle culture of working non-stop until you get results.

Being smart with how much food you consume and the amount of time you exercise can play a part in whether your business will succeed or not.

Also, get enough sleep because you can’t be creative if you are tired all the time.

Surround Yourself With Like-Minded People

They will always lift you up when you least expect and will never bring you down just to feel good about themselves.

Focus On The Process

When you aim for the results, you lose track on enjoying the journey and end up producing crappy content.

The true social media influencers (fitness included) focused on providing value to their audience and appreciated the journey to that success.

They were the ones that helped me to make it through this transitional year which will launch me to the next level in my life in 2019.

To conclude, here are some of the people you should follow on instagram if you want to start the new year right

Mindy Harley

David Marshall

Elizabeth Marshall

Lesley Maxwell

Ainsley Rodriguez

Michelle MacDonald

Joan MacDonald

Ryall Graber

Abbie Liu

Jenn Hermann

Jessika Phillips