Today I turn 44 10 Things I Learned over the last year 1. If your environment is toxic, move. 2. You can’t complain and be grateful at the same time. Choose one. 3. Practicing gratitude doesn’t just change your perspective. It changes your life. 4. Be shamelessly you. The right people will find you. 5. Never betray your purpose or your values. Everything else is negotiable. 6. The path to being shameless starts with radical self-forgiveness. 7. Real friends support your purpose, your values, and your boundaries. All three. 8. Make time for the people who matter most — and make sure it’s mutual. 9. Don’t just share experiences. Co-create them. 10. Remember your inner child. Bring him everywhere. BONUS: Increase your tolerance for pleasure and joy and you’ll experience more of it.

If you're the person who rarely says no, this is worth a read. Most were taught that always saying "yes" made them more valued and appreciated. What it actually made them was unpredictable. They are agreeable on Monday, and overwhelmed and under-delivering by Friday. Boundaries don't make you less likable. They're what makes you reliable. Your co-workers, friends, and partners know what you will and won't take on, they can actually count on your yes meaning something. The most trusted people aren't the ones who say yes to everything. They're the ones whose word means something every time. Be shamelessly you — because a Curious Rebel lives life without shame.

If you've ever looked back at a relationship and thought "I knew something was off — I just didn't listen to myself," this is for you. Most people default to one of two strategies:\ 1. They open up too fast, giving access before it's been earned and keep getting burned. 2. They shut down entirely, keeping everyone at arm's length and calling it self-protection. Neither one works. And if nothing changes, the cost is real. You keep getting hurt by people who showed you exactly who they were. You stay in relationships that take more than they give. And eventually, you stop trusting your own ability to read people at all. Here's what's actually true: Trust isn't a feeling. Trust is not chemistry, and it's not how much you have in common. It's belief in a pattern you learn to read over time Trust is a belief that someone is good, honest, reliable, and will not harm you. And there are three signals that show up consistently in people who are actually safe to be vulnerable with: 1. They do what they say — behavior, not words. 2. They handle your "no" without making it about them. 3. They're curious about you, not to collect information, but because they genuinely care about who you are. None of that requires you to lower your guard immediately. It requires you to watch and trust what you see. The goal was never to trust everyone. It was to trust wisely. Open enough to let the right people in, and boundaried enough to keep the wrong ones out. That's not walls. That's wisdom. And it's exactly what a Curious Rebel learns to do. Be shamelessly you — because a Curious Rebel lives life without shame. What's one sign you've learned to watch for before trusting someone?

If keeping it together — always — has become your default way of moving through the world, this is for you. You don't fall apart in front of people. You don't ask for help until you've already exhausted every other option. You share just enough to seem open, but never enough to actually feel exposed. You've told yourself that's strength. But here's what's actually happening: people are connecting with the version of you that's managed, polished, and safe to be around. Not the real one. Somewhere underneath all that composure, you know the difference. Vulnerability isn't about telling everyone everything. It's not about performing emotion or manufacturing depth. It's about letting the right people see the unfinished version — the one that has needs, makes mistakes, and doesn't always have the answer. That version is not your weakness. It's your access point. Shame built the myth that you needed to hide it. It told you that needing people was something to be ashamed of. That if someone saw the uncertain version of you, they'd decide you were too much — or not enough. So you armored up. And the real connection you were looking for stayed just out of reach. A Curious Rebel doesn't hide. They show up — not recklessly, but honestly, with the people who've earned it. That's not weakness. Be shamelessly you — because a Curious Rebel lives life without shame.