New Year, New Motivation
Published: January 1, 2018
The end of the year is without a doubt the busiest time for me. Within the last 3 months of the year I have my mom, boyfriend, and sister’s birthday; our anniversary, Halloween, Christmas, New Year’s Eve, and more! These milestones leave me pre-occupied with event planning, present shopping, and all sorts of celebrations.
Now I’ve officially survived with limited money remaining in the bank, an overload of indulgences (food and gifts), and I’m ready to get back on track with my goals. I spent 2017 really panicking about what I wanted to do with my life and never being satisfied with the choices I made. I would look at how I spent my days and think to myself, “this isn’t what I should be doing” and pressure myself to do more and do better (whatever that meant). I am a comparative person and even when I don’t know what my ultimate goal is, I still somehow convinced myself I’m not on the path to reach it. This year, I want to spend my time differently.
Today I saw lots of people creating a “Best Memories of 2017” Instagram story and it sucked me in again to the comparison. I would watch someone else’s story and think, “What did I do this year? I probably wouldn’t have anything to post”. Until my curiosity got the best of me and I decided to look back into exactly how my 2017 went.
To my surprise, I actually did quite a lot:
This gave me a visualization of all that I did in the last year and I have to say, all-in-all it was a pretty kickass year. I officially graduated from my last program, went bungee jumping, visited LA, won a dodgeball tournament (who woulda thought?!), got a new job, taught a workshop, went to Cirque Du Soleil for the first time, and saw so. Many. Concerts. There’s a lot in there that I never would’ve expected and a lot that I didn’t even consider an accomplishment. These aren’t things that get done everyday and I have to remember to embrace those moments and celebrate them as life advancements. They may not push me ahead in work or sound like successes on paper but they’re steps that really build character.
This last little while, I’ve felt like I’ve lost my personality and become more high strung. To the point I’ve felt I don’t know how to have fun anymore. My life has been on the school, work, sleep, and repeat routine for the last few years and it’s made me lose my charisma.
MY ADVICE TO MYSELF FOR 2018:
Slow down and take the pressure off. Yeah, you want to move ahead in life and be proud of where you are but you also want to be happy throughout. You shouldn’t fast forward your years by only focusing on one area of your life — you should create a balance of everything you love. Sometimes it doesn’t feel like a priority but you need to make time for your friends. Make time to sleep. Make time to stretch, walk, or exercise. Look after yourself mentally and physically. The more experiences you have, the more your imagination will recharge. You had a few creative blocks this year and that’s because you were outputting more than you were inputting. Go watch movies, take walks, talk to strangers; soak up art in all formats because that’s what gets your thoughts racing. Then turn those thoughts into writing pieces, photography, design, and any other medium you wish to practice.
I have a few goals set for the New Year and some fun side projects on the horizon; but this year I want to focus more on myself, not all on my work. (Nonetheless, they should end up going hand-in-hand to boost me up as a person).
It’s such a cleansing feeling waking up in a New Year — it feels like we can do anything. So let’s see if we can.
What are your resolutions for the New Year? Let me know in the comments!
