Now that we are in the new year, thought I would tell you a few of the lessons I learned in 2021. These lessons changed the way I look at life and have shifted my direction. I hope they will do the same thing. 2021 in many ways was like the previous year. Filled with uncertainty and doubt. Many of us questioned what the future would bring. We wondered what would happen next. Life seemed to go to a standstill. And we questioned if we would ever find a way out of the doldrum that we found ourselves into.

Last year taught me so many things about myself and I grew from it. When we leave behind a year it’s important to reflect on the lessons we learn. It’s from that we can grow and become better versions of ourselves. It’s impossible to do that if we’re stuck in the past, contemplating the wrong choices we make. Sometimes the wrong choices we make can make us into better versions of ourselves. Here are four lessons that I learned in 2021. 

The most valuable currency is invaluable

One of the lessons I learned in 2021 is that they are a few things that invaluable. These things are the most valuable currency. You can never replace it or replicate it. Once it’s gone you can’t buy it or trade something else for it. This is time, health and loved ones. Many of us understand the latter one. We understand how we should appreciate our loved ones. Very few of us do though. Very few of us appreciate the people in our lives.

Though, today I want to focus on time and health. I have always known on some level how important it was. Then something crazy happened. It was a freak accident. Something I never would have thought would ever happen. I started now wondering what happens if I never go back to normal. My new normal scared me. It was scary not knowing if my health would ever be the same before. It took months to recover. Almost a year to be exact. I had to go to physiotherapy. Then after months I was back to normal. Now, I realize how much time we spend on things that don’t matter. Health is so valuable. Once it’s gone it never comes back. That’s a reality many of us don’t consider.

The body can heal itself. Sure. But when you recover your health might not be the way it used to be. The other valuable currency is time. How many of us spend our time doing things that don’t matter. We waste our time with activities that don’t add to anything. That don’t push us. I learned a lot of lessons in 2021. One thing I discovered is that time is invaluable. You can do so much with it. As long as you are willing to run with it. 

Don’t conform to the world

There are so many people who are conformists. They change according to the world. But society is always shifting. Certain issues that are important now might not be important in five years or more. That’s how the world works. This is one of the lessons I learned. They has to be a time when we stop trying to conform. This also means to stop trying to please people.

Many of us want to fit into a box or we want to feel as though we are in the right place at the right time. There is no such thing though. Not really. They will never be a right time or a right place. They are moments when things happen, but it happened because people pushed the barriers. It wasn’t circumstantial. Or something that happened because things aligned. Life will never be that simple. It will never be that easy. This is a lesson many of us need to learn. We need to stop trying to conform to the world. 

So that means spending too much time listening or reading the news won’t help us. When I was younger my parents taught me that it was important to be informed. I thought this was so long. There’s nothing wrong in being informed, but when you allow the information to consume you allow it to conform it. It’s easier to conform to what is happening when we listen or read the news. The tactic a lot of media uses is fear mongering. That helps sells newspapers and viewership. When you are afraid, you will always be looking over your shoulder. It won’t help you to get where you want to go.

Validation is a dirty word

One of the others lessons I learned in 2021 is validation is a dirty word. What this means is that we spend so much of our time trying to get validation or for some of us approval. Yeah. It doesn’t work. They are people we admire, look up to or even respect. We all have those people in our corners. This might be controversial. But those people don’t see you the same way. That stings. No matter how I will put it. Not to say that is the case with everyone. Chances are that you have a few people you respect. You have known them for a long time. Smile when ever you scroll through their insta feed. 

Those people probably don’t see you the same way. When I discovered that, it stung. It hurt but I needed to accept it because it was the truth. No one ever said that the truth was easy to swallow. That’s why they say it’s a bitter pill. Often it is. It doesn’t stop it from being the truth though. We all want approval. I know some people will say that isn’t true. I’m not saying you a people pleaser, but we have been trained to do things not to rock the boat.

So you want start a new career because of what people will say. You are too terrified to move to a new city or country because of people’s opinions. This might seem like a small thing. It still links to approval. You being concerned with people’s opinions has stopped you from going out they. We all suffer from it. Some people have found a way to ignore it. Many of us are still trying to figure it out though. 

Living a passion filled life will make you happier

Passion is something that will never run out. Motivation will run dry. Even your willpower will dry up, but when you are passionate about doing something it won’t run dry. You won’t stop loving exercising especially if it makes you come alive. The same can be said for anything that you are passionate about. The Japanese have a word for that. They call it Ikigai. This isn’t just passion, Not. It encompasses so many things.

This is one of the lessons I learned in 2021 that shifted my perspective. When you live a passion filled life you will know what your purpose is. Often they are tied together. Often it isn’t neat or tidy. Then again life isn’t that then why should your purpose be. 

How will living a passion filled life make you happier? When you are passionate about something that will encourage you to make it into a career. Yes. You can make it a career. And make money from it. Unless it’s so obscure that only a small portion of the population will enjoy it. But there’s still a possibility you will still make money from it. They are people who have made money from things that were really obscure. So why not you? Now, when you are doing something you love that often will motivate you. Besides that you will get a boost of the happy hormone. Dopamine. More dopamine equals a happier version of you. That’s not a bad thing at all. 

You are also less likely to give up when you are living a passion filled life. No matter how hard things get. You will get up and keep moving. Why? Because you are inspired by what you are doing. Take artists who sell their art online then decide to teach people how to paint. It isn’t easy. But that doesn’t stop them from doing what they are doing. 

I have more lessons that I learned in 2021. These are the four main ones though.

What lessons have you learned in 2021. Comment below.

                                                                                                 KEEP  PUSHING

                                                                                      VANESSA

here’s how you can start 2022 strong

We are in the first week of the first month of a new year. You can redefine yourself start today. You can also find out how to start the year strong. Most times, we focus on how to finish the year strong. What about how to start the year strong? So much happened last year? It was a repetition of 2020. For many of us, we didn’t achieve what we thought we would and as much as that is a bummer, you can also press restart.

You can always define how you want your year to go. How you want it to be like. If you want to be more successful this year or to have to better year than you had last year, that is possible. In fact, you would be shocked to discover that it’s easier to start the year strong than it is to end it. Often, we get bombarded with so many things on our to do list when the year winds down. So it is easier to start the year strong. How you start the year also will determine how you end the year? So, in this blog post I will show you how to start the year strong.

Give the year a theme

When you give yourself a theme that helps you understand what you want your year to look like. This also gives your year a purpose and helps you to define the year. It also will help you start 2022 year strong. My theme for 2022 is “to be present even in the silence and despite the noise.” What this means is that I should never give up on my dreams, whether people are cheering me or if people are discouraging me. This has given me a new perspective on what I want my year to be like and how I want to start it.

Often, we get blinded by what people think of us that stops us from going after what we want. We allow the opinions of people to prevent us from achieving what we want. Here’s a brutal truth. As much as we want people to cheer us on, most will not. Why? Because they have their own thing going? Chances are they won’t cheer you on. That’s okay. Be your own cheerleader. Find your own footing. 

A theme will help you understand what you expect from life? It will push you in the right direction. What it requires from you is that you take a chance. You need to take a chance on yourself. This is one way you can start 2022 strong. 

Stop looking back

I will be honest, 2021 wasn’t the best year for me. Good things happened, but they were a lot of bad things that happened as well. I could look at that and be discouraged at how much time I lost. That won’t help me. It won’t push me in the right direction. No. Instead, it will dissuade me from now on. Often you need to take what you learned from the year and make amendments. It shouldn’t be an obstacle. No. It should be motivation.

This is another way you can start 2022 strong. You need to understand that looking back on regret won’t help you. Instead, you will be hard on yourself. That will make it harder to focus on what you need to do. What lessons did you learn from the year? Every year teaches us something. I learned that the things we take advantage of often are the best things in life. For example, time and health. We always say time and health are invaluable, but how many of us appreciate it. How many of us value our twenties when we are twenty something year olds? The same can be said when we are in our thirties. 

Many of us don’t appreciate our health. Not the way we should. I learned I need to appreciate these two things more. Now, I could look back in regret that I didn’t. But like I said, that won’t help me. Nor will it help me achieve my goals. So, instead of regretting time wasted, I will appreciate the lessons I learned. Stop looking back. Stop being concerned with what doesn’t matter. Look at the lessons you learned as valuable steppingstones to help you understand where next to go.

Give yourself personal and professional challenges

Last year I learned something invaluable. When you stop learning, you stop growing. You need to learn something new, or you need a challenge. This is the third way you can start the year strong. This is how you start 2022 strong. Give yourself two challenges. One personal and the other professional. For example, a personal challenge can be to learn a new language. The professional one can be to make x amount or to be promoted or even to achieve a milestone.

Challenges are there to push us and motivate us. A challenge can help us learn something new about ourselves that we didn’t know before. When you give yourself a challenge, you will be shocked at how much you will learn about yourself. You also understand that you can do so much more than you imagined. My 2021 challenge was to learn a new instrument and language. As hard as it was getting into it. My eyes opened to the possibilities. Challenging yourself can provide opportunities you never imagined you would ever come across.

Because you took a chance on yourself. That’s what it is all about taking a chance on yourself. Once you do that, you will see doors open and you will succeed in ways you never thought you would. Many of us don’t take a chance on ourselves. That’s why we remain stuck in place. If you want to start 2022 strong, then you need to give yourself a challenge. 

Also Related: 5 Tricks to Kick Your Worst Mindset Challenges

Be present

What does this mean? Many of us don’t understand what being present is. Society has made it too hard to be present. Here’s the thing present can mean anything. It depends on what you want it to mean to you. For me, being present is all about appreciating every moment, no matter how small or big it is. It also means being who I am when no one is watching, or even if they are. You define what it means to you. This is the last way you can start 2022 strong. 

You need to be present. Look at the big or the small moments. Appreciate them. Maybe being present is about working when everyone is asleep or when you don’t feel like it. Being present to you could be about giving to the people who matter your time. Whatever it is, there’s something special about choosing to focus on the right things. Maybe the last two years have taught us that the people in our lives matter. What we stand for matters. It separates us. You know that saying that a sieve separates the wheat from the chaff. What builds you up matters? What you do with your time matters? It’s the small things in life that challenge us. It’s those things that strengthen us.

Do you remember falling from your bike as a kid? Did that deter you from choosing to learn how to ride? No. For me, it did. I gave up. Do I regret it? Yes. That thought pushed me to work harder on the things I struggle with. We all have fears, insecurities, and concerns. That should never stop us from going after what we want. It should never deter us. It should instead motivate us. Be present and realize that time is precious. What you do with it matters? Make sure you spend your time on the right things. Things that will build and not tear you down. That will give you a future and hope for a better tomorrow.

Also Related: 10 Tips to Start Living in The Present

How will you start 2022 strong? Love to know. Comment below.

                                                      Keep Pushing

                                                          Vanessa