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

how to overcome the i’m not enough mindset

Okay, we all have been there. How do you move forward? How to you get over this obstacle that keeps getting in your way. There are ways to overcome the I’m not enough mindset. Studies show that over seventy percent of people suffer from imposter syndrome. Imposter Syndrome is often defined as doubting your abilities and feeling like a fraud. High achieving people often feel this way and it’s difficult for them to accept their accomplishments.

High achievers set loftier goals than their peers and this is why many feel like frauds. Overcoming this mindset can be difficult, but it’s not impossible. Many of us in some point wonder ask ourselves if I’m enough. Questions of whether we can pull this or if we can actually make head way tend to pull us in various directions. In today’s blog post, we look at five ways to overcome this mindset. Doubting yourself can have several implications. It can stop you from going after what you want. Fear can make you hesitant to take risks. It can stop you in your tracks. That’s why it’s beneficial to take it by the bull horns and stop it. One way you can do this overcome it. When you overcome it, you’ll be in a position of power over your life. 

Reflect

Often, our doubts cloud our judgement. We think there’s no possible way that I can be good at what I’m doing. The Dunning Kruger Effect is a psychological bias that states that people who are limited in their capabilities often overestimate their abilities. People either overestimate or underestimate their capabilities. The Dunning Kruger effect is an example that demonstrates that we aren’t honest about our capabilities.

You need to reflect on your potential. If it makes you better, recall moments in your life when you won an award or even when were told you did a good job. By doing that you are reflecting on your past experiences and using that to give you a boost of confidence. One thing many of us struggle with is reflection. That’s why it’s important that you reflect on the decisions you make and on how far you have come. Reflection can give you perspective on your progress. This is one way you can overcome the I’m not enough mindset. 

Also Related: Is a Success Mindset Key to Success?

Why do you feel that?

There’s a reason you feel this way. Ask yourself questions. Most people struggle with confidence. Very few struggle with imposter syndrome. A lack of confidence is temporary but the imposter syndrome can have more devastating effects. It can stop you in your tracks. You can quit your job if you feel like an imposter. Choose not to follow your dreams if you see yourself as a fake. The best way you overcome the I’m not enough mindset is to ask yourself a honest question.

Why do you feel that? What makes you think you are an imposter? When I was writing my first self-help book in 2017, I felt like an imposter. Who would dare listen to me? Who did I think I was? Why did I think I was special? The truth is that we need a boost of confidence and real-assurance. No one is perfect. No has everything together. But your life experiences make you who you are. What you have learned has brought you here. When you ask yourself these questions you get a clearer picture. That can help you move past your obstacles. This is one way to combat the I’m not enough mindset. This mindset can have negative effects going forward so you need to overcome it. If you don’t it will be difficult to move forward. Fear will drive you into the corner. Stop you from chasing after your dreams or stop you in your tracks. 

Mute your personal critic

Our number one enemy is ourselves. Think about it. How many times have you done something and your critic has taken the megaphone. For whatever reason your critic enjoys being heard. Even if what they say is nonsense. Does it matter you failed that one time in grade school? How many years was that? And why do you have the need to speak about it. 

Your personal critic is harsher than movie critics. Always pointing out your flaws. You need to mute it. Silence your critic. There’s a reason why your critic is harsh. The words we speak to ourselves are words that have been overplayed. They are words from our past. Names that we were called. Sentences people said to us when we were at our most vulnerable. For whatever reason your critic compiles a list and enjoys spouting it. A part you knows it’s not true. But there’s another part that believes it’s the truth. Even if it isn’t. We aren’t our past, mistakes or failings. You are more than the mistakes that happened. 

Best way to mute your critic is to tell yourself that your mistakes don’t define you. What people say don’t define you. The best way to overcome the I’m not enough mindset is to stop listening to your personal critic.

Also Related: Why Following Your Passions is The Secret Ingredient to Success and Happiness

Let go of your inner perfectionist

I can be a perfectionist nut. They are times when I’m working on something and I want it to be perfect. Often, I have to tell myself done is better than perfect. Many of us are in the same boat. We can be perfectionist. All striving for perfect work yet we live in an imperfect world. We live in an imperfect world. Everything man-made is flawed in someway or it is imperfect. Technology can crash or glitch. Cars can breakdown. Yet, despite all this we want our work to be perfect.

You need to figure out why you strive for perfection. When I was a little kid I struggled with school. I often had to repeat grades. I hate that feeling. Along the way I developed a bad habit of pushing myself to perfection. I never reached it. No one can. Have you ever picked up a good book? You loved almost everything about it. Then you noticed that the book has grammatical errors. Numerous editors went over that book. Yet, it has grammatical errors. We need to let go of our inner perfectionist. 

Consider the impact 

Every action leads to a consequence or a result. You decide not to wake up early in the morning, the result is rushing. You choose not eat healthy, your health is affected and that leads you to being sick often. We never consider the effect our thoughts have on our life. One way to shift the I’m not enough mindset is to think about the effects. 

How has this mindset affected you? What did you have to stop because you believed this lie? Our thoughts affect our lives in more ways than we think. It can take the things we cherish and love and throw curveballs. It can also make you too afraid to go after what you want. When you consider the impact that this mindset has had on your life it pushes you to switch the narrative. Only you can do that. Only you can switch the narrative and create a new story. Face your fears. Doing this will change what happens next. Keep going forward. 

Also Related: 7 Ways To Earn A $1000 On The Side While You Pursue your dreams

What false beliefs do you believe that are stopping you from achieving your dreams? Comment below.

                                                      Keep Pushing

                                                          Vanessa