Hello, Darlings! Happy Tuesday. My birthday was this last weekend and as the kids would say, it was “lit”! I celebrated with FabFitFun, Tyga and Saweetie. I lost my voice and sanity on the dance floor. Now that I’ve celebrated, it’s time to do some reflecting. I wanted to share 5 lessons I learned in 2018 with you all and hopefully, you can all relate. I’ve always believed, if you don’t look back on your past self and cringe, then you didn’t grow as a person.
Accept people as they are: This one was one of the hardest lessons I’ve ever had to learn. I have zero patience and I mean zero. I’ve always walked on earth thinking everybody should also lack patience. Patience is a virtue I’m learning. I’m learning to control myself and my emotions. It requires strong willpower but what makes this world a beautiful place is that we are all so different and unique. I can’t change other people’s behavior but I can change my attitude about it because the only person I really have power over is myself.
"I’ve always believed, if you don’t look back on your past self and cringe, then you didn’t grow as a person."
2. Your Ego is Not your amigo: One of the most amazing books I read this year is
“Ego is the Enemy” by Ryan Holiday. In short, the book explains that when you simply do things for the whole sake of doing it and not for the respect or validation it might bring, then you’ll be on the right track. A lot of things that happened to me this year has taught me to quiet my ego. The ego is reactive which is a dangerous emotion. To be honest, as influencers, it’s hard to not believe in your own hype. Check your ego!
"To be honest, as influencers, it’s hard to not believe in your own hype."
3. The Power of Intention: I first heard of “The Power of Intention” on Oprah about 10 years ago but didn’t start applying to my life till this year. There is truly power in intent. I believe your thoughts create your reality. For someone who has social anxiety, this has helped me with meetings. I always think of it as “what do I want out of this situation? How do I want to feel when I leave this room?” For me, it’s more of a mental thing than a physical thing. Does that make sense? I try to envision it already happened and it works really well for me.
4. Your friends are who you are: My father always told us growing up “Show me your friends and I’ll tell you exactly who you are”. We’ve all heard the saying “friends of the same feather flock together”. Although it sounds very judgmental, putting it into action has changed my life. I realized my support system is paramount and that achieving success is much easier when you are surrounded by ambitious people as well. Inevitably, our environment molds who we are and if you have friends who aren’t on the same path as you are, it’s better to let them go. Just like our parents use to warn us, guard your life, your soul, your mind. So my advice is to find wise people and be in their company as much as possible. It could literally save your life.
5. Put God first: This one, in particular, is controversial and if you aren’t a believer, I completely understand and feel free to skip this one. I know my life is about to fall into disarray every time I put anything above God. I can feel the consequences almost immediately. Be it work, relationships and such. I was in a relationship this year that was nothing short of toxic. I knew I was certainly in a toxic relationship when I stopped prioritizing God first. Do not let your relationship be used as something that brings you away from God. For me, I hope to find someone who I can grow in my faith with. I absolutely want my relationship and all aspect of my life to reflect the love of God.
That’s it, you guys. What Are Your Life Lessons of 2018?
I’m curious to find out what you learned last year. If you enjoyed this article, please share it with someone who might find it interesting.
Happy Holidays and stay Fabulous!