Hey guys!
So my birthday is coming up soon, so today I just wanted to do
a casual video sharing the biggest lessons I've learned this year.
So this was a pretty big year for me.
I'm currently 26, turning 27.
I know it sounds old, going into my late 20s.
But this year has really been the year
where a lot of my dreams are real.
It's just kind of crazy when I look back
at the journal entries I wrote in 2012, 2013.
I wished for all of these things,
and a lot of them have come true.
I wanted to create meaningful content.
I wanted to have a successful business.
I wanted to inspire people
or create some positive impact on the world, which I am so grateful to do now.
And I don't know, I feel like each year, I'm getting closer and closer and closer
to creating my dream life.
And this has been the transition period where I feel like
I'm going more pro.
I think, in the beginning, you feel like an amateur.
You're figuring things out.
I'm constantly learning, constantly pushing myself,
and I always want to do things the "pro" way and I want to "act" like I'm a pro,
so I'm actually pushing myself towards that.
And as you can see, this is new.
This is basically my present to myself, a new computer,
because having a desk top for the first time–It was part of my dream set-up.
And since this has been the year where, financially, I can say that I'm doing well
and I'm very thankful for that, I'm like, "I can finally afford my dream set-up."
I can start building what my dream looks like in my environment
with the things I have around me.
So yeah, growing up!
Alright, so let's jump into the biggest lessons I've learned this year.
1.
You are in control of the way you feel.
Lately I've been feeling more light-hearted,
more joyful, and not taking life so seriously.
I think that that's something that comes with age,
as you realize that things are not as important as you think they are.
Life is kind of like a game, and it should be fun, even though there are challenges
and obstacles that come along the way.
I think, ultimately, my goal in life is to have fun.
Honestly, my purpose statement is: Be kind.
Have fun.
Create beautiful and meaningful things.
So I've been learning to be more light in everyday life.
And if something doesn't go my way,
I learn to shrug it off, laugh about it, and then try to see the situation from another
angle,
like "What's funny about this?" or "What good came out of this negative situation?"
So you can always be in control of the way you feel.
It's all about becoming aware of
"Hey, if I'm feeling sad, I can change that.
I can tell my mind to switch it."
And I know it's not easy at first.
I think, when you're starting out, it's hard
to get out of whatever emotions you're in.
But I think I've gotten to a point where
I can learn to be present and snap myself out of different emotions quicker.
2.
Always start with gratitude and appreciation.
This applies to your day.
Start with gratitude and end with gratitude.
And more specifically, I put this quote
on my notes whenever I do a podcast interview.
This year, I've done a lot interviews
for my podcast.
And it got to a point where sometimes I would get tired.
I'd be like, "Ugh, I have to record another interview," or I just kind of dreaded it
because of the social anxiety, or I was lazy.
For whatever reason,
I just wasn't looking forward to them.
And I was like, "What the heck?
Why am I so ungrateful?
These people are giving me their value and their precious time."
And it's worth a lot.
So it's kind of disrespectful for me to not be excited
about recording this interview with someone, so I always tell myself, I have to start
every meeting or every interview with gratitude and appreciation.
Before I do any meeting,
before I do any interview, I'm like, "Start with the gratitude and the appreciation.
I'm so thankful that this person took the time out of their day to meet with me,
to chat with me.
And I value their time.
I value them as a person."
And it changes your mindset.
It changes the way that you feel.
It changes the way that you think.
And I think more value comes out of starting with that gratitude and appreciation.
3.
Money is just a tool and it's something that makes you more of who you are.
I was inspired by the book, "You Are a Badass at Making Money" by Jen Sincero.
I listened to the audiobook and it really reshaped my thinking around money.
To be honest, guys, in my first few years after college and starting this YouTube channel,
I didn't have that positive relationship with money.
I always said things like,
"I don't want to make money.
I just want to help people."
or "I don’t care about making money.
I want to make art."
And I saw it as mutually exclusive.
And in reality,
money makes you more of who you are.
Money is just a tool.
So money doesn't have this negative connotation.
Because I think a lot of us are raised
with this belief that money equals greed or money is evil.
And I certainly had
a little bit of those thoughts as well, just naturally ingrained in me.
And for me it was "You choose money" or "You choose art", and now I realize
it can be one in the same, and having more money and more resources will allow you
to create more of what you want to create.
You'll have more resources
to create higher quality art and you'll have more resources to do whatever it is you want
to do.
So when I say money makes you more of who you are, if you are a stingy or greedy person,
no matter how much money you'll make, you're still gonna be a stingy and greedy person.
And if you're a generous and kind person, then more money will allow you
to be more generous and more kind.
So that kind of changed my mindset
and I think this was the year where I really started attracting more money to myself
and my business, because previously I think I probably blocked money from coming in.
I was struggling.
And this is the year I just started allowing money to come into my life
and not judge this transaction, just see money as a tool,
as a resource for me to do more good in the world.
4.
You can always continue pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone.
It's something that I have to constantly remind myself.
Continue to be
outside of the comfort zone.
Continue to get uncomfortable because that's how you grow.
This is not something new that I've learned this year, but what I've realized
as I get older is that it never gets easier.
You just keep pushing and keep pushing.
And what you do is: You grow your comfort zone, because before,
you were comfortable with this and then you pushed it a little bit.
And then you're like, "Okay, this is comfortable now."
And then you push it even more
and push it even more, and that is life.
That's what I've learned,
is that you have to keep pushing.
It's always gonna be uncomfortable.
There's always the fear, there's always resistance when doing something new.
But that's what makes life worth it, you know?
That's what makes you accomplish
such crazy, big, amazing things, is when you push yourself that far.
So I'm looking forward to continue making myself feel uncomfortable,
even though it's just…Sometimes you just want life to be easy,
but if you really want to do something amazing, it's not going to be easy.
You're going to have to push yourself.
5.
Another thing I've learned this year is how important self care is and how important it
is
to make space, a lot of space, for yourself.
I now know that I need to make time
for things like morning pages, meditating, exercising.
And in my ideal life,
I don't really ask for so much.
All I really ask for is to do something
that's positively impacting people, make money doing what I love,
and have enough free time–have enough space–to give back to myself,
just to do the little things that I enjoy doing.
A lot of this year was just understanding
how important self care is and how I don't really need much to be happy.
I just need a free day,
some hours to give to myself so that I could tidy up my space because I feel like a mess
when my space is not tidy.
I feel like a mess when I have a lot of clothes that are unfolded.
So time to do that, time to journal, time to meditate, time to do yoga and exercise,
and maybe some extra time to just sing, walk around, dance around the house
just because that's the stuff that makes me happy.
So know the things that make you happy
and the things that make you feel nurtured and taken care of, and make that space to
do it.
Make it non-negotiable.
It's super important for your well-being, your mental health.
Understanding that the hustle is not that important, not as important as your well-being.
Honestly, I could go on and on about lessons that I've learned but I want to keep this
short,
so I'll give one more, and this is something that came up recently
because of all the tragic events happening in our world.
6.
So, it's to understand
that there is both dark and light in the world, and accept that they both exist but,
no matter what, learning to stay with the light, learning to be the positive example
through,
not just your words, but your actions.
I think it's so important to stay focused on
seeing the love in the world, stay focused on being a living example of love
because that is the only way you're going to influence the people around you.
That's the only way you're going to spread that love to your community.
And the world really needs more love.
Honestly, this is something that–
it's not something I learned this year, but it's something that I've been reminded of
more,
because when tragic things happen in the world where you see bad things happen
to good people, it can be really easy to live in fear.
It's easy to put up a wall
and be like, "I hate people," or "I don't want to be a part of this society."
It's easy to do that, but you really have to step up, see beyond that, stay in the light,
stay in love, and just do your best, you know?
We're just one person,
but if everybody can be a living example of love, that makes a huge difference.
So I understand that I can only control myself, so I'm just trying to be
my best version of an example of love, and I hope that, through this platform,
I could encourage other people to stay in the light, not turn to fear or hate or judgment,
but stay loving.
Just believe in the human race and do whatever you can
to make a positive impact on the world around you.
Alright, I'll leave it at that.
Thanks so much for watching and being here with me today.
Sending you lots of love.
And comment below with whatever you're excited about right now.
I'd love to know what you're up to.
And I'll see you next time.
Bye!