Hello Everyone!
And welcome back to my blog! Let me start off my apologising for the lack of content on here with how busy I was over the holidays I had very little spare time and I chose to prioritize my business and spending time with my loved ones which I’m sure you can all relate to and understand. But never fear, I’m back and now I can kick off the year refreshed, inspired and motivated!
So welcome to 2019! With a New Year comes new resolutions and goals and that’s excellent but today I want to focus on an area that can very easily be overlooked during the resolution process and thats our own personal growth. Think about the goals you set for yourself, how many of them will directly help you become a better person. And no I don’t mean what will make you fitter, richer, or have more social media followers, I mean what will make you a better person.
I started off this year by evaluating who I was in 2018. What was my mood like? What was I spending my time doing? Were my relationships healthy? What was I feeding my mind and soul with? If you’re anything like me, a deep introspective exercise like this can be uncomfortable but it’s so necessary because you can’t fix what you don’t know needs to be fixed. And so here are 4 goals that I’m setting for myself this year to prioritise myself, my growth and my happiness!
#1 Love Today’s Version of You
There’s nothing wrong with wanting to improve yourself, in fact thats what life should be about; constant growth and development. But it’s not okay to delay loving yourself today because you’re waiting to accomplish something in the future. How many times do you think things like “When I lose 5kg I’ll be sexy” or “When I get married I’ll be fulfilled” or “When I have 1 million dollars people will respect me”? Again, there’s nothing wrong with wanting more for your life but the belief that you can’t be sexy or happy or respected in your present state is a lie. Work out, embrace love, and be successful not because you hate who you are, but because you love who you are. I’m here to remind you that you are beautiful today, you are good enough today and you are worthy today.
#2 Practise Gratitude
No matter how shitty you think your life is, you are better off than somebody else. In other words you always have something to be grateful for. And for most of us, we actually have a whole lot to be grateful for. Without getting too preachy there are so many things like the ability to even read this post that others do not have that we take for granted every single day.
Last year had so many lows for me but I can testify that by forcing myself to focus on what I had instead of what I didn’t have I could find joy in those trying situations and from that joy I could find strength to get past them and learn from them. I’ve found so much peace in writing down one thing I’m grateful for everyday in my journal and I’d encourage you to try it, it helps you shift your perspective massively.
#3 Let Go of Toxic People
Everyone should make it a habit to audit the people you surround yourself with regularly. Does your inner circle spend time in pointless competition, tear you (or others) down or talk down to you? Sometimes these traits may be so subtle that you don’t see it right away but ask yourself how do you feel when you’re around these people? Do you feel stressed out, anxious, unappreciated or like your voice isn’t being heard? The closest people in your life should uplift you and push you to be best possible version of yourself. And most importantly, you should be able to communicate in an effective and healthy manner because thats how you resolve conflicts that will undoubtedly arise.
Ask yourself if you can say this about your inner circle without question, and if you can’t say that then maybe you need to reevaluate those relationships. Oftentimes we find ourselves maintaining relationships out of habit or circumstance but the danger in doing this is you may excuse and allow toxic behavior that will only make you unhappy and stunt your growth in the future. Love yourself enough to put yourself first.
#4 Find Out What Makes You Happy and Do It
This sounds so simple but so many of us don’t make enough time for what we love. For me, I like to be outside in nature. I love reading and writing. I love creating. I enjoy being around people that I love. I like to have stimulating conversations. I love to travel. I love to learn new skills and improve myself. None of these things (except maybe traveling) are things that require much effort and yet I spent so much of my free time last year focusing on things that did not make me happy.
This year I started bullet journalling and included some habits I wanted to track as well as my mood. At the end of each day I reflect on how I felt during the day and why. In doing that I’ve been able to identify the habits that bring my mood down and focus on filling my days with things that make me feel my best.
I hope this post helps you think about your resolutions and goals for yourself. Please share any other tips for personal growth you have in the comment section.
Thank you for reading.
Ifeyinwa
Leave a Reply