2021 Was A Year Full Of Subtle Lessons
42 Life Lessons 2021 Taught Me
Happy 2022, everyone!🥳
I hope you had a fun New Year's weekend with family, friends and yourself.
During this time of the year, I gather all the lessons I learnt in the previous year and set them as my foundation for the new one.
Unconsciously and subconsciously, we do change over the years. But we need consciously make an effort to remember what we learnt throughout the years.
If we don't, we'll be going around in circles.
Here are the 42 lessons I learnt in 2021.
(For the sake of clarity, I have divided them into six parts.)
About Self
Before you try to understand others, first try and figure out yourself.
Have a fun and straightforward workout routine that you can do with or without the gym.
Those small errands you thought you could tackle throughout the day? They take up your time, physical energy and mental energy. Plan your day accordingly.
Our minds are juggling many activities, and our energies are very dispersed. Even though this tires us completely, it has become normal for us as our world moves faster and faster. We don't even question the levels of absurdity that multitasking reaches at times. - Thomas M Sterner, The Practicing Mind
Someone out there will get me because I understand others.
The best time to have coffee is 30-45 minutes after breakfast. Great for productivity and a great work companion.
Don't take life seriously to the brink of an anxiety attack. It's not worth it.
The term "goals" is rigid and industrial and sucks the life out of the endeavour. "Dreams" is a better term (for me, at least).
Keep your top priorities, your top priorities.
Save your ass first so that you can save others.
Think good, positive and in your favour.
It's okay to watch TV.
You have to live with yourself all your life. So fall in love with yourself. Be your best friend.
And when you really work on improving the relationship you have with yourself, it changes everything.
Because the relationship with you is the foundation for every relationship that you have.
If you're tired of feeling insecure in life and in relationships, start working on being more secure with yourself.
If you're exhausted by seeking love and validation from your boss, your lover, your partner, your friends, your followers, start giving that validation you want to yourself.
That's the secret.
- Mel Robbins
About People
People in your life are assignments assigned to you by the Universe to help you learn a lesson.
No one will ever completely understand you as much as you will understand yourself. If they do, it's a bonus.
Accept others as they are, and you'll be more at peace.
About Planning
Do not plan for it never goes that way. Have an idea, a direction, and know the checkpoints, and be ready all the time to pivot.
Remember: Life is like the Grand Staircase from the Harry Potter movies. They keep changing and leading to different places.
Life is unpredictable on an hourly basis. Don't take that personally.
Don't just survive through the day. Every day, do one small act to move the needle of your life forward.
About Long Term Mindset
Explore and experience different things. Life will automatically connect the dots for you.
To bring your dream to life, you must think long-term and pay no attention to the fluctuations in the current of your experience. Your most precious dreams are not about instant gratification but enduring prosperity. Time to think long-term and engage in continued action. Stoke the fire. - Colette Baron-Reid, Oracle Cards
Focus on the work, not the results
Output-driven mindset - just because you don't do the work or finish something, you think you wasted your day - is not good for health.
Need to just focus on living each day to its fullest, whatever the day has in store. The end product is not in our hands, but the work we put in is.
Small steps are the key to long term success.
... creating patience is understanding and accepting that there is no such thing as reaching a point of perfection in anything. - Thomas M Sterner, The Practicing Mind
Progress is a natural result of staying focused on the process of doing anything. - Thomas M Sterner, The Practicing Mind
With deliberate and repeated effort, progress is inevitable. - Thomas M Sterner, The Practicing Mind
In every moment of your life, your skills are growing. The question is, in which direction? - Thomas M Sterner, The Practicing Mind
About Life
Life happens in seasons.
Everything is as it should be.
We are too much in the masculine energy, a.k.a hustle mode. We need to nurture our feminine energy - creativity, flow, love.
If you can't remove them, learn to live with the distractions of the world. You do what you want to do while dealing with whatever life gives you.
Don't try to force anything to happen. Not gonna work.
When work feels like play, time passes, and it doesn't feel like labour.
About Surrender
There is something out there that's way more powerful than you can imagine. Call it Universe, God, Higher Power, Fate or Destiny.
Just know the WHAT. Leave the HOW and WHEN to the Universe.
We co-create life with the Universe.
Focus not so much on what you want but on how you want to feel.
The Law of Attraction only works if you take action.
Remember the Flower - You are good enough in every phase of life. - Pages 47-49 of The Practicing Mind by Thomas M Sterner
Timing of Life - Trust the Timing of Life. Everything will happen when it is supposed to happen. You just keep working on what you have to do and, eventually, everything will fall in place, and things will start working.
Now is the time to just be. Now is the time to not listen to anyone but your own heart. Not all days are going to be the same. Not all days will happen according to plan. It's best to just accept things as they are to let your mind be in a state of peace.
Have trust and faith.
Curiosity + Action + Timing of Life = Success
