Look Back At It 2023

We get so caught up in the hustle and bustle of life. Going to work, taking care of home, working 2-3 jobs we don’t slow down and reflect. 

Reflection gives us an opportunity to check in, think about the experiences we encountered, how did we react, Decisions that you’ve made. How do we feel about those decisions? what were the outcome? Would you change anything and/or do you need to change anything? 

For me, taking this time to reflect as 2023 is wrapping up I think about some of the things that I’ve been working on this year some intentional and unintentional. 

Physically, wanting to get stronger, wanting to get more and fit, wanting to lose some more weight. This has been cyclical for me with the number on the scale going down and then back up over the summer coming back from the US. Purely from bad habits and not moving with intention. I recognized it as the pants I bought while in the US no longer fit a few months later so I worked to get back in routine and back on track losing weight.

I started the year with the goal of being intentional about movement, targeting workouts 3-4 days out of the week and walking as much as possible. I’m fully self aware and knew I know need help with this, so I hired a trainer. I also walked to and from work.  

In regards to food, I kept it simple. I wanted to consume more good than bad foods and eat more real food than snacking. During the summer I was snacking more than eating, hence the weight gain. This is why reflection at different times throughout the year is important. 

Financially, I haven’t saved as much as I want to as I’ve been investing in the business, the brand and that’s sacrificing towards a long-term goal. On the spending side it’s been typical for me as well where I go through phases of being very disciplined with my money and then once I start spending, it’s like well I wanted this for sometimes so then I go ahead and kind of continue spending, but within my means, though.  I didn’t create additional debt for myself. 

I feel I did well balancing living & enjoying for now, while saving for future and unexpected expenses. Something I started last year was a splurge savings account with intent to make me slow down & think before my splurge purchases. Funny enough it’s during this reflection that I have realized, I haven’t used it and I recently made a few splurge purchases so I need to calibrate some things. The thing is, I’m so close to a six figure high yield savings account balance across my multiple accounts that I don’t want to move any money. So I’m definitely gonna forecast my budget to see if I can afford to not move anything just so I can see that number. That means my checking account might go down to probably like $500 or $600 but I’m OK with it. Hahaha.

You could not tell me when I was a child as we caught with 1st eviction  that I would have a 401(k) in six figures and a savings account  close to six figures. I vividly remember writing in one of my last senior courses in college when it asked about 5 years from now where do you see yourself and The only thing I wrote down was “have a 5-figure savings account”. I had no idea how I was gonna do that or what that would look like but ladies and gentlemen I definitely achieve that at least in my 401(k) by the 5 year mark. 

Mentally, i’ve been wanting to sit and understand how I feel about every situation that I encounter and be confident and comfortable and speak up more. This year, I’ve learned I don’t have to respond immediately. Broke2Rich taught me that. In the moment, when face with making a decision, I would immediately respond feeling that I needed to make a decision right then and there, and then time would go by, and I mean literally a few hours I would not be satisfied with the decision that I made.  Realizing this I started to make requests to  give me a day or two to sit with this and I will get back to you, I feel like that’s been my biggest win this year. That and learning to help in a way more comfortable with me and let it go. For example, I stop buying clothes and shoes for my nieces and just give their parents the money. The type of shoes that they want I’m uncomfortable spending that amount of money on a child. 

This year I started communicating my feelings more and saying no. A few times this year, I put on my big girl panties and told gentlemen I were conversing with how I felt towards them, how their actions made me feel, and even told two of them, “I’m not your person”.  I told myself almost 2 years ago, that I was open to see where relationships whether platonic, intimate or business would go and I’m proud to say I’ve been doing that.

There’s been periods this year when I pushed through and worked out when I didn’t want to and I felt so proud and empowered.  Most recently, while in Savannah, it was storming and I still got up and went to the gym . I felt like I owed it to myself to get up and get the work done.  And then on the other end of the spectrum,  I listened to my body and rested when I mentally and physically was exhausted. I was able to figure out the difference between being plain lazy and being exhausted.

The one thing that I will say, I’m proud of myself, and it’s something I’ve been working on for the past few years is having grace for myself, and as I just shared of some back sliding and not being consistent, which has been a grownup  struggle. I forgive myself for it, and I worked back at it to get Into and move in the behaviors that I want never giving up. These bad or not so healthy habits did not form overnight so they will not disappear or go away overnight.  I recognize it, acknowledge it and will continue to work on reforming those habits.

I’m always grateful for what I have because it can always be worse. That’s been my thinking since a child.  If we just put ourselves in other people shoes and open our eyes and ears and listen and look around we see what others are going through and can drive gratification from that.

Gratitude is crucial as it fosters positivity, improves mental well-being, and strengthens relationships by acknowledging and appreciating what we have. Reflection, on the other hand, enhances personal growth by learning from experiences and understanding oneself better. Together, they contribute to a more fulfilling and meaningful life. 

I encourage you to dedicate some moments for introspection, acknowledging your achievements, setbacks, and expressing gratitude for the experiences of the past year.