10 Life Lessons I Learned in 2021
2021 has been a big personal growth year. From suffering some of the hardships that a continuation of the pandemic brought – financially, mentally and emotionally, I was drawn to transformational coaching from a dear Friend Dan Morgan. I found these sessions to be painful and revealing and enlightening all at the same time.
So as 2021 draws to a close, I want to share with you the 10 life lessons I learned this year, in case some of them resonate with you too.
1. It’s ok to ask for help – No human being ever made it only truly operating alone.
Not only is it more than ok to ask for help – your success and ability to thrive actually depends on it. You are made of 37 trillion cells, you are a complex being. Nobody teaches you how you are wired or how to properly take care of your mind, body and spirit. This is mostly something that needs to be learned as we move through life. You NEED help with it, from others, from guides, from loved ones. Asking for help whether it be from a professional or a trusted loved one, will help you to THRIVE in life, instead of being deprived
2. You are on your own timeline, no-one else’s.
It takes a constant daily grounding to ask yourself, “what do I need and want right now?” Not “what do I think I need because I feel pressured from others, or where do I think I should be”?
3. The word “should” is an overused word. Should according to who? What? Why?
Every time you use the word “should” in a sentence, and ask yourself, why “should” I…? Often the pressure we put on ourselves are more of an expectation from others, society, peers, family, and if we strip it back, it may not even be what we truly want, or where we truly want to be anyway, if we dig deep and ask ourselves the question.
4. Get to know your values.
Not the values others have installed into you, or even what they were 5 or 10 years ago, because life changes and so do you. I did a value re-alignment exercise and realised that what I was channelling my mind, heart and energy into, and what was keeping me awake at night and causing me anxiety, was a value that was previously important to me, but as of 2021 was much lower on the list. This was a wake up call, why the agony and stress over something that frankly, is not my value to bear the burden of anymore?
5. We carry our inner child in our minds and hearts, even as adults .
Our inner child shows up in our belief systems which often drives our reactions and our behaviour. Our inner child is there to protect us with various coping strategies and so that we can navigate through life what we believe to be safely. But as an adult, it can be highly helpful to get to know yours, because when your mini me shows up, you can ask yourself, are you there to truly protect me, or are your past coping mechanisms holding me back?
6. Make time for what truly matters to you– no but really.
We think we do, but often the things that matter the most to us, we actually don’t invest the time we want to into them. Is your relationship or your family important? Invest the time. Have a lifelong dream to learn a hobby? Make the time to learn it. We live in a busy world where so many things compete and demand our attention. It’s up to you to apply the discipline and boundaries to say no to what doesn’t warrant your time, and yes to the things that you truly care about
7. YOU ARE A HUMAN BEING – not a robot. So don’t expect yourself to act like one or function like one.
You are a real living, ever evolving complex organism. Find beauty in the nuances and complexities of life, anyone who expects you to act like a robot (company/partner/family), are placing an unhealthy expectation onto you, and it’s not sustainable nor is it realistic.
8. Being successful can feel empty if you are only successful in your work.
“Being successful” should also be a goal for other areas in life that truly matter. How successful are you at making time for the things or people that you really care about? How successful are you at being present and listening to the people that you value? How successful are you at creating boundaries where they are needed both in your work and your personal life? How successful are you at taking care of things in your home and behind the scenes for mental clarity and peace?
9. Pets are life – no seriously.
My life wouldn’t be the same without my cat Mochi (that’s him in the photo above). Pets come with a whole lot of responsibility, but one that is so worthwhile and that’s changed my life for the better.
10. Make time for love, and I’m talking TRUE LOVE.
True love meaning, being present with the people that we love. Cultivating and nurturing healthy loving relationships. I still stand by love being the most powerful and Earth shifting human experience we can ever have in this life. I’m not sure if it’s up there at the most important for you, but I guess it wouldn’t be far from the top, so if this is the case, how much time do you spend on learning about, and also giving and receiving love in a healthy way, and learning about this hugely important topic that you probably mostly only learned about through the movies and also how your parents and family loved? We should all be experts on love, after all it’s what we yearn for. Yet is surprises me how little many people seem to truly know about it, and how little time they invest bettering this oh so important skill.
It took hours of deep diving and being supported during this transformational period of my life, but I’m glad I learned the above life lessons and now they are prominent in my field of awareness, I practice them and stand by them daily. I hope some of them resonate and can help you too.
I will take this opportunity to wish you health, love and abundance in 2022.
Hugs,
Belinda