Lessons from 2018 - A Year of Growing Fresh + Going Deeper
By Melissa - Monday, December 31, 2018
I am writing this piece inside a lovely cafe in Zurich; tucked away from the biting cold, while my eyes rivet to the foggy lake every so often. It is the most wonderful place to write from and it seemed right to reflect on all the year has been.
2018 has been a year of embracing the new (job promotion in a different industry) and strengthening the old (ideas are still king, only the methods to demonstrate them have enlarged). A year of growing fresh and going deeper.
Naturally, the wildly amazing 2018 came with a few lessons and here are the invaluable ones:
Make change your best friend.
Seasons change, whether or not we choose to accept it. We may not like it, but as seasons are, they are only temporary. Change is often treated as a scorned leper - we stay as far away from it as we can. That’s fine, if you’d like to live a mediocre life. There’s nothing wrong with okay. Safe is good. Stability is what most strive for.
But, this perspective needs to shift if you’d like to live the life you have always dreamed of. Nothing exceptional ever comes without some form of sacrifice.
So, go on. Befriend change. Make her your best friend. She sure is sassy and will challenge you (especially on everything you are used to), but let me tell you, she is the best friend who will bring you on the grandest adventures of your life.
So, go on. Befriend change. Make her your best friend. She sure is sassy and will challenge you (especially on everything you are used to), but let me tell you, she is the best friend who will bring you on the grandest adventures of your life.
Cultivate your curiosity.
It is an intentional decision to maintain child-like wonder in a world populated by cynics. It is an intimate pursuit of seeking to feel more and understand better.
Curiosity needs to be romanced - you need to be patient and get to know it, observe what makes it tick, and love it even when it sometimes eludes or frustrates you.
A good way to start is to frequent museums, read books from various genres, constantly learn about things that move and motivate people.
Curiosity needs to be romanced - you need to be patient and get to know it, observe what makes it tick, and love it even when it sometimes eludes or frustrates you.
A good way to start is to frequent museums, read books from various genres, constantly learn about things that move and motivate people.
Show up. And, be durable.
Woody Allen said 80% of success is showing up. It is probably one of the best advices I have ever come across.
Show up, even when you don’t feel like it. Scratch that. Show up, especially when you don’t feel like it.
Show up, even when you don’t feel like it. Scratch that. Show up, especially when you don’t feel like it.
Your story will only be as interesting as you.
In other words, if you live a boring life, (chances are) you won’t have a story worth telling.
So, go out there. Live passionately. Fail gloriously. Let your faith (in God and in life) be bigger than your fears.
So, go out there. Live passionately. Fail gloriously. Let your faith (in God and in life) be bigger than your fears.
Write when you have something to say.
Not when you have to say something. Do as much research as humanly possible. Read every book, article, flyer, copy you can get your hands on. When you feel as though you have had too much information, only then should you begin writing. Anything else before it is rubbish.
It's a bad day, not a bad life.
There is a vast difference between the two. Do not mistake one for the other. Do not, ever, lose sight of the bigger picture.
Learn to tune out the noise.
We hear plenty of things spoken to and at times, about, us. Not all are beneficial to our growth. Most are just white noise - disruptive, annoying, and without purpose.
Recognise which is music and which is noise. It’ll change your world.
Recognise which is music and which is noise. It’ll change your world.
Be thankful, always.
One word, gratitude. Say thank you. It takes only two seconds to say those words, and they do so much for a person’s soul. Not for the other person, but for yours.
Try it out. Give your heart the TLC it deserves by thanking other people.
Try it out. Give your heart the TLC it deserves by thanking other people.
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