11 Lessons I Learned In 2020 About Life and Self
By: Zeina Hart
Tags: Life Lessons, Self, New Year, 2020, Self Improvement

Image by StockSnap from Pixabay

1- All you’ve really got is yourself, so take good care of it.

You only live a single life. Tailor it, write your own story, and lead your own journey. Be you. Do you. Prioritize yourself and take good care of yourself because if you don’t simply others won’t either.

2- Live in the present and stop worrying about the future.

Life is unpredictable. You can plan your future all you want, but you cannot guarantee it will happen as you desire. I am not saying don’t, no, you should have an idea of what you want your future to look like and do work for it. However, do not focus on it too much that you compromise your present life because one day I guarantee you will look back on those moments and wish you had relished them and hadn’t missed out on making good long-lasting memories of them or the time you had. You’ve got nothing to lose, it feels right. just do it.

3- Spending time alone is crucial for self-awareness and self-development.

Living alone during quarantine and lockdown, I had no choice but to learn to spend time alone and I am not complaining. Being isolated from the world really pushes you to evaluate every single aspect of your life. You start to get to know yourself better, you learn what matters to you and what doesn’t. You start assessing your aspirations in life and it pushes you to think if you are on the right track to achieving your dreams. You start evaluating who’s in your life and who deserves to stay in it and who’s toxic adding nothing but negativity or literally adds no value to you. All of this thinking and evaluation really helps shape a better-structured life and brings quality to it.

4- What you think of yourself matters more than what other people think.

Frankly, you should not even give a single thought about what others might think of you, anything you do, or how they might judge you. Literally, EVERY. SINGLE. PERSON. is busy worrying about themselves. You need to realize that you won’t live your life to the fullest if you give a shit about others’ opinions. It shouldn’t matter and IT DOESN’T MATTER.

5- Do things you are afraid of. Do not lead a boring comfortable life.

Comfort won’t get you anywhere or anything. You need to burst out of your comfort bubble and chase new unique opportunities and exciting experiences. Lead a life your 90-year-old self would look back at thinking you lived your life to the fullest. A life that is exciting, adventurous, and fulfilling. The memories you made would make you smile, laugh, feel happy, alive, loved, and content. Live the life you desire. Live an unordinary life. Life is too short to live comfortably and boringly.

6- Appreciate life and find happiness in small things.

In the busy lives we lead, we tend to drown in a sea of the things we are doing or what we have to do, etc. And often we forget to take a moment to appreciate life around us. Drive up to a beach and watch the sunset. Appreciate the beauty of it and lust the sound of the waves hitting the shore or the seagulls signing. Take a break. Listen to the sounds the world is making. Take a break to reflect and be appreciative of what you have, the things you own, and the people you have in your life. Many people do not have such luxuries. Be thankful.

7- Journaling is amzaing.

Most people find it difficult to express their feeling or convey their emotions or thoughts to others. I am one of those people. I feel like since I started journaling, my journal has become that best friend that I could tell all anything and all I want to tell without fear of judgment or exposure. It is like a form of therapy. I have also started journaling moments I want to remember to one day go back to and relive them through my writing.

8-Self-discipline over motivation.

No matter how much motivation you have, some or none, if you have self-discipline, you can achieve anything you set your mind to. DO NOT let lack of motivation be an excuse for you to not do things, give up, and stop you from going after your dreams.

9-Lower your expectations.

if you set high expectations and later get disappointed that will for sure negatively impact you. So, set low expectations or none at all, so they are exceeded, and you are lift ‘impressed’ and happy after rather than let down. Very simple. For the good of your mental health.

10- Take control of your mind.

Mental health is vital to your wellbeing, productivity, and everything else. There’s no argument about it. You just need to learn to recognize your emotions and validate them. Learn your triggers and know that with every single emotion you experience you are controlling yourself. You decide how much attention you give to a single thought and for how long you live experiencing an emotion. So, you need to acknowledge that you are capable of modifying your state of mind. Learn how to control your thoughts and train your mind to not duel too much on the negatives that would impact you in the long run. Learn what and who is worthy of affecting your state of mind and occupying a space in your mind.

11- Phones and social media are TOXIC.

Yes, I know that it has been said before, but really. The more time I spend away from my phone and social media, the more I realize how they act like magnets steering me away from reality. It is CRAZY once you realize it. I feel like we build many aspects of our lives or we set unrealistic expectations that are all influenced by social medial. Sure, some are beneficial, but most are intoxicating us, our lives, and mental health, sometimes without even realizing the effects and the how’s. I highly advise you to try to take a break from it all. See the good it would bring to your life and notice the difference in your thoughts and perception of things.

12- Invest in your personal growth and never stop learning.

You cannot progress further in life favorably unless you are consistently and constantly focusing on better yourself and increase your knowledge of what is important to you and relevant to your life and future. Your future self and future family will thank you for it.

Best wishes for the new year xx