My top 10 moments in 2016

I was originally going to talk about the things I learned in 2016, but I realised that would mean delving into some bad stuff and possibly offering advice on things I probably haven’t finished learning yet. So instead I decided to go with all the good things that happened in 2016! With it being “blue Monday” I thought it would be apt! I hope everyone is having an okay day today – personally I don’t believe in this “most depressing day of the year” crap as I guarantee you I will have more during the year!

5 things I'm grateful for

So in 4 days time I'll be 25! I'm only excited about this because I'll be celebrating it in New York, a city I've always wanted to visit. I'm not really quite sure why, considering I think London is too crowed but it's something I wanted to knock off my bucket list. I'm so happy that I'm excited for this trip and my birthday because that was exactly my intention when I decided I want to be away for my birthday. I didn't want to dread it, and now I'm really not - I'm looking forward to a magical day and night with some great friends.

Turning a quarter of a century old isn't a huge deal, but it kind of is so it brings some thoughts with it and I just thought I'd note them down to look back on. Tbh when I was 13 with suicidal thoughts running through my veins I didn't ever think I'd reach 25, so honestly for me to be excited about it is a real 360 for me. I feel like I've grown, but at the same time still the same. I mean currently my hair is a brassy blonde and I don't even know if I'll have the time to fix it before I fly...

The Full Agenda

So after posting The Incomplete Agenda and The Incomplete Agenda – Review, I am now back with my final six goals thus I present The Full Agenda. I’m still working on (I worked out this morning) and learning from the first set of goals, but I think it’s time for a new set just so things don’t stay stagnant in my life. I’ve been thinking about these since the end of June and as I’m starting my new job tomorrow, I thought now would be the perfect time to post these goals up.

The Incomplete Agenda - Review

Back in January I posted The Incomplete Agenda, which includes six goals I set myself for the next six months. After six months I said I'd review them to see how I got on, I haven't looked at these in  a while although I've remembered them all, so it'll be interesting to see what I wrote and how far I've come in terms of progression for the goals.

These were the goals that I set myself:
1. Talk kindly to myself
 2. Put make-up on at least 2 times a week
3. Exercise in the morning at least once a week
4. Turn my laptop off at 10pm every day
 5. See a dermatologist and get a skin treatment
6. Save 12% of my income every month

A little update!

Over the past couple of months, I've come to know my own strengths and I am so proud of myself. I've stood up for myself and I've sought help and just generally in everyday life I can feel myself becoming a lot stronger in all aspects of my life.

But the main reason I'm so proud of myself is that I've landed myself a new job! After all the turmoil I've gone through in my current job, I'm so proud of myself for persevering with my job search and landing this role. It's been a stressful two weeks. Last week I did the interview, along with other work they wanted me to submit and it was all last minute and stressful but just the next day I got confirmation that I'd got the job. 

Yesterday I got my contract and handed in my notice and I couldn't be happier. I won't go into details but let's just hope I'm going to a better environment. This week has been stressful simply because of the sheer amount I've had to do for a last minute deadline. I've been commended on it and truth be told I am so proud of myself as well. I'm suprise I didn't crumble or snap at anyone, in work and in my personal life. Now that these two weeks are over , I'm back to being less stressed but it has just  made me look back and review a couple of things. My mental health has been relatively stable over this time, so I'm even more proud of myself.

I've had so much help from people in the troubles I've faced, so I'm never going to be there singing that whole "I did everything by myself" in that bitter way. But I did transform into the person I always knew I could be to get through these past two weeks and these past couple of months.  That's me that's done that, I've had support along the way, but I still had to be the person to do it.

So that's just a my newest update, I don't want to sound like I'm bragging haha. I'm now looking to the future and I can't wait to put some of these things behind me. I have so much to look forward to in the next couple of months, I'm going to Wireless, my brothers graduation and I'm going to Ibiza! So very exciting stuff.

People are like tea bags - you never know how strong they are until you put them in hot water.

Go and conquer people and know that you are strong enough, and just enough period. 

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2 things I've learned this month.

I haven't done one of these in months. That's not because I haven't been learning but because I forgot. But I wanted to bring this little series back, so I thought what better month to ressurrect it in, than the month I turned 24?

1. Fight your battles – Without going in to too much detail, I had a situation at work that required a lot of strength to fight against a really unfair case. It spanned out to about 3 weeks and half way through I was ready to give up. It was consuming so much of my energy and was getting me down. I think when you’re fighting a wrongdoing against you; you start off with all that energy to fight it because you know it's not right. Then it starts to drag on and when you’re in work daily, dealing with the people who put you through it, it kinda sucks and you kind of think "is this worth it?" "Shall I just give up?" I say remember why you started and don’t stand for injustice. Sometimes people will pick a fight with you because they don't expect you to stand up for yourself. Fight your battles. Although I felt like giving up, I thought “fuck it, I’ve come this far.” Lucky for me, I actually “won” in the end, but even if I didn’t I would have been glad to have fought the battle, if it meant standing up to bullies. I was super exhausted after, but I’m glad I can look back on that part of my life and know that I still fought even when I felt like giving up. It might be exhausting at times, but I've found that it's worth it. Standing up for yourself is an act of self love.

2. Say yes more often – I’m so used to saying ‘maybe’ or just ‘no’ to things. As much as I like trying new things, I’m not spontaneous and I feel like everything requires energy that I don’t have. Now, I haven’t gone around being a Yes, Man like Jim Carrey, but last week when my friend asked me if I wanted to join her in an obstacle run I said yes. Initially I didn’t, my head was like well when I’ve trained enough I’ll go and do one. Then I remembered what I’m like and thought “fuck it” say yes and then you will train. And now I’m doing the Colour Obstacle Rush on the 28th of June. And nope, I haven’t started training! But it has made me proud of myself that I've signed up because I've never done and run or obstacle course before. I'm also saying yes to a lot more things, that I wouldn't usually say no to, so hurrah.

What have you learned this month?

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