Three Tips for my Twenty Something Self

I was perusing though an old journal which I started two years ago, almost to the present day. I had just turned 29 and I was trying my hand at journalling. I wrote about my story so far:
health, education, career, core values, future pacing, sentence stemming (I would be happier/healthier if..) letting go of debilitating beliefs and identity. What really struck me were the goals I had then are very similar to the ones I have now. This befuddled me. Why are my goals from 2017 still featuring in my 2019 plan? Like the wily wolf who cross dressed in sheep’s clothing, my cursive swirls were merely wishes under the guise of goals.

𝕀𝕥’𝕤 𝔾𝕆𝕒𝕝 𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕖!
I had let the ink seep deep into the page and watched my future endeavors becoming embedded. Like the groove in Homer Simpson’s settee, there they remained. No plan, no deadline, lots of heart but lacking in smarts. The latter being the biggest barrier. It’s all about being SMART,  I rewrote my goals and used this template to assess them. I now have an actual action plan and decisive deadline to truly tackle my targets.

If it is career progression you are after, start researching courses and touch base with someone who is already in that place. À la Tom Brady, swipe on your war stripes and get ready to throw yourself into the task at hand. It is what any good quarterback would do so you should try it too.

𝔾𝕒𝕝, 𝕘𝕖𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕙𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕘𝕒𝕞𝕖!
As a teacher, I had no shortage of vacay days to work towards my aims, I just lacked the fire and the focus. While I’m sure all those days spent watching The Hills taught me invaluable lessons about the undulating terrain of friendship, I could have focused more on my own reality. Although, I am not ashamed to admit that my mind may have a little shrine to a few of LC’s iconic lines.

I suppose it takes a few years in a certain career to discover how malleable it is and how you can mould it to match what matters to you. I no longer want to be exclusively an English teacher. While I’m all about Heaney, Yeats and Shakespeare, I now want to supplement my career through the self care sphere.

Stop being a spectator, watching other people make a life for themselves. It’s there for the taking but you have to want it too. If you’re lucky enough to be one of the five percent of the world who has clothes in their wardrobe and food in the fridge then what’s stopping you?

We are all given the same hours to work with, it is just how we manage them that counts. If you want something bad enough you can make the time to take the time. Give Netflix the flick and make your goals stick.

When can you do this? Right now. Make a decision to dive head-first in the direction of your dreams. I’m currently reading The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod and he states that:

“Your entire life changes the day that you finally decide you will no longer accept mediocrity for yourself.”

Who do you want to be for the rest of your life? If you have the luxury of even asking yourself that question, then that is reason enough to find the answer and the solution.
No Dizzee Rascal, it's not an illusion.

𝕀𝕞𝕡𝕝𝕖𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕣𝕖𝕖 ℝ𝕤:
ℝ𝕖𝕤𝕚𝕝𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖, ℝ𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕝𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕟𝕖𝕤𝕤, ℝ𝕖𝕤𝕡𝕖𝕔𝕥
You will face challenging times and these will be the making of you. A few tears may have exited their ducts during my first job after I qualified as a teacher. Humans can be hellish sometimes. In my experience however, it is actually the older ones that have the capacity to be the most challenging.

Luckily for me, I only teach teenagers and they generally have their reasons for channelling Dennis the menace. This is mainly down to the whole essence of adolescence. Apparently, our brains aren't fully developed until we are twenty-five so that must be a factor too. 

Be relentless. You will fail and when you do, you will learn. Life would be boring if you had everything handed into your palm. It is in the journey that you find out most about yourself. The end achievement is just the reassurance that you can do almost anything you put your mind to.

Respect people, animals, the environment, but most of all, yourself. If you have self worth then you will be confident enough to fulfil your potential. Only then, can you truly be yourself and people will respect you in turn for that.

At the moment, I have this overwhelming urge to actively get after my goals. I am researching, planning and setting deadlines. I owe it to myself and to the people around me to be the best version of me. So step away from the crowd, throw your ticket in the bin. Get into the game and in the immortal words of DJ Khaled "win, win, win."