There’s something about starting off the New Year with a frenzy that never gets old. We tend to feel like we have a fresh slate, a new lease on life to start again and so inadvertently we put ourselves under undue pressure to run and achieve and before the first quarter is over, we find ourselves burning out.
I’d been thinking of putting out a few tweets but my restless mind wouldn’t let me articulate properly so I settled for a blogpost instead.
First of all, breathe. It’s a New Year, yes but you can leave some of the pressure behind.
At the end of last year, so many people wrote reviews (I did too). Some had had a fantastic 2017 with countless accomplishments, some had a not so great year and if you’re human like me, you may have felt a pinch reading some of the reviews and asking yourself why your year could not have been as great or why you could not achieve as much. Again, breathe.
Now the New Year is here and there is a measure of pressure to accomplish so much so you can also write about them. But slow down for a minute and think on this. Life is in seasons, and there are phases for our journeys so you must be patient with the process. I have written about the need to stay in your process before and this post is to reiterate that specifically for the New Year.
You must pace yourself out. Refuse the pressure to succeed overnight at anything. Refuse the pressure to suddenly get married or make babies or get a job or buy a car or own your house or even landed property. I know this is easier said than done but see, your peace of mind is so important! I say refuse the pressure because if you aren’t careful, you will find yourself measuring your progress with the scale of others’ journeys whereas you do not know all the details that make up theirs. Take some time off social media for a bit if you will. I promise it helps ease the pressure. Because if you can’t see some stuff, then you can’t be envious. Pace yourself out.
Towards the end of last year, I came across this brief thread by @Gbemisoke on Twitter, it had to do with her personal experience and it resonated deeply with me.
See, while you are in your process, people will attain the things you desire even before you do. Find courage to be genuinely happy for them without malice while you stay in your process of building, trusting and waiting. Because there is the law of seed time and harvest and some seeds take a greater time to grow than others. But by all means nurture patiently till your harvest comes.
As we venture into 2018, here’s a friendly reminder to you to:
- Stay in your process. Embrace your journey. Own your process and love it.
- Mind your business. Comparing yourself with others will nearly always leave you feeling inadequate. But you don’t even know what makes the other person lose sleep at night. Every rose garden has got its thorns.
- Take care of your mental health. Don’t let anyone fool you into thinking depression isn’t a thing. Be deliberate about what you feed your mind with and the people you let into your space.
- Invest in a journal. If you use an iPhone, try the DayOne app. It is so efficient for documenting your journey and for measuring growth. iPhone or not, invest in a journal and be dedicated to it. You can thank me later.
- Embrace an attitude of gratitude for all that you have while waiting and working for all you desire.
- Choose to be happy. Be deliberate about this. Indulge in your favourite past times on occasion. Choose your happy. Do not leave that to chance.
- Set SMART goals and be strategic and deliberate about executing them.
- Consciously reject pressure brought on by the experience of others. It can be such a drainer.
The New Year is a marathon and if you know anything about running, you’ll agree with me that you don’t use the same pace for a sprint as you would a marathon. Again, pace yourself out, be deliberate about your journey and enjoy your process.
May the New Year be kind to you, but more importantly, may you be kinder to yourself in the New Year.
Love, Light and Good Vibes only.
@Oge_writes
Thank you for this. 💛👍
My pleasure darling
Just what I needed. God bless you Oge
Aww. Bless you too dear!
Glad it spoke to you
Thanks for writing this. You spoke to me directly. May God bless you
Aww. I’m glad. God bless you too!
This is my current favorite read of the year -and I’ve read quite a lot already! Thank you for this reminder. I will embrace my journey, I’ll mind my business and acknowledge my feelings. But I won’t let negative feelings fester. Oshey, life coach
Awwwww. Thank you my darling! I’m so glad this spoke to you. Life coach eh? Hehehehe
Awesome write up, beautiful and intelligent Oge. Keep it up Nwaoma!
Awww. Daalu nnam!!