My 2009 Insights

2009 has been an extremely pivotal year for me. I will look back at 2009 and say that this was the year that I stopped playing games, and started making my dreams and goals a reality.

In light of that, I wanted to take some time to share what I’ve learned (both professionally, and personally) in 2009. Not only do I want to share more about me with you guys, but I also want to have this post documented so in a year, or five years, I can look back at it.

This is going to be a long post (I’ve been writing it for a month or so). I’ve learned a lot in 2009.

My anxieties are trying to teach me something.
Every time I feel afraid, or threatened, or stressed, it’s an opportunity for me to learn something.

I don’t need to be 35. I can be a professional woman, in the business I’m in, and be successful at 23.
It’s hard being one of the youngest people in your profession. I feel like at times I have to work twice as hard to be respected. In 2009 I decided that I was going to own my age and turn it into an asset.

I am nothing when I am not authentic. I am alive when I’m real, and I’m dead when I’m faking it.
This is a no-brainer for my business. I’ve never tried to be anything but I am there. But this has been a struggle for me in my personal life. I’ve decided to look at authenticity as a true life or death situation.

There is no other way to live than to live like you’re dying.
2009 taught me to feel every second and breathe in every moment.

I truly learned my work style.
Like most people, I always had to conform to everyone else’s work style in the past (i.e., a 9-5 job). So I never really knew how I work best. Well, now I know I’m not a morning person, I prefer Internet-based communication, and I like working off of a daily to-do list.

Successful people aren’t “lucky”. I am not lucky.
Success takes more work than I ever knew. It has nothing to do with luck.

I am on fire when I’m helping people.
In 2009 I learned that I get a natural high off of helping people.

Inspiration happens in the weirdest places and at the weirdest times.
If I want to be inspired, it’ll never happen while sitting at my computer. I have to remove myself from the situation and change my scenery in order to get a jolt of creative energy.

I have gumption.
And I never knew it until I saw so many people around me without it.

Being in an industry where everyone wants to build you up, and not tear you down, makes all the difference.
I had never experienced a work situation like that before.

I learned the meaning of hard work.
Straight-up, I’ve never worked as hard as I have since I quit my full-time job.

When I don’t have a thing to my name, I can survive and even flourish.
I saw myself straddling that poverty line in 2009 (even when I had a full-time job). But I realized that money won’t make my dreams come true.

I realized that the only person who should have control over my professional life and security, is me.
I won’t ever hand that power off to someone else again.

There is more to life than working.
Family comes first.

I learned my true passion for travel.
And I learned that I merely work so that I have the means to pursue my passions.

I once again realized the support and love that my family and friends have for me.
2009 would have been a different story if it weren’t for my ever-supporting husband, my loving family, and my encouraging friends.

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