24 Lessons I Learned in my 24th Year

As I grow one year older and wiser each year I tend to reflect on the past year of my life on what I learned and how I grew. My 24th year in this world has been my year of realizing things. See below for all my realizations!

1. Treat your body with love and respect. I have spent most of my life picking apart my body, but this year I realized that I only get one body for my whole life (I know it's pretty obvious but just think about it for a sec.) Even though I love a pizza and wine night, my body hates me for it the next day. I have spent the year learning to respect my body with frequent exercise and nourish it with whole foods to allow it to stay healthy, balanced and happy.

2. Water = Life This one is pretty obvious.. Drink up!

3. A productive morning routine is the secret to a productive day. There is just something about a good morning routine that gets you ready to conquer the day. I love to exercise immediately after I wake up, then right down my gratefuls, manifestations and must get dones for the day while eating a nutritious and filling breakfast (go check out my What I eat in a day) This way I start off the day right, which gets me motivated to keep the good day going and continue to make healthy decisions.

4. The size of your clothes does not matter. The only thing that matters is if it fits. For years I would only buy a size small in clothes. If the item didn't fit I wouldn't go up to medium, I just gave up and went on to the next item. I was ashamed to be a size medium after being small for so long. But you know what, as you grow, your body changes with you. It’s okay to be medium, large, xlarge and so on because guess what, no one else sees the size of your clothing. All they see is if it fits correctly.

5. I have white privilege. With the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement I have spent most of my free time listening and learning more about police brutality and racism during this day and age. I am ashamed to admit that I have been ignorant to these topics before, but I am taking the time to learn about my white privilege and how I can be an ally and an anti-racist. One book that has really helped me is White Fragility by Robin Diangelo.

6. Power does not equal money. Power is the ability to do good. To be powerful is to have a voice and speak up when you see an injustice.

7. Read books. This might be a little obvious, but I discovered books this year (slightly joking). I was never much of a reader, but I started listening to a book club podcast hosted by my favorite influencer, Jackie Oshry, and ever since the start I have read more books in 3 5 months than I have in over 5 years. Also go listen to the Readheads Podcast, highly recommend!

8. Read a book before going to bed, instead of looking at your phone. Do you too get into bed ready for some much needed sleep but go down an internet rabbit hole and actually fall asleep 3 hours later? This was me wayy too many times. I started to read a book rather than scroll through my phone when I’m trying to fall asleep and this has been a game changer. First, the light from your phone screen is so harsh on your eyes, especially in the dark that when you finally put down the phone, your eyes are burning inside. Reading is the perfect mindless activity to engage in before sleeping because you can still get immersed into a story but with a little effort. I don't know about you, but reading makes me tired and I have found I fall asleep quicker when I read before sleep rather than scroll tiktok.

9. Expect the best, prepare for the worse. This year I got furloughed due to COVID-19 and this was a big wakeup call that however hard I work my job and the money coming in is never guaranteed. It’s important to have enough money saved up for if something like this does happen, you can still survive a few weeks without any income coming in.

10. Hard work doesn't always pay off, but it doesn't hurt to try. The old “work hard and good things will come” is not always an exact science. Things happen in life (i.e COVID-19). It’s important to keep that in the back of your mind, but whilst putting your best effort into your work.

11. Stay quiet in the office. Engaging in bad talking your coworkers will never be beneficial, in fact it is more likely to lead to a worse outcome than before.

12. It's okay to spend a lot of money on an event. I don't usually condone spending an absurd amount of money on one thing, but this year I did spend a ridiculous amount of money to go to 4 Jonas Brothers concerts, and I can honestly say that was the best thing I have spent on in years.

13. Remember to call your grandparents. Just call them, they miss you.

14. Reach out to friends first. After highschool and college ended, the friends you once had may drift apart, and that’s okay. I used to think that if someone wanted to continue being my friend, then they would have to reach out to me. I have lost many friends because of this mindset. Now if I want to keep someone around, I’ll be reaching out to them on a regular basis. Of course it has to be a two way street, but I have learned that people just forget to reach out, it's not because they don't like you anymore.

15. Quality is better than quantity. This lesson is true for lots of topics, but I am specifically talking about friends. As I mentioned above, I have lost many friends from high school and college, however when I really think about who I want to stay in my life, I could not imagine a better group of people to surround myself with. Instead of having a bunch of friends who I talk to every now and then, I have a select few of really special people that I would not give up the world for.

16. Being upfront with people is better than being aloof. My boyfriend would get so frustrated with me because instead of telling him what I wanted directly, I would tip toe around the idea, and get mad when he didn't do what I wanted. People are not mind readers, especially guys, so just tell them upfront.

17. Being selfish is not a bad thing. You have to work on yourself in order to give your love to others. Your number one priority in life is yourself.

18. Try new things. Start that project. I finally created my blog, something I’ve been wanting to do for years but was too afraid to. This blog is far from perfect, but I’m proud I started it and excited to keep it going.

19. Treat yourself, but not all the time. I used to use the excuse “treat yourself”AAL. THE. TIME. To the point where I was treating myself everyday. An everyday treat sooner turns into a regular and not a treat.

20. Walks are a good way to de-stress. This year I was stressed more days than not at work. This obviously is not the ideal situation, but to manage my stress I started taking my full hour long lunches to walk around the city. This really helped to break up the day, have something to look forward to and get myself out of my head for an hour. Bonus tip- long walks also aid in losing weight!

21. Don't accept criticism on things you like. I am done being shamed for watching reality shows like the Real Housewives or Keeping up with the Kardashians. We all don't have to like the same shows, but I’m proud to like what I like and will not apologize for it anymore.

22. If you keep thinking about something, just get it, or save up for it. Buy the bag!!

23. Gratitude is the key to happiness. I like to write down 3 things I’m grateful for each morning.

24. Life's a climb, but the view’s great. Okay, I didn't initially learn this this year, but it’s still a good lesson.