Ode to 2021

It’s the beginning of January, and I’m starting to feel that pressure that happens at the beginning of each year. That feeling of knowing that “this is going to be my year” which is actually thinly veiled self-imposed pressure. The feeling that somehow, magically, because it’s January, I’m going to get everything I’ve ever wanted for myself in the year that’s about to come.

But as I was sitting on my front steps this morning reflecting on this, and, reflecting on the anxiety that I felt about this expectation, I suddenly had a realisation, a feeling of knowing, that this is actually not going to be my year.

This is going to be the year that is a cornerstone in my future. This is the year that I lay my foundations for my future life. This is the year that I slowly but surely, keep building on the progress I’ve already made. This is the year I set up a life for myself. One day I will look back and think “How the hell did I get here? It must be luck.” I’ll reminder myself it wasn’t luck, it was 2021.

Now that’s not to say that I’m not currently happy and feeling benefits of hard decisions and hard work in years past. I feel incredibly grateful for my home, my life, by work. But where I have gone wrong in the past, is I have experienced a small amount of happiness and freedom and sat in that moment and not kept going. I stopped setting goals, stopped working on myself, stopped growing my skills, stopped putting time and effort in to my friendships.

Now is not the time to stop and relax. We’ve all just come out of a hellish year, so it’s not like we’re stuck in the rut of feeling comfortable anyway. Take that discomfort and run with it. Little by little, keep working and building. Do small things every day. Save a little bit of money each week, go for a walk 15 minutes a day, spend 10 minutes on Instagram connecting with your your audience, call your friends and family each week and spend 5 minutes talking to them. The smallest little changes, I promise you, will lead into bigger things. Make this year the seed that one day grows into an oak tree. 2021 might not be “your year” – it can be “THE year”, which is way cooler.