What 2024 Really Taught Me

you know those moments when life completely flips your perspective when things happen that make you stop and think wait everything I believed about this was wrong well this year I had nine of those these nine lessons contradicted popular advice but transformed the way I think and work today I want to share what these powerful lessons are in the hope that what took me 365 days to learn you'll discover in the next 10 minutes let's start with number one captured perfectly in this quote by John barrows leap and the net will appear you know that feeling

when you've got this big thing that you want to do maybe it's starting a YouTube channel creating a podcast switching careers or even just having a difficult conversation but instead of actually doing it you spend weeks playing out every possible disaster on your head what if I fail what if I look stupid what if everything falls apart I did this so many times this year it became almost comical because every single time I finally took action my first thought was always wait was that it that's what I was so terrified of something fascinating happens when

you take that leap your brain literally flips a switch instead of listing all the reasons why something won't work it starts finding all the ways to make it happen you suddenly discover resources you discover Solutions you discover strengths that your overthinking brain could never have imagined from the safety of Solid Ground biggest takeaway that safety net that you're looking for it's not below you it's within you number two the freedom of being misunderstood if you've ever walked away from a conversation feeling like someone has completely misunderstood you or your intentions then this one is for

you in the past this used to really bother me I'd hear about what someone said about me or what someone wrote about me or read a comment about me and I think I'm not like that at all the real me is actually like so and so and I realize that people will see what they want to see when people judge you they're taking tiny fragments of what they see whether it's something that you've heard something you've posted on social media something that you said in passing ages ago and then they piece all these fragments together

through the lens of their own life through their own experiences and weave them into what they believe is a reality it actually has very little to do with you once you understand this you stop exhausting yourself trying to be everything to everyone this doesn't mean ignoring all feedback it means understanding that every judgment comes filtered through someone's life story take what serves you leave what doesn't the only version of you that truly matters is just the one that you're building lesson three flip the script and turn it into a win a few weeks ago I

accidentally live streamed on my YouTube channel while sitting on my sofa in my living room completely unplanned utterly unprofessional my laptop's front camera streamed for a full 5 minutes without me realizing and over 1,000 people were watching me type away at my laptop and when I saw it I was mortified I felt like my personal space had been invaded in the most unexpected way after a couple of minutes in disbelief I shared what happened on Instagram wrote by in my newsletter and turned it into a funny story with a lesson suddenly it didn't feel so

bad anymore in fact I'm glad that it happened because it became a great story to tell and it resonated with so many people the longer you strew over something that's uncomfortable or unfortunate the more power it has over you but the moment you find a way way to turn it into a win even if that win is simply turning it into a relatable or funny story You Take Back Control you reclaim the narrative and in doing so you shift your perspective and I learned that what might feel like a disaster at first can actually turn

into a gift if you let it Lesson Four spend in accordance with your end State I first learned this lesson a few years ago but it was this year that really cemented just how powerful it is the way you spend your money shapes pretty much your entire life if you think about it how many people dream of starting their own business one day but never invested penny in learning the skills that they need how many people talk about wanting to quit their job but haven't put anything towards the emergency fund that they would need to

make that possible how many people want to turn their passion into an income but spend money on everything except discovering what that passion really is the gap between what you say you want and what you're willing to invest in is where most goals get stuck this year really taught me the undeniable power of redirecting money towards your desired goal to get to where you want so much faster it's not about earning more or waiting for the right time is about intentionally aligning your spending with the life that you want to design when you focus your

resources and the money that you have on building your designed life and working towards your end State progress happens so much faster by the way if you really want to understand what your desired goal and your end state is and how to use money and resources to get there and the exact steps that I took to achieve my desired end state I'm hosting a completely free Workshop where I'll walk you through the entire framework I'll go over how to figure out what you really want to accomplish next year and more importantly how to understand which

of your goals are simply not worth your time secondly we'll calculate what you can actually spend on these goals based on your real financial situation no fancy matter I promise and thirdly we'll discover the specific money steps you need to take to make those goals way more likely to happen you can reserve your spot completely for free on ana. Mees your 2025 lesson number five learn to differentiate between your gut instinct and your anxiety we've all heard of the advice trust your gut but I honestly believe this advice is often oversimplified because what if what

you're feeling isn't actually your gut at all this year I found myself saying things like something doesn't feel right or I have a bad feeling about this but then I started to question it was it really my gut speaking or was it just my anxiety pretending to be my gut and here's what I learned anxiety speaks from a place of fear and worst case scenarios it spins elaborate whatif stories and thrives on Panic G Instinct on the other hand is quieter it's calmer it carries a sense of clarity it does doesn't shout it just nudges

and I noticed that when I approach the same situation from a place of confidence and security my decisions shifted the voice saying don't do it turned into why not try and now I know before I label something as it's just my gut telling me no I need to pause and check in with myself am I responding with wisdom or am I reacting from Fear number six you need periods of intense Focus I know this might be or sound a bit controversial and not everyone will agree but it's something that's truly word for me when I'm

gearing up for a big launch or a new project I go into what I call Focus hibernation for weeks I disconnect from most people barely check my messages and I immerse myself completely in the work and I used to feel guilty about it like I was failing at work life balance or being a bad friend but what I've learned is that these phases aren't a weakness they're a necessity when you're really pushing boundaries and operating at a level that is completely stretching you and requires more than your regular focus it demands complete immersion and these

int periods aren't about avoiding life they're about protecting your energy and channeling it into what matters most in that specific moment True Balance isn't about dividing your attention equally every single day it's knowing when to go all in and when to take a step back and recharge and once I let go of this guilt and accepted this I found I could move forward faster and more effectively trusting that balance will come back over time seventh lesson is be the person who makes things happen just recently I met some new friends at an event and predictably

everyone said they wanted to hang out again and instead of letting it become another forgotten someday plan one of the girls in the group took the lead she messaged the group with something concrete dinner at mine this Thursday at 7:00 p.m. who's in and you know what every single person said yes group conversations especially follow a very predictable pattern they're full of oh we should get together sometime and let's catch up soon and these well-meaning but very vague intentions then float away into nothing and they'll stay that way unless someone steps up and does the

one thing that actually makes these gatherings happen setting a specific time time and a place most people genuinely want to hang out they want to deepen their friendships they're just Paralyzed by the logistics or the quiet fear of rejection if you're waiting for the plans to fall in your lap be the person to send that invite lesson a say what you want but don't expect it so much of our relationship frustration comes from not being clear about what we want we drop subtle hints we skir around the issue and we hope that the other person

will magically decode what we're trying to say and then when they don't we get upset or We complain to others it's exting for you and for them I've learned that if you don't say it they probably don't know it if you want someone to check in more tell them if you need help on a project ask directly if you miss spending time with someone let them know but here's the other part of it once you've said it just let go of the expectation you can ask for what you want while also accepting that the other

person might not be able to give it and that is perfectly okay being direct creates Clarity relationships either grow stronger because both sides know what's needed or they just reveal their boundaries either way you're no longer stuck in this frustrating limbo of unspoken needs saying what you want doesn't just make your relationship better it sets you free and lesson number nine always find ways to give I used to think that I needed to be successful or have everything figured out before I could start giving and this year seriously taught me that giving is not about

waiting it's about showing up with what you have right now and some of my happiest moments this year have come from the smallest act it's not about the grand gestures it was the little things grabbing coffee with someone and helping them brainstorm their podcast ideas taking 10 extra minutes to share my experience with someone just starting out sending an article to a friend struggling with anxiety saying this helped me thought it might help you too and there you have it nine lessons that shamed my year and hopefully gave you something to think about for yours

thank you so much for watching and for being part of my journey this year if you enjoyed the video and enjoy all my other videos don't forget to hit the Subscribe button down there thank you so much and see you in my next video