“Without reflection, we go blindly on our way, creating more unintended consequences, and failing to achieve anything useful.” ― Margaret J. Wheatley

Each month, I set aside a chunk of time to reflect on the previous month: memorable moments, lessons I learned, how I spent my time, how I’m different, who/what I’m grateful for, improvements for next month, and goals to work toward. I want to be more intentional in my personal development this year, and posting each month serves as a way to help keep me accountable.

THREE LESSONS I LEARNED THIS PAST MONTH:

• Letting go isn’t easy — whether it’s a relationship, material things, a season of life, or the grounding under your feet. It’s not comfortable. But whether it’s healthy or not, we get used to holding onto things longer than we were meant to. Until we learn to fully let go of what isn’t serving us, we hold ourselves back.
• “You have to be able to center yourself, to let all your emotions go. Don’t ever forget that you play with your soul as well as your body.” (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar). With all of the craziness lately (especially around the election), sometimes you need to stop to ground and center yourself. We can get so caught up in our emotions that they take over us. Instead of feeding the fire, take care of yourself first and make sure you are coming from a place of love.
• You don’t have time for everything. I have the tendency to bite off more than I can chew — and this month I definitely piled too much on my plate. I was working 5-6 jobs and would basically wake up, eat, work, sleep, repeat. It wasn’t healthy, and I had to make some changes to my lifestyle. I can’t work all the time. I need time to decompress, to talk to my boyfriend, to watch Netflix, and to sleep in 😴. Making time for yourself isn’t selfish, it’s necessary (hopefully someday I’ll actually get this lesson to stick 😂😳).

What big lessons have you learned over the past month? Share in the comments below!