And what haven't I learned?
And now for a few lessons I haven't learned......................... yet...
We have reached the halfway point!!! I am so pleased to have gotten this far with this project and hope that you my readers are able to enjoy the posts. For today’s post at the halfway point, I am going to exercise full disclosure and say that while there have been many lessons that I have learned, there are also many that I wasn’t able to learn… and not for the lack of trying! I still have goals I want to achieve, lessons and skills I want to acquire and habits I would like to form (or break!!). And so for today, as the first step on the journey towards some (or all) of these things, I am going to share some of the lessons I have not yet been able to learn. I hope that this will create some accountability and spur me on to a solution. I am open to feedback and suggestions from anyone who thinks they can help me with any of these things. Here goes!!
1. I haven’t yet learned to say No. – This is the biggest one, and believe it or not it has caused a number of situations in life. I would love to be able to say No in a confident and calm but firm manner, without having to justify myself. Sounds easy? Well if it does, please email me right away because if you can teach people to say No, you may have an alternative income source on your hands – I have several other friends looking to acquire this skill. One example of an issue that I have had because I couldn’t say No – I now have to change gyms because I could not figure out how to tell the personal trainer at my previous gym I didn’t want to work with her any more. That is actually the reason that I left that gym in the first place!!! (I tried to go back one time and she cornered me in the lobby and I ended up booking more sessions with her. I never went back, and now I need a new gym!) I once ended up sponsoring a child in Africa because a man on a street corner stopped me and I couldn’t say no. In the end I had to cancel the credit card!!! This is a serious issue people, and one I would like to address immediately except I don’t know where to start. So if you know how to help me then please get in touch with me immediately!
2. I haven’t yet learned to de-clutter my inbox – This is another issue that I have. Apparently I am addicted to signing up to pages. I get 60-70 emails daily and I delete 90% of them – even when I have tried going in and unsubscribing, I seem to have missed a trick. How do I stop all of this nonsense from arriving every day? It causes me to miss genuine emails, and makes it tricky to find ones of importance. While this may seem trivial, it is a skill I definitely want to learn sometime in the next few months (days).
3. I haven’t yet completed a masters – for some reason this has always been something that I wanted to do. I started one many years ago, and converted it to a Postgraduate diploma as I was unable to complete the research paper. I have always regretted it, despite my strong belief in no regrets. I would love to complete one, and there are a few subject areas that I know I would love to do some more studying in, so who knows what the future holds!! That is one thing I definitely would like to achieve in my 40s
4. I haven’t yet figured out good financial practices – this is also something that I am working towards, but the world of finances still feels like a mystery to me. I totally admire people who have good financial discipline and practices, so that they are planning for retirement, buying property and simultaneously planning trips (instead of cancelling credit cards because they are giving money to people who stop them in the street!). I only just decided to try paying a bill online last month!!! And I still have nightmares if I know I have to go into the bank and deal with any business. Working on money mindset, and getting some solid financial practices is definitely on my agenda. Don’t get me wrong, I have a retirement savings plan, savings accounts and a few of the other things that probably count towards good practices, but I definitely do not feel confident in dealing with certain other transactions, and would love to feel more knowledgeable in this area.
5. I haven’t yet learned to relax – I am the person who does not find it relaxing to relax. I have no idea how to switch off, and if I have time to sit around, I spend it feeling bad about not doing things that I feel I should be doing! Coupled with the fact that I do not like massages or saunas (or any of the other traditionally relaxing activities that people recommend) I feel as if this would be a great addition to my life – the ability to switch off. Still searching for the key to this.
There are quite a few more things that belong on that list, and so I may do another post about this later down in the series! One thing I did learn however, is to harness the power of language to be positive in what I say. There will definitely be a post on that later, but in the meantime, I will add that these are things that I have not learned to do YET and will be actively working towards them. Just as soon as someone inboxes me and gives me some fresh insight. I look forward to your feedback. Who knows - I may even get to learn one or two of these before the big birthday, and be able to write a post about it!
Until then, I send you – big love from a small island!
Ps The above sunset was taken several years ago when I lived in England. I remember that there was a volcanic eruption, and there was much ash in the air (I can't remember which volcano it was sadly...) and just like clouds - it seem as if ash in the air also makes for beautiful sunsets!