My Top Three Lessons from This Last Year
As we established last week, I've now owned and operated HIWTSI for over a year!! Although I'm looking to the future and how I can expand my business, I can’t help but feel a bit nostalgic about everything that’s happened in the last twelve months.For those of you who have been with me since the beginning, I cannot thank you enough for your never-ending support. For those of you who have joined me along the way, this journey has been all the better for having you in it.You may have guessed it by now, but this is going to be a sappy post.Since starting Home Is Where The Suitcase Is, I had taken three major trips, made two career changes, and moved into a new apartment. By the beginning of March, I had finally figured out a place I could make for myself in this world and be content.We all know what happened after.Regardless of the craziness, there are so many undeniable lessons I’ve learned in the last year.Today, I want to share a few of them with you.
Lesson 1: Not Everything That Happens To You Is Your Fault
In the last year, I’ve slowly started to open up about my anxiety and how it affects me. One of the biggest ways it cripples me is the idea that everything that happens in my world is a direct result of something I’ve done, for better or worse.Losing my boarding pass after getting through security at Heathrow? My fault for being lazy.Landing my dream job as a travel agent? My fault for being AWESOME (!!!).The global pandemic crippling the economy that caused me to lose said dream job?……*crickets*So you see, there was a bit of a dissonance there.For a control freak like me, it’s nearly impossible to fathom that there are forces beyond my control. But there are. As I’ve slowly started to realize that, I’ve become happier. I’ve felt like a weight has been taken off my shoulders.Are these times stressful?Hell yes.But they're not my fault.
I've struggled with this concept for so long and, sometimes, all I want to do it lay down and block it all out. And that's okay.
Lesson 2: Being Content Isn’t Good Enough
In a way, I feel like losing my job and needing to indefinitely move back in with my parents is the best thing that could have happened to me. Am I thankful for the global pandemic that’s crippled our economy? Absolutely not.But I was becoming complacent.Comfortable.Content.I would wake up every day and go through the 9-5 routine. From the coffee to the cursing of the MBTA to the desk and back home. I was exhausted all the time. My passion projects were falling by the wayside. I enjoyed what I was doing enough to be content, but I found myself falling into my old habits from Dana Farber times: planning out trips that I would never have enough vacation days to actually go on.It was safe.That’s not good enough for me. I want to be happy, to be exhilarated, to wake up and genuinely look forward to the day ahead.Losing my job meant that I could start again. So I did. I went online and began to learn more about what it would really mean to work from home and be location independent.My goal one day is to travel the world. To pick up and go wherever I want, whenever I want.Losing my job brought me one step closer to that. It just took me a minute to see it.
Another day, another step closer.
Lesson 3: Don’t Ever Apologize For Your Dreams
Your friends might not understand, your coworkers might roll their eyes, your parents might think you’re crazy.But you have a dream for a reason.I signed up for an app called Co-Star at the behest of an old coworker and, everyday, I get a little tidbit of life advice. The most poignant one I’ve ever received was only six words:“Do your best. F**k the rest.”I recently picked up painting and let me tell you, I’m so tempted to put that on my wall.The fact is, though, that it’s true. In business, in life, in the business of life.If you have a dream, chase it. Do your best to make it come true and ignore the naysayers. The last year has taught me so many things but I think, perhaps, it can all be summed up into one statement: