This Is What I Learned in Year 27

You have no bigger advocate than yourself
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been conditioned to be modest about my accomplishments and aspirations for fear of being perceived as self-involved. I know that I am not alone in this as gender stereotypes reinforce the notion of women being non-aggressive and sensitive to others. But for the first time in my life, I have become comfortable with the idea of self-promotion - I no longer see it as an aggrandizing or embellishment of the truth. This is now the case because I’m increasingly proud and confident about the work that I do. As a junior employee, I often questioned my efficiency and accuracy but with experience has come a level of expertise that has afforded me self-assurance.
While many of us look for mentors, sponsors, and advocates in our professional careers, many may never have the fortune to find any. It’d be wonderful to have someone mentor me on what to do or not to, or have someone push for my promotion during management meetings, but I can’t rely or expect for that to be the case. Instead I’ve learned that one must ask in order to receive. When an interesting project comes up, I now ask to be assigned to it and always have a list of reasons why I’m qualified to best deliver on it. When I’ve felt as though it was time for a promotion or salary adjustment, I’ve started the dialogue and explained why I think I’m deserving of it.
Respect is not automatically given, it must be earned
All humans should be treated with the respect they deserve, unfortunately that just isn’t always the case. This notion was initially hard for me to accept. Now I see that others simply have preconceived opinions of me, that while baseless, may determine the way they treat and respect me. But I strive to be the best I can be in both my personal and professional life and I treat others the way I want them to treat me. I want to behave in a manner worthy of how I am treated. Assumptions may prevail but I want to help dictate the narrative.
Love is not selfish but it surely isn’t selfless
Corinthians 13 in the Bible states that love is not selfish, while this may be true it doesn’t mean that there is anything wrong with loving yourself first. I truly believe that in order to let anyone into your heart you must love who you are. It is the only way that you can possibly let your guard down. I no longer dwell on self-doubt and its allowed me to allocate significantly more time to those I care about. Only when I accepted all that made me great, was I able to see that in others.
Year 27 was filled with love, self-assurance, and clarity. I can’t wait to see what Year 28 has to offer!
