Reflecting, Being Grateful and Moving Forward
For me, 2016 was the “The Year of Grind”. That was my theme. I created custom wallpaper for my computer’s wake up screen with some guiding principles for me to follow. Stuff like, “lean into the suffering”, “go towards the resistance” and “practice delayed gratification” served as daily reminders.
Wise words and good intentions aside, that guidance was lofty, vague and really f**kin’ hard to execute against. To be honest, I didn’t even begin to understand what “grinding” really was until mid-October.
But in those three months, I learned a lot about myself, what I want moving forward and how to be better at getting better.
My year was full of ups and downs, false starts and more progress than I like to let set in for reasons I’ve tried to explain.
But by year’s end, once I had some time to reflect, it was ripe with slow and steady progress and invaluable lessons learned. And I’ve got a ton to be grateful for, too.
1) I celebrated another anniversary with wifey
On August 30, 2014 I met up with some close friends and family to make some public promises to my partner in crime, Martha.
Anniversaries are great because it’s a designated date to reflect on the personal and professional growth and experiences we were fortunate enough to have together.
We traveled to some new cities — Nashville, Cali and New Orleans — all of which I would happily return. We saw some of our favorite artists live — e.g. Jon Bellion. We celebrated professional milestones and promotions. We even cultivated some tag-team passions in the kitchen. (let that marinate, then get your mind out of the gutter). And we got to see friends make their own promises with their partners, too.
Most importantly with anniversaries, it’s a chance to dust off your vows and see if you’re making good on ’em. Are your actions matching those words you uttered… or nah?
2) I started a business
It’s called People and Words. We’re a content marketing and copywriting duo with story, data and strategy at the center of our approach. We use content and copy to help go-getter brands, entrepreneurs and side-hustlers grow their businesses.
My partner Michelle is pretty awesome, too. She’s elevated my writing game, always keeps the mood light and I’ve unofficially named her the Chief Accountability Officer (C.A.O). I’m happy to be taking a seed of an idea and turning it into reality.
3) Gained some clarity about me, myself and I
After much action, experimenting and reflection, I figured a lot about myself.
Primarily, I’ve started to understand what stuff positively effects the happiness chemicals inside of me. Endorphins, Dopamine, Serotonin and Oxytocin (EDSO).
Things like what energizes me and makes me happy — creating, curating, optimizing and organizing; what stuff consistently feels good immediately and lingers after — exercising, reading, learning, writing.
I’ve also learned a lot about where I have room for improvement — besides everywhere, of course. And in a way, learning what I don’t know and where the gaps are was some of the most valuable experience of all. That’s something I’m really grateful for too. Because as Aristotle once said, “knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom”.
When I think about what’s in store for the last 9 months of 2017, there’s one word that comes to mind: Optimism.
It’s everything. It gets us through dimly lit tunnels in our lives. It helps us take necessary leaps of faith. It’s a driving factor in our growth.
Towards the tail end of the year, Kid Cudi released Passion, Pain and Demon Slayin’.
Cudi’s music was really important to me back in ’09. There’s a track on the latest work titled, “By Design”, that reminded me of those times and the role that optimism has played in my life throughout.
We’re all in control of our lives. We make of them what we decide. We control the design.
And that’s a really awesome concept if you think about it.
Onward and Upward,
If you enjoyed this post, let me know by tapping that little heart 💚 at the bottom. Much love. ️️✌️️
Brent is Co-Founder of People + Words, a content marketing and copywriting company with story, data and strategy at the center.
