I just celebrated my 29th birthday this past weekend. It was the most eventful birthday of my 20s. I had brunch with some of my coworkers and friends outside of work at Oralias, which is a new spot in town. Good food with great people at reasonable prices!
The spot had a coffee shop on the side so I took my first sip of coffee after 7 months. Felt the jolt of caffeine like 5 minutes in.
I got a chance to talk with my parents over the phone for my birthday. Then I went to go play in a birthday volleyball tournament for 5 hours in 110 degree weather up in Phoenix. I was so exhausted, but I had no regrets playing in the heat.
Fun fact is that the birthday tournament was not for me; it was for the tournament director, whose birthday was the day after mine!
Overall, it was a joyful 29th birthday. I felt extremely grateful to have been able to celebrate it with friends and family.
Reflections on my 29th birthday
I always journal about what I’ve been through the last year on my birthday. It’s a way for me to process what I’ve learned, how I’ve grown, and what I want to do for the next year. Every reflection I wrote down are mindsets and habits that I am still working on. I am far from perfect in implementing them but they are things that I strive to improve on. I want to share some of these thoughts with you.
Write stuff down!
If I don’t write down what I plan to do, I won’t do it. I’ve seen how different my day is when I don’t write down what I plan to do. It’s wildly unproductive. So whether it’s the day of or in preparation for the next day, I write down what I plan to do; it keeps me productive.
Do something important even when you don’t feel like it
This is the toughest mindset for me to adopt. I struggle a lot with this because it requires an insane amount of discipline that I don’t have. But that’s the goal – doing something important even when you don’t feel like it will develop an insane amount of discipline. And boy do I need a lot of discipline.
It’s okay to make mistakes, but don’t wait long to get back up
A big unrealistic expectation that I set for myself is that I have to be perfect and all knowing in anything I do, even if it’s the first time I do something. If I make a mistake or fail, then I berate myself mentally and lose motivation to work for a couple of days. This is a habit I’ve been trying to overcome and stop.
The way I think about this mindset is questioning how I would want to play volleyball: if you lose a point, would you just give up the game and walk off the court? No! Try and win the point back on the next serve. Also, don’t wait until 5 serves later to realize that you can and need to win a point back.
Your physical health is important! Keep working out
This habit is straight forward :). Working out is great for your physical and mental health. I’ve felt the benefits and it’s something I plan to do for the rest of my life.
Your financial health is important too.
I’m starting to get into this realm of personal finance…how to invest, save, and develop side hustles. I just started at the ripe age of 28! I think what kick started this was seeing how expensive things were getting. The goal is to be financially healthy, which is not just being financially wealthy.
