7 Important Lessons I Learned In 2018

As I sit here hammering away on my keyboard, there are a few more hours left to round up 2018 and begin another journey of 365 days. 2018 has been an amazing year, despite its challenges and difficulties, and I cherish every moment of it

I have spent the past few days reflecting over the last 364 days of my life and making plans for an even more wholesome 2019. The outgoing year presented a diverse range of experiences and opportunities for me and I learnt a lot of important life lessons (both positive and negative) from them.

So what did I learn from 2018? Below are the 7 most important lessons I learnt in 2018. Pay attention, you might learn something from these lessons:

1. Time is Precious

I had known this all along, but for some reason, I still wasted some of my time on people and activities that added no value at all to my life and career in 2018. I have learned now that:

• What I give my time to matters.
• What I do every minute of the day is important.
• Things I give my time to determines the quality of my life

To learn about more efficient ways to manage my time, I have started reading The 4 Hour Workweek book by Tim Ferris. I have found the book very helpful and I’d recommend it to anyone looking to get more out of their day.

2. All Storms Pass

I experienced some very tough and dark moments in 2018., some of them felt like the end of the road, but now when I remember about these moments I sometimes laugh about them. Ironically a lot of these bitter experiences left me better, stronger and wiser as a person.

Your deepest fears, failures, and challenging experiences can become the very engines that pushes you forward depending on how YOU respond to them. In 2019, I will embrace all my successes, failures and disappointments

3. Watch Your Morning Habits

The first thing you hear, say and do in the morning will have an understated impact on the rest of your day. 

 Around August this year, I started the ritual of waking up 20 minutes earlier, shutting-off my alarm and making positive affirmations before I leave the bed. Then I get up, stretch and do a few push-up exercise routines. After a few weeks of doing this, I noticed an increase in my level of self-confidence, I felt like I had all I needed to take on whatever challenges each day held for me. 

 A few weeks ago, I began listening to motivational audio books while preparing for work or driving to the office. As a result, the 2 hour, hellish commute to work through Lagos traffic doesn’t even phase me. I get to the office I am feeling very inspired, upbeat and creative.

In 2019, I will fine tune my morning routine to make the days ahead even more productive

4. Write Down Goals

In late 2017, I realized the importance of setting SMART goals (and writing them down). A video seminar on Personal Development by the late Jim Rohn inspired me to get into the habit of setting goals. 

Early this year in January, I bought a small notepad that I carried around in my bag and in the car. In it, I wrote down all my goals and plans (both big and small). Whenever I achieved a goal, I would go and tick it off on my notepad.

Reviewing the notepad last weekend was an intense experience — For every list (of goals) on the notepad, I achieved roughly 80% of them. 

Writing down my goals helped me focus on the things that needed to be done and made it possible for me to measure my progress. This is a habit I’m definitely carrying over to 2019.

5. Don’t Wait Until You’re 100% Ready

In 2018, I learned not to wait until I am 100% ready to do something. I have had to take leaps of faith in 2018, risking failure and disappointment. 

Taking a leap puts you in a vulnerable place, that sometimes makes you feel like you are out of your depths. When I found myself in such situations I became compelled to put in my best and learn all I need to complete the task at hand. By the end, I came out successful, more confident and experienced. 

If you wait until you’re 100% ready to take on something, you might never get to it. Remember it is better to try and fail than never to try at all.

6. Family Is Important

Some of the experiences I encountered in 2018, made me realize the importance of family. I am truly grateful to have people who genuinely care about my well-being to share important moments of my life with.

My family were a pillar of support during my difficult times in 2018. I benefited immensely from advice from my siblings, parents and friends. This year I learned that you’re never too old to benefit from the support of family.

It is, for this reason, I have decided to invest in spending more time with family to deepen our bond and create lasting memories in 2019.

7. Hard Work Is Not Enough

Hard work will never help you achieve your goals. You must be wondering. Right? But trust me, hard work is useless until and unless you add an equal quantity of smart work in it. Hard work is NOT good enough anymore. It needs additional ingredients like information, knowledge and skills before it can amount to anything worthwhile. 

We’re in a new economy (the knowledge economy) and the rules of work have changed. In 2019, I will commit more resources to my personal development and carefully select tasks that I do, plan them ahead, and focus only on them at the moment of work.

2018 was very pivotal for me - full of ups and downs, successes and failures as well as happy and sad moments. I learnt a lot of important life lessons this year. I will leverage on them to make the next 365 days truly memorable.

I hope you do the same!