31 Things I've Learned From 2014 (the year I gave importance on self love and pursued my passion at the same time)

My handmade papercut birthday cake for my 31st. :)

I'm turning 31 on Monday, 23rd of March (yay!). 

I'd like to share with you 31 things I've learned from 2014, a.k.a. the year I gave importance on self love and at the same time, pursued my passion.

*This entry is greatly inspired by Sean McCabe's (one of my idols in design, business and life in general) '26 Things I've Learned' (http://seanwes.com/2014/26-things-ive-learned/) blog post in seanwes blog, in a sense that it inspired me to take note and be grateful of the lessons we learned as we go through our own life experiences and use it to make ourselves better. This also inspired me to enumerate my own, based on my journey on self love and pursuing my passion.

Okay, here goes:

1. Feel alive (again) by restoring your spirituality. There was a time in my life that I felt so lost and empty, even though I've accomplished a lot and seemed successful externally.  It is only when I prayed to God again very often and allowed Him to carry and surprise me again that I found peace, restoration and a sense of purpose. 

2. Have perfect trust on Him. It's hard sometimes, but aim not to loosen your grip. Believe in His promise that you'll receive abundance when you use your gifts to serve others.

3. Giving is the simplest way to feel abundance in your life. 

4. Be humble and willing to receive. Learn how to accept blessings from others. We all need a little help, sometimes. 

5. Being grateful equates to being happy. Open your eyes and heart to see how blessed you are. Be appreciative.

6. Being happy starts in your own heart. Don't look for it somewhere else.

7. In decision making, listen to your own intuition/gut feel. It often knows the answer.

8. Treat your body with love and respect. Feed it well, give it the right amount of rest it deserves and do mindful exercises like yoga. It is our major instrument in doing what we are born to do. It is the temple of our soul.

9. Discover your passion. I strongly believe that this is a MUST in life. Discovering your passion is like step 1 in accomplishing your life's purpose, as it is the key to the many opportunities for yourself and for others, through you.

10. Once you've discovered your passion, pursue it. Just do it. Make time for it and make it flourish.

11. Never give up on your passion. Be assured that you are being guided by a divine source to continue doing what you love and producing great work of value. 

12. Sometimes, the way to figure out what you want or what you want to become is to eliminate what you don't want in your life. In those times that I felt so lost, I honestly don't know what I want and I felt so frustrated because people say that you need to know what you want in order to claim it and be happy. Then it struck me, that I'm only certain of the things that I don't want so I started eliminating it one by one, and little by little, I felt lighter, relieved and  alive again. 

13. Be good and patient with yourself. Allow yourself to commit mistakes. It's okay to fail, but make sure to fail forward. It's all part of the process and progress.

14. Be present in every situation you're in. Be open. Don't go through life acting like a zombie. Be engaged and live fully.

15. Be authentic - in your thoughts, words and actions. You are your most beautiful when you are honoring your true self. Embrace your own crazy.

16. Define your own success. Really define it and commit to make it happen.

17. Your WHYs and WHY NOTs are important. 

18. Be an eternal student. Be humble and enthusiastic to learn something new at every opportunity. Don't be stagnant.

19. If you want to consistently improve on anything, READ. Process new thoughts in your mind and put it into PRACTICE. Practice as much as you can, and enjoy the process.

20. Hangout with people who inspires you to be better. Have mentors. 

21. Be intentional in everything that you do. Don't do things without thought. Every action is better when you put your heart and soul in it.

22. It pays to be persistent and consistent.

23. Be calm. Most (if not all) great inventions, compositions, creations, etc., are products of a focused and worry free mind. I've observed this to be very true in my own practice. I realized that I produce great work when I'm relaxed.

24. Improve your financial wisdom. Learn how to make money work for you and not the other way around.

25. Don't be wasteful. Take only what you need. Understand the value of every little thing. 

26. Be kind to animals. They make the world a lot happier. :)

27. Make a plan and plan to make. 

28. Loosen up a bit and have fun. Don't be too serious.

29. Smile the smile that reaches your eyes. Do this often. It's the simplest way to lighten things up. 

30. Believe that you are valuable and that the world needs you. God loves you so much.

31. Love yourself. Love others. Love to live. Live to love.

- Leeanne ;-)