Well, hello everyone and welcome to my new looking blog/website.

Seeing that another new year is upon us, I thought for once it would be nice to just go with the whole, ‘New Year, New Website’ vibe. Yes, I decided to tidy up this place so that I could share my work side by side on the same platform as my blog.

Also, this year, I have decided that I will not have any resolutions. Instead, I will focus on just getting things done. Which brings me to the “3 Things I Learnt in 2017”.

Lesson #1 – Don’t Start What You Cannot Finish

This one for me is like kicking myself. I am always starting things and never finish. For example, this time last year, I started a photography challenge that would see me take a picture a week for a whole year. By now, I would have 52 photographs that I would be looking back on and reflecting on a job well done.

BUT WAIT…How far did I get with that one? I hear you ask.

Well, two weeks. I only lasted a measly TWO WEEKS. Yes, January was not even halfway and I already failed to literally commit to the challenge.

To be honest, the reason I started that challenge in the first place was to distract myself from doing my dissertation. I soon realised that it would not write itself and I just had to dig deep, stop procrastinating and get to it. By the time I finished with my paper, I was too bored/lazy to continue on with the challenge. So I shelved that idea.

Looking back, I have soon realised that I should not commit to anything unless I intend to see it to the end. And if this means saying no to anything that comes my way that will have an effect on this outcome, then so be it.

Which brings me to…

Lesson #2 – It is OK to say NO!

I am slowly realising that saying NO is necessarily not a bad thing. You may upset people along the way who may not like your answer, but at the end of the day, it is your decision and choice whether you want to honour someone’s request or not (within reason of course). Being a creative, I have reached a point in my life that I can’t keep saying yes to assignments/jobs just because I need to make ends meet. Most of the time, my heart and soul is not even there and I end up feeling terrible after the fact and end up doing something just because. JUST BECAUSE is not a good way to do something and you may end up not do it to the best of your ability. So, I just made it my mission to only do something that I know I can do and I will enjoy doing. No point wasting my time and yours if my heart is not in it and we all know, time is money.

Lesson #3 – Never Stop Learning

In this day and age of the internet and social media, we are fortunate enough to have an abundance of resources to learn something new every day. Being a parent, I am also learning new things through my kids on a daily basis. So in essence, this is one aspect of life we cannot avoid, but as humans, we have the perchance to ignore it especially when it matters the most. So, if I see something I am totally interested in and don’t know how to do it or need more practice, I will ask someone to teach me or use the internet to know how. And, if relevant to what I am trying to do here on my blog/website, I will give back by sharing what I have learnt. I know by doing so, I will help someone come unstuck and grow.

Moving forward, I would like this year and the years to come to be my chance of self-improvement and investment so I can have a worthy result that I am happy and content with.

What lessons have you learnt in 2017 that you will take with you into 2018 and beyond?

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