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26 Things I Have Learned in 26 Years

Sharing some highlights from my journal as I turn 26 this year.
Yvette

Yvette

3 Min Read

  1. Life is too short for people’s bullshit, including my own.
  2. Being kind is so much more important than being nice.
  3. No one wishes they had worried more when they look back. 
  4. To allow the unfolding of life, I need to waste some time and make some space.
  5. I make my choices, but my choices also make me. Always choose wisely and mindfully. 
  6. Take full responsibility for my life, even for things that are out of my control.
  7. I don’t need other people’s milestones as rulers to measure my own growth. I just need to know where I am going and keep on moving. 
  8. Bucket List > Career Ladder, and in some way, career is part of my bucket list as something I yearn to achieve in my lifetime with passion and perseverance. 
  9. Move and breathe through pain, not running away from it.
  10. The strongest people are also the softest people.
  11. Friends are the family I choose. 
  12. Make calling your family as necessary as doing laundry and grocery shopping. 
  13. Friends are those who show up for your achievements; true friends are those who continue to show up when your friends don’t.
  14. Change happens incrementally, day by day and step by step. Short-cut has a price. Always focus on the long-term and take the sustainable approach.
  15. Leadership is a choice, not a rank. 
  16. People give up power by thinking they don’t have any. 
  17. Be careful when choosing who I surround myself with and who I allow to influence me, and choose by character, values and visions, not age, rank or wealth.
  18. Things are not always black and white; most of the time they are thousands of shades of grey in between. Always ask “why”? Keep asking “why” to see the bottom of things.
  19. Sometimes to solve a problem you don’t need to create something new, the solution is simply making sure the problem doesn’t exist in the first place.
  20. Sleep is a top priority.
  21. Truth is lived, not taught.
  22. Facing my own mortality isn’t as scary as I make it be.
  23. Sunrise and sunset are the most beautiful moments on earth.
  24. Things I cannot live without: music, art, stories and human connections. Things that nurture me: fresh air, trees, yoga, citrus fruits, all types of greens and plant-based milk.
  25. We always have a bigger part of nature in us, than nature has a part of us. 
  26. In a technological era, always remember what it means to be human.