5 things I learnt or achieved in 2016

Well… first and foremost Happy New Year everyone! I don’t know about you, but for me… 2016 was a tough year! For the first half it was pretty lonely… dating was failure after failure, friends were sometimes hard to come-by and I was still living alone in a dark and tiny shoebox of a studio flat in London. I lost quite a lot of confidence in myself. I was unhappy with my body, I had terrible facial acne and my nerves and worries got the best of me way too much.

But despite these personal hardships, I do feel I have achieved a few great things over the course of 2016 that I feel mighty darn proud of. So without further adieu, here are five things I learnt or achieved in 2016:

1) Blogging is bloody hard! I didn't give my blog much attention last year, if it all... but I'm sure as hell not going to give up trying to find a path to manage it better, and do what works for me. I did let the fear take over me and I didn’t manage my time very well. But I feel now I have more of a plan and more of a focused mind. Also I have made new like-minded friends and rekindled old ones that I certainly feel will help keep me on track. I’m still learning to manage my anxiety of posting but I hope that will get easier over time.

2) After three long years, I was finally able to leave my coal shed of a flat in West Hampstead to a lovely flat in South London with a cousin of mine and her friend. This has been such a positive move and I’ve also gained two great friendships with this change too. I’m so so grateful that the studio flat gave me the chance to move to London and find a job, but my tolerance for the small space had totally ran its course. 

3) I got a job promotion! After the torturous year of 2015 when I was unemployed for quite a few months, 2016 made me feel like I had something great to show for my career and a huge middle finger to the last job I had. I’m now a deputy editor/manager and it is certainly one of my biggest achievements so far. 

4) I’ve struggled to find clothes that suit my figure for years. Retail shops like Topshop or Urban Outfitters are just not for moi. I would constantly buy clothes that I didn’t feel comfortable in. But in 2016 I totally avoided shops like these and instead focused on building a wardrobe with 1940s and 50s style clothes. I’m so happy to finally feel confident wearing clothes that actually FIT me, FLATTER me and make me feel – dare I say it? SEXY! 

5) Although I am still trying to break the habit of buying lunches at work, I have learnt the importance of making my own. The money I have saved has been outstanding. There are times I still slip but I am going to continue to keep learning new recipes that are good for making batches. So you may well see some of these in the future!

All in all, I'm still learning to make more effort in what will make me happy but I’m definitely on a better track this year than last. 

I’d love to read about what you learnt in 2016 and what some of your achievements were so please feel free to leave a comment below. I hope 2017 will be a better and brighter one for us all =] 

TTFN!

Xx