Recently, I have been thinking about my achievements and those of the people around me. Our accomplishments are a topic we need to get more comfortable thinking and talking about. To start the year, I would like to share something that will change your perspective this year. Focusing on your achievements will remind you of the good that has happened and is happening in your life.
 
In this blog post, we will explore some ways to form the good habit of celebrating your accomplishments.
 
Why is it important to celebrate your accomplishments?
There are many benefits of tracking and celebrating your accomplishments in your everyday live

• Gain confidence in yourself
• Know your worth and ask for it
• Be able to share when asked in settings like job interviews or promotion

 
How to make celebrating your Accomplishments a habit
 
Know your Accomplishments
When I hear people not being able to talk about their accomplishments, it makes me a little sad. In personal conversations, I try to ask more questions to understand the reason why people struggle with talking about the good things in their lives. The most significant reason I have seen is that we do not always see or know what we have achieved in life. It is important to take time to think about your accomplishments. Consider your achievement in all aspects of your life such as personal growth, professionally, financially, in your family, or in your business.
 
Questions to consider

• What are you proud of?
  
• What did you work hard to do and succeeded?
• What do people say that you do or did well?

 
Track and maintain your Accomplishments log
Documenting your accomplishments on an ongoing basis will help you on your quest to make celebrating your accomplishments a habit. One way I track my achievements is that I write them down in my accomplishment log. As part of my weekly journaling, I write down my highlights and accomplishments. To help me with this process, I collect all the great feedback I receive and things that I know I achieved. I have found great value in making this something I do regularly. This way, I can always remind myself of all my accomplishments.
 
Questions to consider

• Where do you want to document your accomplishments?
  
• How often do you want to update your accomplishments log?
  

 
Share your Accomplishments
Now that you know your accomplishments and have a log, it's time to amplify the value of tracking your accomplishments by sharing them with the world. When I speak to people and hear them share their accomplishments, it motivates me. I aspire to be someone who motivates others to achieve their goals by sharing my experience with them as well. This has been one of the hardest parts for me on my learning journey. I have learned to remind myself that it is ok to talk about my accomplishments. If you read my posts, you'll see that I share my accomplishments, especially when I achieve my goals.
 
Questions to consider

• How are you going to share your accomplishments to motivate others?
• How are you going to encourage people around you to share their accomplishments?

 
Celebrate your accomplishments
Recognizing the effort you put in to accomplish something will inspire you in the future. When I look back at times when things were not easy but I was still able to achieve my goals, it gives me confidence in myself and helps me know that I can do it again. I have realized that I need to be intentional about celebrating my achievements. When I achieve any of my goals, I make it a point to celebrate in some way. Sometimes it takes me saying "I did it" and other times I do something special for myself.
 
Questions to consider

• How are you going to celebrate your accomplishments?

 
Help others see their Accomplishments
One of the ways to make celebrating accomplishments a habit is to help others around you celebrate their own accomplishments.  It is sometimes easier to see people's shortcomings than see what they have achieved. Make it a priority to see the good work people are doing and recognize them. By looking out for their accomplishments and helping them celebrate it, you are making the world a more positive place.
 
Questions to consider

• Who are you going to celebrate this week?

 
Final Thoughts
I want to take the time to remind you that you are amazing and that you can do anything you set your mind to do.
 
Call to Action
Which accomplishments are you proud of? Know your accomplishments.
How are you going to track your accomplishments in 2020? Create your accomplishments log.
 
Great Resources

• Keep Track of Your Work Accomplishments Throughout the Year
• The 10-Minute Weekly Activity That Helps You Get Ahead
• 30 Ways to Celebrate Your Success
• 3 Reasons Celebrating Your Many Accomplishments Is Critical to Your Success
• How do you celebrate your success?

When I launched my blog in January 2018, I had no idea where I will be two years later. Unlike with a lot of other things that I do, I did not have a perfect plan for my blog. It took me a while to be bold and take the step, so I decided to plan to start and actually get started instead of planning everything out.

I'm so excited to celebrate the second anniversary of my blog with you all. Thank you for reading, sharing my posts, sharing your experiences with me and allowing me to share my deepest thoughts with you.

In this blog post, I will answer some of the questions I get about starting and having a blog.

My responses to the top questions about my Blog

When and how did I know I wanted to have a blog?
In summer 2011, I had a strong desire to build a platform for women like me to share and learn from one another. I sat on my dream for over seven years and did nothing. The primary reason why I didn't get started was that I was too scared to take the bold step. However, I believe that the years that passed prepared me even more for launching my blog.

How did I get started?
Over the Christmas holidays in 2017, I knew the time had come and I could no longer make excuses for not having my blog. The first step for me was to create my site and start writing blog posts. The tasks that I needed completed sounded very easy. However, my quest for perfection almost discouraged me from launching my website. I decided to start working on and to launch my website with my first five blog posts. Over the first weeks of January, I worked on my site and my initial blog posts. Simultaneously I started taking writing classes to learn some writing skills and did expensive research on creating a website. I shared my site with the world on January 23, 2018.

Why did I start blogging?
In one of my first blog posts titled "What I want from my blog", I shared my motivation for starting my blog. In summary, I wanted to share my learnings with others, share resources that have helped me in my life, empower women in all phases of their lives, learn from other women's experiences and build a community of women who support each other on their journey.
Looking back on the past two years, I have been able to do more than I expected with my blog. I am more than grateful for the opportunity to grow and give back to my community.

What am I proud of?
Celebrating my accomplishments is something that I am being more intentional about. Over the past two years, I have achieved the following:

• Written over 100 blog posts
  
• Published a post every week since January 23, 2018
• Was bold and shared my story, thoughts and experiences
• Heard women's stories and experiences
• Touched lives and gave back to people

What have I learned on my journey?
As with every journey we embark on, there are many lessons to be learned. Some of the lessons I have learned that I did not anticipate were:

• Tell your story: there is power in telling your story and sharing your experiences with people around you
  
• Start deep conversations: there is a lot of value in talking about topics that matter
  
• Write from the heart: it is hard to put yourself out there, but it is worth it
• Be consistent: you need to be consistent and keep doing the work
• Know your motivation: Do it because you are passionate and not for the numbers
• Fight self-doubt: the best way to grow your confidence is to "just do it"
  
• Don't overthink it: just write and share!!
• Accept insights and feedback: be open and take advice
  
• Have a plan: to do anything sustainably, you need a plan
  
• Keep improving: to be the best you need to keep learning and getting better
  

What have been my highlights?
In addition to learning lessons and gaining experience, I have also had some personal highlights:

• Hearing from my readers.
  
• Starting conversations that matter and discussing our fears
  
• Knowing that people that I do not know read my blog
  
• Having a way to introduce myself with my deepest thoughts to the world
  
• Learning new skills and expanding my perspective
  
• Landing a role at work that connects to my passion
  

How do I ensure I am growing my blog?
Growth and improvement are on my mind continuously. I want my blog to continue to grow over the next years. Some of the ways I ensure I maintain a growth mindset are:

• Always looking at areas I can improve on such as content or my writing style
• Getting inspiration from other people that I read or listen to
• Listening to feedback from my readers on my posts and conversations we have
• Exploring new ideas and doing new things like starting a YouTube channel
• Reminding myself to take risks and be bold

What do I want to do in the future with my blog?
To all my faithful readers, thanks a lot for supporting me on my journey. I'm committed to growing my platform over the next months and years

• Being bold and sharing the stories I am scared to write about
  
• Growing my blog and increasing my pool of readers
• Bring more real-life topics
• Crowdsource topics and advice to share
• Explore guest posts and blogging for other platforms

Final Thoughts
I am sharing my story to encourage you to take a leap and do that thing that you have been telling yourself you can't do. If I could face my fears and do something I was scared of, you absolutely can too.

Call to Action
What is that thing you have been putting off and delaying? Now is the perfect time to pick it back up and do it.

We all associate different things with the word learning. You remember when you were in school and could not wait to get out of school so you could stop learning. Learning at some points in my life felt like a chore. However, I now see learning differently. Learning new things is crucial for me to achieve the goals I want to accomplish in my life.
 
In this blog post, we will cover the benefits of continuous learning and how to be a life-long learner.
 
What are the benefits of continuous learning?
There are many positive effects of being a life-long learner. Some of the benefits include:

• Providing avenues for personal development, self-empowerment and self-improvement
• Improving your opportunity to get a raise, promotion and other career advancement opportunities
• Building a foundation and preparing for life changes

 
How to be a continuous Learner
Let's discuss some ways to become a life-long learner:
 
Change your thoughts and perspectives on learning
A lot of times people talk about learning as something they have to do. Mostly because the world outside expects them to get some training or degrees.  Often this goes back to our childhoods when our parents made us go to school and sometimes forced us to learn things. The great thing about being an adult is that you now get to choose and learn what you want to learn. As we grow and develop on our journey there are always new things that we can learn . I see learning as a tool that helps me live out my dreams and achieve my goals.
 
Questions to consider

• How do you view learning today?
• What are some positive things that you have experienced after learning new things?
  

 
Find out the way you learn
There are many different learning styles. Some of which include visual learners who learn through graphical depictions, aural learners who learn through listening to instruction, read/write learners who learn through reading texts and taking notes, kinesthetic learners who learn through trying things out or multimodal learners who learn through different ways. For me, I have found that I learn best by reading, writing, taking formal lessons.
 
Questions to consider

• What was the last thing you learned and how did you learn it?
• What new learning methods do you want to explore?

 
Create learning goals routines and habits
Setting learning goals is a strategy that will help you be a life-long learner. I am a strong believer that when you plan for things you increase your chances for success. Learning and development are a standing category in my yearly goals. When I prepare for the year, I look at my goals and determine the new things I want to learn to help me be more successful. Once I know what I want to learn, I plan for them and start learning. I work to learn something new every quarter through trainings, courses, reading and trying out new things.
 
Questions to consider

• What are the three new things that you want to learn this year?
• How will you ensure you learn them?

 
Surround yourself with people who have a learning mindset
Interestingly, I have found that other people motivate me to learn as well. In all my classes, I have met great people who became learning buddies who keep me posted on things they are learning and learn with me as well. It is vital to surround yourself with people who do the things you aspire to do more of. I share my learning goals with my community and learn a lot from them as well. 
 
Questions to consider

• Who are some people in your community that prioritize learning?
• How are you planning to partner with other learners?

 
Prioritize learning and keep learning
As part of your personal development journey, make it a priority to continue learning. As you grow and experience new things, if you make learning one of the central points, you will thrive even more. Now that you know the best ways you learn and what you want to learn in 2020, make it happen. As with everything we get better the more we do it.
 
Questions to consider

• How will you make learning a priority in 2020?
• How will you motivate yourself to learn more?

 
Call to Action
Are you committed to continuously learn in 2020? Make the decision and do great things.
 
Final thoughts

• We have the opportunity to improve our lives through continuous learnings.
• Learning can be fun if you find the value for yourself and enjoy it.
• There is a lot for us to learn - keep learning.

 
Great Resources

• 4 Habits of People Who Are Always Learning New Skills
• Become a More Productive Learner
• You Learn One of These 5 Ways
• Learning Styles
• How to Create a Habit of Continuous Learning

Welcome to 2020! Congratulations, we made it to a new year and a new century.
 
Thanks for checking out my first blog post of the year. I am glad to be back online after a few weeks off. I spent some time catching up on life, doing things I have not done in a while, resting and bonding with family. Taking some time during the last weeks of the year for myself is a tradition that I really value and would not trade for anything.
 
In this blog post, we will be discussing some things that will help us start this year right and have the best year we have ever had. Let's explore how to define our theme for the year, things we won't be doing , and other things we will be doing this year.
 
What is the theme for your year?
Last year, I started a new tradition of defining a theme for the year. The inspiration came from the Happier Podcasts - One Word Theme for the Year.  I adjusted this a little for myself and decided to define a phrase or sentence as my theme instead of just one word.
Some of the things I keep in mind when I define my theme for the year are the following:

• What would be great motivation for my year?
• What new mindset will help me achieve my goals and thrive in the new year?
• How do I want to do this year that will push me out of my comfort zone?

 
What will we stop doing in 2020?
A new year provides us with an opportunity for a fresh start. I like the idea of being intentional about what we want to stop doing in the new year. Think of the things that held you back last year that you want to do differently this year.

• Letting self-doubt win or underestimating your skills and talents
• Letting your fear and insecurities stop you from taking bold steps
• Not speaking out and using your voice
• Neglecting your needs and continually putting others first
• Not knowing your worth and asking for what you deserve

 
What are some things to do in 2020?
To make the most of this new year, we can start or continue doing the following in 2020:

• Dreaming big and working towards your goals: Working towards your dreams and goals with everything you have
• Being confident: celebrating who you are, your skills and talents
• Seizing opportunities: Saying yes to things that scare you and keeping an eye out for the new opportunities
• Using our unique voice: Sharing your message with the world around you and speaking up for causes
• Celebrating your accomplishments: Appreciating and talking about your achievements more
• Prioritizing things you care about: Making time to do things that will improve your life
• Building and maintaining our community: Surrounding yourself with people who contribute positively to your life
• Building wealth: making smart financial decisions and growing your finances
• Thriving in your Career and Business: finding joy in the things you do professionally and in your business.
• Giving back: helping others around you grow and thrive

 
MC's Journey
I am really excited about this new year. There is something special about the year 2020. Growing up, I remember big companies and countries having their 2020 Agenda. This year is going to be amazing for me.
 
Where was I ten years ago?
As we start a new decade, I've been reflecting on all that has happened in my life over the past ten years. I was graduating from University in 2010 and my life was about to take me in many unexpected directions. The past ten years brought new jobs, relationships, realized dreams, personal growth and discovering myself. I can't wait to see what the next decade will bring.
 
My 2020 Theme: Putting myself out there
As I have been reflecting on my journey, I realized that I have been holding myself back. It's time for me to be very intentional about using my voice and being open to taking on new opportunities.
 
My mindset for 2020
As I prepare for this year, I will have the following attitude:

• Hopeful for the future
• Appreciating the great opportunities
• Learning from the past
• Being open to the unknown
  
• Celebrating opportunities to give back

 
Final Thoughts
We are all alive and have the opportunity to make this year what we want it to be.
 
Call to Action
What have you been wanting to do but haven't done yet? This year is the perfect year for you to do those things.