Reflections

The book I’m listening to lately on my commutes keeps emphasizing that your life now – your relationships now, your bank account now, your situation now – doesn’t reflect who you are but instead who you were. This is an awesome reminder for me (and maybe for you?) to keep moving forward and toward your goals.

A lot of my efforts the past few weeks have been focused on creating financial stability and a career I’m in love with. It’s easy to get caught up in “I’m not there yet” or “my emergency account isn’t full” or “eep! taxes!” but the other day I was thinking about where I was this time last year – January of 2015.

By the time 2014 ended, I was so ready for it to be over. It was a tough year. A good year in many ways (bought a house!) but also awfully tough (my dream job ended up not being so dreamy). January of 2015 saw me needing to move (again, after only 3 months) on short notice because my roommate/leaseholder was moving for work. It saw me struggling to make my rent and my mortgage payments because my tenants weren’t paying their rent. I was working 60+ hour weeks to pay the bills at on-your-feet-all-day jobs. I felt like I couldn’t get ahead because dealing with the day-to-day was such a damn struggle.

What a big difference a year has made! This January sees me working with a management company to rent out my house – one less major thing on my plate. I’m rolling over an old 401k into a Roth IRA because it’s better for my future. I was able to purchase a new-to-me car when my old one was no longer reliable – the cost of peace of mind is invaluable. I’m seeking out more writing and editing jobs (freelance and otherwise) because that’s what makes me happy.

It’s such a good thing to remember and keep in the back of your mind –

Where you are doesn’t reflect who you are, it reflects who you were

So where are you going from here? I’m going to keep heading in the direction of my dreams.