What's a New Year without setting some new year goals? Regardless of whether you think setting goals around this time of the year is annoying or not, reflecting on where we are and where we want to be is never something we should look down on.

I've decided to focus on shifting away from goal setting and instead asking ourselves, what have we learned from 2020? What are some lessons that we learned in 2020, that we either need to let go of or positive things that we've taken away from the year that we can now bring with us into the upcoming new year?

Here are five of my biggest takeaways from 2020, that definitely has helped me to become the woman that I am today and have the courage to step up in all areas of my life for 2021.

Practicing self-care leads you to live a more grounded life

The first lesson that I'm taking with me into 2021 is that self-care isn't selfish. I think a lot of the time, we need to look out for ourselves first because who else will and does it better than you? We want to make sure that we're surrounding ourselves with people of similar mindsets, goals, and visions and protecting our energy and time when in the presence of others. When we are mindful of how we choose to spend our time and ensure that we are nourishing ourselves and our pockets first before catering to others, we are able to fast-track our progress and get you to where you need to be.

Self-care is similar to implementing a lifelong diet. It’s a daily choice to choose yourself first and to choose experiences that will nourish your mind, body, and soul. Some of you may have heard people say to mind your diet, and usually when we hear this the first thing that comes to our mind is food. A diet, however, doesn't have to be just food or what you ingest - it can be what you're listening to, the types of conversations you're having, and your current environment. I made the big decision to move out of my parent’s house last year to downtown Toronto (it's not the first time that I've ever lived on my own). I love the independence and the freedom that I have of living on my own and having my own space and I knew that that was going to be really important for me last year with starting my business and having the mental space and clarity to create.

I like to get up in the morning and know I have my own space and get ready to start my day, practice my rituals and get into the groove of things without feeling interrupted throughout my day. I'm also someone that's already pretty introverted, so I thrive off of being on my own and being able to just think clearly. Self-care was big for me in terms of asking myself whether my environment allows me to thrive and stay true to myself.

Only do something that you love

If there was one thing that 2020 taught me it was finally realizing that I no longer want to do things in my life that don't truly excite me and if I am in a job that is draining me and my energy and I'm not enjoying it - it's gotta go. I need to be doing something that I enjoy. Even if it's not something highly regarded, it doesn't matter - as long as I enjoy it.

Before getting into wealth coaching last year, I used to serve at a restaurant part-time as a waitress. I did this for two years before the restaurant shut down during Covid, but I always tell people that if I ever had to work another real job again I would continue to do waitressing/bartending on the side. If I ever lost a job or got tired of one I would not mind going back to waitressing. Something about being around food and getting to meet new people every day and network really jived well with me. Especially being more of an entrepreneur, it gives me the freedom in my schedule to plan out my days, and also depending on what shifts you work the tips can be great!

Although I had a stable 9-5 job in my career, I started to hate my work and wasn't enjoying it. I was overqualified and the admin work became very repetitive over time, and it just wasn't challenging me anymore. If my learning hits a plateau then I need to go elsewhere. When COVID hit it really gave me the time to sit back and think of what my innate gifts and talents already were and how could I create a business out of it. I realized there were a lot of women who feel overwhelmed with their finances and one day want to start building wealth and start investing but didn't know how. But, I did. I've always had a calling to serve and I just knew that I wanted to blend both worlds and so that's exactly what I set out to do. I left a job that I wasn't happy with and now I'm doing something that excites me each and every day. I get to wake up and talk about money and help empower people to get a handle on their finances and I don't picture myself doing anything else.

Move through your fears

This realization also led me to the third lesson of 2020 which was learning to move through fear. That was actually my motto in 2020 "to be comfortable with the uncomfortable". Of course, I don't mean this when it comes to life-threatening circumstances, but when it comes to investing and betting on yourself, there's no doubt moving through fear is what separates the successful from the failures.

There will always be things that come up in your life that will ask you to take risks and it will scare the shit of you. There are going to be things that your mind is going to tell you you're not good enough for or undeserving of. The trick is to realize that this is your brain trying to protect you based on past experiences, not on what great things may be coming your way.

Two big fears that came up with starting my business were:

1. I didn't think I knew enough to help people or that because of my age nobody would take me seriously when it came to talking about money.

2. Public speaking. Growing up with an entrepreneurial father, I always saw his strength in being able to articulate himself clearly, but myself? I was the awkward shy girl, who hated the idea of having to publicly speak. I always remember telling myself that I couldn't do business when I got older, and because of that I purposely always tried to choose fields that kept me in the background.

Fast forward to today, it's ironic that in wanting to help people for a living I will have to show up in a lot of ways and speak publicly about people's relationships with money. In the end, it's all fine because it encouraged me to understand that I can show up and be a leader in so many different ways, but I did have to work through some of the fear of public speaking so that my business could have even the slightest chance of succeeding.

I started an IG and a Youtube Channel and I started posting weekly videos of me talking about money, showing up on my stories, jumping on an IG Live with other coaches, and hosting my first-ever live masterclass! What a year it has been and I survived through it all, despite my fear of critique and public judgment. Instead what's helped me going into these spaces is focusing on the outcome and how many lives I'll have helped by showing up and being present. I have a lot of knowledge about what I teach, and I'm here to teach so I need to speak up. My voice needs to be heard no matter how I sound or what people think of me.

Bet on yourself

Of course, moving through fear is simply the art of betting on yourself and I can safely say I've mastered this particular art form. In 2020 alone, I invested over $15,000 in three business coaches to help me get my business up and running with limited chances of failure. I wanted to ensure that I wasted no time this year making any mistakes and wanted to fast-track my way to lasting success. And guess what? The returns that I've made are second to none.

This is why I will forever teach people to not be scared to invest in themselves and their goals. If you want something that bad, you will do almost anything to get it. Don't play small because the return on investment is going to be greater than when you had to initially sacrifice and put up upfront. It's scary, I know but like I said earlier if it doesn't scare you it won't grow you. I had thoughts like what if I'm dropping $4,000 on this business coach, and my business doesn't work out or get me the results I need to see? But then again, if I don't make this investment in myself I'm going to have to stay the same.

I also started seeing the positive side of my investments prior to making the decisions. What more do I have to gain, instead of focusing on what more I have to lose? If the gains outweigh your losses, then go for it. Making the decision to move forward with my first coach scared the crap out of me, but all will be worth it when I make a hell of a lot of money helping to serve people and change people's lives.

Mark Twain said "“I've had a lot of worries in my life, most of which never happened.” 99% of the things you worry about will never actually happen. So if you're gonna let those fears stop you from being great - you got a lot of reflection and positive mindset work to do.

When it's all said and done my 2020 pushed me past my comfort zone in so many ways than it ever has in my life, but i've become a better version of myself because of it. You have to be comfortable with the uncomfortable and push yourself to limits that you never thought you could've gone, because that is the only way that you're going to grow as a human being. Take chances, take calculated risks and take that from a female investor who gambles her hard earned money. Without taking risks, I would've never grown my $5,000 investment into a $30,000 investment 3 years later.

To learn more about how you can embody these lessons and master your money mindset, download my free e-book with this link here.