I'm pretty sure I've already addressed this one. I didn't take much time for myself this year. I became a photobot working all hours of the day and that was okay by me until I realized the toll it was taking on all my personal relationships. With any luck this coming year I'll focus better on my time management to make sure I maximize profit and minimize time spent toiling for it. And leave in a couple hours for sleep :)
December 21: Future self. Imagine yourself five years from now. What advice would you give your current self for the year ahead? (Bonus: Write a note to yourself 10 years ago. What would you tell your younger self?)
Oooh. Interesting. In five years ideally I'd be making six figures and winning awards for my work and be engaged (or recently married) to the man of my dreams. Buying my first house and getting 100 days on snow each winter, yadda yadda. I know (or rather, I have learned, the hard way) that life throws A LOT of curveballs though and no matter how hard I can plan and fantasize about the road ahead, I really have no idea what will happen or what opportunities will pop up last-minute or how I'll react to any of it. All I can do is hold on for dear life, put a little money into savings each month and follow my intuition.
My note to 15-year-old me:
So what if you have no idea where you'll go or what you'll be in ten years. I know that seems a long, long way off - who knows if you'll ever get there. So much hard work and so many hard times ahead it's inconceivable to someone as young as you.
Follow your heart and not your presumed ideas about success. Life will point you in the right direction if you can't find the map yourself. It has a funny way of doing that. Follow your passion and money will be hot on your heels. Don't be surprised if the answer was right in front of you all along. What if you found out that the life you're going to lead is something you've been preparing for since you could hold a crayon? Would that just knock your socks off?
Secondly: when something knocks you down or crushes you utterly and completely, no matter how it makes your heart hurt or your eyes water, please understand that you will always, always rise from the ashes much stronger and more brilliant than before. What doesn't kill you will make you an ass-kicking, name-taking, powerful and determined lady. You'll learn in college from a good friend that when you break a bone it heals stronger and more resilient each time. And so do you.
It may not seem likely, but someday you're going to want to work a million hours a week, and you'll enjoy it. You sicko. It's perfectly okay if some skills you've acquired and practiced, like tearing up the mountain on skis, go unrewarded. Often the pleasure of being really, really good at something is satisfying enough. Ski outside the lines and be brave!
You'll learn that 90% of making it in the world is confidence (NOT egotism, which is sometimes misinterpreted as such - but you already know that much), so know that you deserve a boatload of confidence and you can make big things happen if you choose. Many, many people without any talent or intellect find success based on bravado alone (you'll see this especially in about five years when a genre called "reality TV" comes into its own - oh, the horror): just imagine what you can do with all your strengths combined.
Go out there and get it.
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