Category Archives: My Life in NYC

My 2nd Marathon (and I PRed).

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I’m actually writing about my training journey on 30for30fit for the Tough Mudder and future races but I’m repeating this entry here since I wrote about my first half marathon here.
Brooklyn Half Marathon

I did my personal record on my most recent Half Marathon race. My very 2nd half marathon ever (yes, I know I did two full marathons before). It was the Brooklyn Half Marathon and I had trained this past few weeks to get my body in the condition to run strong and fast. I didn’t go super fast but I did better than my 2:04 and dropped to 1:48. I just wanted to do better than 2 hours, and I did. Shaving off 16 minutes is a big deal for any runner. It’s because when I first attempted this race 2 years ago I was inexperienced and I got injured at mile 7 and limped all the way to mile 13.1. I honestly wish I knew what my splits were like that year. I must’ve started off way too quickly and affected my knees. I felt the most excruciating pain which had me traumatized to even attempt this race again.

Race!
However, this weekend. I did it. I faced my fear. I even ran the entire 13.1 miles without music.

Bib: 22559
Overall place: 5742
Gender Place: 1370
Age place: 446
Finish Time: 1:48:18
Pace: 08:16

It was my first post-Boston marathon bombing race and of course security was tight. I’m happy that it was arranged that way. NYRR did a great job at organizing the runners the way they did. Sending over 20,000 runners in two waves. I was in wave 2. Each corral had their own portable potty (smelled god awful and ran out of paper rather quickly but worked well to relieve ourselves right on time before we took off).

Talking about things that they don’t tell you about running (I need to write a post about this)… Sometimes you just need to bring your own hand sanitizer.

I woke up that morning and had some carb rich meal with some peanut butter and jogged a mile and a half to the train to take it a few stops over. I dropped my bag off and headed to my corral.

At around 7:35am we were off. It took awhile to navigate through the crowd but my splits showed that I paced well at 8:30, which I wanted. I felt strong. I actually thought that I was going too slow. The park was a breeze because it was what I was used to running. Prospect park is my home park. I breathed well all the way up that infamous climb because I knew it was all downhill out of the park.

Course

When we got out of the park out to ocean parkway, I took a Gu to make sure that I had enough energy. I went a little faster but cautiously because I knew that I was reaching the mile that affected my knees. There was a steady incline for a little and I climbed carefully. Since I’m always worried about dehydrating, I stopped at every fluid station (I kid you not it’s a bad habit). I know it affects my time (thanks to my friends who laugh at this).

Anyway, I did great pace and negative splits all the way to the end thanks to some tips from my coworker Carolyn. I even passed many runners from Wave 1.

Negative Splits

Another different thing this year is meeting a great deal of coworkers at my current job who love running. I feel very fortunate for wanting to get better and better at it. I met up with one of them after, Wendy who I’m doing the Tough Mudder with, and we celebrated with a few beers. She also did her personal record! Anyway, next up, Tough Mudder and gosh I’m so happy to get my time on NYRR to be lower than 8:15 pace because I’m so much faster now. Dare to dream. Up next: Tough Mudder.

Medal

Wearing nothing new for 30 days

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My 30-day challenge of wearing nothing new and wearing eye shadow daily has been great so far. There’s only 2 more days. I’m really trying to mix it up so that I don’t wear the same thing twice but that’s also tough since I tend to revert to outfits that I’m most comfortable with. I’ve done well though, I’ve not worn complete outfits twice (maybe the same bottoms twice). You can find the rest of the outfits for the remaining of the month under Instagram but so far here’s the first half of the month after these paragraphs that I actually liked.
As for eye shadow, I realize that I’m a pretty simple person. I know bold colors look great on my skin tone but I’m somewhat critical about makeup making women look like clowns haha. I’ve tried to avoid going overboard. I do enjoy the blends and I have followed the likes of bhadrina, xmelissamakeupx, mickipeezie, etc on Instagram.
What I love about this is realizing that:
1. I do have clothes to wear.
2. I’m saving money on clothing.
3. I need to donate clothing that I do not wear.
4. Wow there are outfits in my closet that I’ve never worn!
Here’s the gallery view the rest of it on my instagram.
Another hue that I love
I felt classy in this and the jacket made me more serious
Did I mention that I love purple?
I loved my hair in this one
Starting to get warmer
I love the geometric shapes in my necklace
One of my best dresses but ended up having a horrible date
Dressed down and hair just washed
I really enjoyed this look
I absolutely adore this color!
Dressed down, I feel the best like this.
I made this skirt.
I loved my makeup in this one
I really love this top
Warm day, one of my favorite dresses
One of my regular looks I love purple

The whole 30: changing my habits in 30 days.

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If you’re one of my friends you’re aware that I do these 30-day challenges to improve my life ever so slightly. I’ve done them for a couple of years now but I started mentioning it last year. I’ve done things such as: be a vegetarian for a month, be sober, have no coffee, do 50 push-ups daily, learn a yoga pose per day, run everyday for at least 1 mile, workout everyday, try Paleo, compliment a random stranger, remove refined sugars, limit salt intake, catch up with a different friend on Facebook daily, etc… just to name a few. I’ve learned something new for each experience and my friend Gardenia suggested that I document this. I’m about to.

So, I’m the type of person who cannot quit learning to improve myself so this works for me. I’ve tried so many things from tap dancing to getting a bar tending license, scuba diving, parasailing, pole dancing, shooting guns, paint ball, massage classes, drama, studying personal training, running a marathon, etc. However, I’m trying to encourage others to do the same now… in 30 days. Just choose 1 activity, or 2.

This month my challenge to improve myself is: try different eye makeup and wear nothing new. I’ll try to document most on Instagram and partial updates on this blog (which is currently being revamped since it’s about that time). Last month I ran everyday for at least one mile and I ran a total of 86 miles which was 15 miles more than what I did last year during the month of March.

I think it gets easier for me after 2 weeks has gone by since its starting to become a habit. You already do things daily that developed from creating a habit. Here’s a few other ideas if you’d like to try a challenge:

Drink a gallon of water daily
Dance everyday
Add protein and veggies to every meal
Practice a new language (I’m still trying to revisit this habit).
Take a photo per day
Sketch daily
Write daily
Cook daily
Talk to a different friend daily
Make up your own (let me know what it is!)

To start off. Here’s my outfit of the day (OOTD):

My OOTD

 

and what I did for eye makeup:

Eye Shadow

By the way… While I continue my permanent habit of remaining fit 30 days at a time follow what I’ve learned on 30for30fit on Facebook and launch of the website. <3.

Skyfall: The New 007 Movie

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I’ll update while this is fresh in my head. Tonight I got the chance to view the SkyFall movie (the 23rd spy James Bond movie) thanks to klout perks and Cadillac ATS (by the way, I want one).
I invited Queenie along. We really enjoyed it! First off, Daniel Craig is dashing and eye candy galore but, you already know this. Ladies, and guys who are into him, will enjoy a few minutes with his pecks on Friday when the movie premiers. 007 goodness… Ok, breathe.

I’ll not get into spoiling the movie but the cinematography is impeccable and I must say kudos to the director. As all other James Bond movies I thoroughly enjoyed the movie title sequence. Adele’s SkyFall opens during this, beautiful. You can listen to it here:


The movie did open with a very action packed dramatic scene that sets up that the story will centralize on “M.” Spoil! “It features Daniel Craig’s third performance as James Bond, and Javier Bardem as Raoul Silva, the film’s villain.” Ok, will stop there. When you go on Friday let me know what you thought about the movie. It definitely got to the tech appreciating side of me.

P. S. Eve is introduced (love her arms, sorry Michelle Obama but I need Eve arms)! I won’t say who Eve is but she’s already listed here if you’re so curious.

Once again, thanks to klout for making this possible. I skipped the open bar but enjoyed the buttered popcorn and coke (boo, not even a fair cheat).

Hello Fall

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Haven’t written one of these posts in awhile. Today was a rest day. Well, rest in the sense that I took some time off where I’m not torturing my body while training for the marathon. Emily, her friend Nini and I went to the Whitney museum (I’d never been to it before). We went to see Yayoi Kusama’s Fireflies on Water which I appreciated but it wasn’t what I expected. You can learn more of it here.

We checked out Wade Guyton OS on the 3rd floor first, I’ll have to say I’m not a fan but I get it. However, my favorite floor was Signs & Symbols on 2nd that displayed the likes of Pollock and Jasper Johns and some other artists that seemed to have been influenced by them or had similar styles. I wasn’t sure whether I could have taken photos.

We made our way to Yayoi Kusama’s exhibit which was a minute long per person. It was essentially a 5 feet walkway surrounded by water and hanging Christmas lights. It was gorgeous, just tiny. We weren’t allowed to take photos so mine is blurry.

Here’s one I found online of her however:

If you’re in NYC, you’ve probably seen the patterns from her work “Yellow Tree,” in Chelsea.

{credit: here}

After, we went to Ladurée where I picked up some macaroons. Lets say that those made today a cheat day (I’m on a Paleo diet read more here).

We also saw some people from the Hispanic Heritage Day Parade on the way:


We made our way to Le Pain Quotidien after and had a delicious goat cheese and artichoke sandwich (cheat) and after parting ways with Nini, Emily and I came across 25PCW where we saw a free exhibit by the artist Joe Miller. Now that’s some art that I can appreciate. You can see some of the work here.

Today was just absolutely gorgeous and warm unlike yesterday. However, I did quite abit of shopping last night and started cooking for the week.

I made a squash, carrot and leek soup and Almond Cinnamon Muffins (paleo recipe).

I love the paleo diet and once this month is up I do intend to keep it as the major part of my diet/lifestyle.

Other than that, I’ve started a fundraiser please check it out: bit.ly/runjerlynrun

Now that I’m inspired again, I’m off to create!

A whiff of August

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I had my first drink after 32 days the beginning of August, it was a Guinness—what did you expect?

I initially asked the bartender for seltzer water but he laughed at me and walked away. Rude. Fine, my challenge was up anyway, I told him that I enjoyed whiskey a bit and he tried to entice me with the bottles of Maker’s Mark and Jameson.

“That’s quite alright, the Guinness will do,” I responded.

One drink. Nothing happened—I felt tired. I joked with the bartender for a little, finding out his real name (Chris), that he refused to tell me for fear that I would report him to his manager for refusing to give me seltzer water.

I left after thanking Chris and informing him about my 30-day challenge. This month, I get to meet a stranger each day and compliment them. I’m failing at it. I think it’s because I find it difficult to be genuinely interested in people if I’m not truly interested. I was trying to record some of my encounters on instagram. You can follow my over-shares there. My username : jerlynthomas.

The drinking vs. not drinking result: I’d rather not drink. It’s counterproductive to my lifestyle. I grab a drink with friends but it’s not necessary. I love wine and will always have a glass now and then but, it won’t be in excess because recovering from my healthy lifestyle isn’t fun. It’s just like cheat days when I have foods that I don’t normally have. The aftermath is never worth it.

We are in August. August in the past few years has been particularly difficult for me. The 1st would have been my brothers 23rd birthday. I didn’t feel like mentioning it but my sister posted a photograph of him on the first. It’s strange that you think of someone less and less over the years. Time definitely heals pain (or tries to). I often wonder what he would have went on to study in college or what incite he would have given me at this point in my life, he was always mature for his age. I truly do miss him and his advice.

The couple of weeks that we are in now have been quite interesting. I went to an art show, birthday celebration and comedy club so far. I don’t get to go out as much these days because of training (which isn’t as intense as you’d think). So it was nice to get out and have too much to drink (I don’t think I’ll be drinking as much in the upcoming months).

Over this weekend I logged 14 miles. At this point I’m a tad disappointed only because I should be a lot further (The week earlier, I did 17 miles) but I’m slowly losing the discipline. I did buy a pull-up bar that I’ll enjoy getting used to in the next few weeks in a few days I have a 10 mile race. If I run like I do now, it should be easy peasy (or I’ll possible beat my PR by 10 minutes). I’m looking forward to it.

I’m struggling to keep my weight at something that I can manage though. Sometimes I can lose about 5 lbs after my long runs, I’m sure that’s not normal. If I wanted to lose 15 lbs I figured I’d run a marathon when ever necessary (not a healthy idea). So, trying to keep up weight while training = très difficile.

I’ve also recently added some time in to draw! I’m a little fascinated by girls with Afros now. I’m now a girl with an Afro ;) .

I had my hair in a style that I saw online for two weeks:

The woman did an incredible job but it’s nice to have my afro back:

Anyway that’s updates, look forward to a huge revamp and branding coming up in the next few months. I’m excited!

In the meantime:

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Follow @jerlynthomas on instagram and @jerlyn on twitter.

Frontrunner’s Pride 2012

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I signed up for the Frontrunner’s pride race again this year.

It’s a fun 5 mile race for the LGBT community and I fully support them. This year marked a year since it’s legal to get same-sex married in NYC. It was an honor to run on the anniversary.

Last year’s pride run was very different from this one. I wasn’t in the best of shape and I stopped a few times. The race is also incredibly packed so sometimes you can’t pass anyone.

However, last year’s result was: 0:44:56 with a 9 min pace placing 631 in my gender, 223 out of 751 in my age and 2076 overall.  There were 5,017 runners: Men – 2,430 and Women – 2,587. It was 72 degrees that day and 77% humidity, Wind 4MPH.

This year: I came in at: 0:41:46 with a 8:22 min pace despite the crowded route placing 256 in my gender, 82 out of 727 in my age  and 1215  overall. This year there were 4,947 runners: Men – 2,340 and Women – 2,607. The weather was: 69 Degrees, 93% Humidity, Wind 3MPH, A Few Clouds. I did pause three times for water but I did very well because I felt strong throughout the entire race. Unfortunately as usual I didn’t get enough sleep (bad) thanks to my neighbors (who are moving by the month’s end – yes! So I won’t need to move). Next time I’m definitely going to try running at the 7 minute pace starting line because I realized I could run even faster if there was no one in front of my strides. At the last 1/2 mile I sprinted really quickly. After I crossed the finish line, a few people came up to me and complimented me. One even said that I looked like a gazelle and my legs were really high like I was flying. That made my day!

After, there was a raffle (which I didn’t get).

I also ran into the actor, Wilson Cruz. I went up to and asked, “Hey, you look familiar — are you a salsa instructor or someone I’ve danced salsa with before?” Haha, he said, no he’s an actor and if I remembered him from “My So-Called Life,” if I am old enough. Lol I was a little embarrassed for doing this (not every latin guy is a salsa dancer, Jerlyn!)

After the race, I headed to Macondo with my friends and had brunch with unlimited mimosas which caused me to miss my last appointment for the day because I completed passed out and couldn’t wake up. I guess my body needed it.

 

I went natural, a short hair journey

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Disclaimer:

I am in no way a natural hair enthusiast. I don’t know enough about hair to be one, especially with my hair. I never had any interest in caring about how it looked.

I think people should do whatever they want in their hair that makes things easier.

However, since some relaxers have been damaging people’s scalps and extensions have ruined healthy hair, I think people should be concerned about what goes into their hair (just like I am very concerned about what I’ve put into my body lately).

Relaxers never bothered me (photo on left) however, after some highlights the texture of my hair changed (Thanks hairdresser!) and with my constant running I could no longer worry about my hair.

Once it got highlighted, although it looked amazing, it was short-lived. I’m definitely all for hairdressers to make money on styling however, I asked all the right questions about whether it would be low maintenance. It turns out that it wasn’t. Prior, I could have run to my heart’s content and never batted an eye if I washed my hair and pulled it into one right after. With the highlights, it was extra work to detangle and as my hair grew out, thicker and thicker… It just got worse.

(hair with highlights that I didn’t need)

A few weeks ago I went to visit my sister in Virginia and she took a pair of shears to my hair.

My sister has had natural hair before her daughter’s birth.

It really looks incredible on her:

Prior to her cutting it off, I tried a variety of hairstyles since I basically ignored my hair’s need for a relaxer.

This is how my hair looked after my sis cut it. I don’t even consider it a “big chop,” it seems like my hair was long enough to have been cut months before. It can almost go into a ponytail (or puffy tail haha).

 

What’s really interesting: Now I have to reconsider how I style my hair. I hadn’t my hair like this since 7th grade and it turns out that it’s a lot easier to manage. After my run, I simply shower from head to toe. Then I slide a band and I’ve started accessorizing:

The only thing that seems bothersome is getting helmet hair after I bike to the gym:

Other than that, I really enjoy the new look:

(realize the texture of my hair changed in this pic, I flat-ironed my hair and it might have damaged my curls *tear)

Anyway, that’s the update. My new look (and I can’t wait for it to  grow longer):

Now to stop people from touching it! Other than that, it seems to have improved my dating life :) .

Is your hair natural? What do you do to it? Any advice?

Designing the body that I want

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It’s funny that I call myself design lady yet I’m hardly posting things related to design on my blog. However, I’m currently designing the body that I want. It’s been an interesting journey so far. It’s now June 13th and I’ve successfully worked out or kept moving everyday since the last week in April to maintain the physique and strength that I have. I’ve also started eating better by making better food choices:

(This is my infamous oatmeal with fruits – sometimes I add more fiber but this has blueberries, banana and strawberries)

With all these changes, I didn’t notice how strong I was until this past weekend.

I started on Saturday. I arranged to run with my friend Peggy in Central Park. Unfortunately the park is so far away that I hardly go because it’s quite the trip. I had forwarded her a list of group runs held by Jack Rabbit Sports and we decided to join the one at 9am. I woke up at 6am, got ready packed my book bag and lifted my brand new Jamis Allegro Femme down the stairs.

I wasn’t looking forward to the trip because I realized that I had to make a transfer where I would have to lift my bike for two flights of stairs. I also didn’t know what the exit at 86th street would look like (it had another few flights of stairs). Thankfully my bike weighs about 20lbs.

We joined the group and ran 7 miles. We took a route to Randall’s island running along FDR east river drive.

(The map partially shows the route)

After the run, we walked to 55th street and 6th ave to have brunch at La Bonne Soupe (which was incredible). I had post workout fuel of the La Canadienne Crepe. After, we walked to 46th and 9th where Peggy left her bike the night before. I bid her farewell since she had work to take care of and I biked the 10 miles back to Brooklyn with the assistance of my Ride the City app (and google maps on Android which is better than the iPhone’s since it shows bike routes — take that Apple!).

When I synced my Nike+ Fuel Band, it had tripled the daily fuel:

I got home and prepared for the next day to go on a zipline and canopy adventure. It just so happens that I booked a trip with a company that takes people to CBK mountains in Poconos, PA. We met them at 7am and headed out by bus ride. Once there we were given quick zipline safety procedures and started the 6 courses. We gradually got higher and higher above ground with each course’s zip line getting longer and higher above ground. This is where my strength and athleticism was tested. I wasn’t even tired from the night before (shockingly). Each course tested our agility as I used my core muscles to keep myself up and maneuver through. I even did a Tarzanesque swing to a net. Our final zip line was 85 feet high – a race (that I lost) – between two people.

When we got home, I took a shower and headed to bed. The next day, made sense to use as a rest day, I didn’t feel anything. Fitness test completed. The body is incredible.

Gave these up to be happy

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My friend Brandi posted a link to an article titled 15 Things You Should Give Up To Be Happy and I decided to respond to it because in my quest to become a better person it seems like I’ve came to enlightenment.The article suggests that you give up these 15 things to make your life a lot easier and much, much happier. I do agree, in the past years I allowed many of these things to make me stressed to the point of pain. It’s only a few years ago I began the journey to become better, wiser and let in positive growth. Hopefully how I did that will help you in your journey. I’m definitely not perfect but whenever things bother me these days, I respond, “nope, not that thought.”

Here’s how I tackled these 15:
1. GIVE UP YOUR NEED TO ALWAYS BE RIGHT
I am just right. I allow that, in my mind anyway. However, the person that I’m speaking with doesn’t need to know. Sometimes it’s just less of a headache to allow the opinions of someone else to take precedence than argue your opinion, experiences and self worth. This is a good practice because you can decide for yourself whether this person helps or hurts your happiness. Sometimes the relationship with that person is more important that the need to bite your tongue is better than the consequence of always being right. I don’t have that big of an ego.

2. GIVE UP YOUR NEED FOR CONTROL
When I first started taking tango, I ran into this issue of giving a total stranger the permission to guide me across the floor in any direction he chose. Tango involved nonverbal communication with my male partner. Imagine how this affected my very feminist mindset and type A personality. When I let go, I fell in love with the dance. I allowed my partner to just be. We were both in class to learn, we were in a safe environment and the worse he could do is run me into a wall or prop and I’d refuse to dance with him again. Fair. I wanted to learn, he wanted to learn — beyond that, it didn’t matter who he was or who I was.

3. GIVE UP ON BLAME
You give people permission to take away your happiness. So, one of the things I’m absolutely proud of when I work with others is the feedback about how relaxed I am. I know what I need to do to get things done and I just do it. If something goes wrong, I am confident that I can handle it. If I didn’t succeed, I shrug it off, call it a loss and go in another 110% next time. One thing I absolutely loathe and have no sympathy for is when others blame their parents or situations for their current state in life. Think of this, “someone is always worse off.”

4. GIVE UP YOUR SELF-DEFEATING SELF-TALK
Love this one. I wake up daily get ready for the day and remind myself of how far I’ve come and hope that I can positively affect the world around me. I’m not a loser. I love to win and I’ll do my damnedest to. I’m good at what I do and will only continue to get better with time. The mind is also a very dangerous thing. If you succumb to it, it will control your life. You’re not your mind.

5. GIVE UP YOUR LIMITING BELIEFS
I have to thank John Boyd for this. He had this mantra that he continually instilled in me when we worked together learning about technology. How far can a little poor girl from the island go? I’ll say, far. The mantra was, “if Bill Gates can do it, you can do it.” I don’t have billions yet but I won’t stop thinking that I just might one day. Dreaming about living in NYC when I was 7 years old, while I lived in Dominica, was impossible to me. It’s over two decades since I had that dream. I’ve been in NYC for awhile now.

6. GIVE UP COMPLAINING
I think positively daily. I also believe a long run can solve anything. If I’m stuck, I strap on my shoes and hit the pavement. People, situations and events won’t make me unhappy, sad and depressed. I won’t allow them. I made the decision to leave my last job when I was 400 feet in the air, parasailing off the coast of St. Thomas, on my birthday. I did a lot of complaining then. I stopped myself because I realized that I had been blaming someone else for my unhappiness. I decided to remove myself from the situation that I had no control of.

7. GIVE UP THE LUXURY OF CRITICISM
I love having the ability to just not care and being selfish. I can only improve myself and looking at others and how they can improve themselves isn’t a productive use of my time. You want to rock that hairstyle, do you. You want to spend time gossiping, do you. You want to be racist, sexist and homophobic, that is really all on you. I’m on this earth to make myself happy buddy and you’re wasting precious seconds and brain cells. It’s true, we all want to be happy, we all want to love and be loved and understood. Everything else, shouldn’t matter.

8. GIVE UP YOUR NEED TO IMPRESS OTHERS
I love this. I wake up in the morning and my thought process is simply to wear something that doesn’t clash — but seriously, who cares? People get away with wearing anything in NYC. I buy what I need and I don’t follow the latest trends. I’ve got to be honest though, I often wonder what it would be like if I was super-fashionista-diva a la sex and the city. Then again, I also “dance to the beat of my own drum.” I don’t have time for clones, I’d only feel like I’m competing against more of myself. These days, I am on a quest to better myself. Bettering myself includes eating better, becoming healthier, clearing my thoughts, decreasing my stress levels, modifying my body to get stronger and enjoying the journey. I also want to get better and better at my job. I don’t believe in being someone that I’m not for others to like me. You either can stand me or not. Once you live for yourself and not others, people are more curious about who you are and befriend you naturally.

9. GIVE UP YOUR RESISTANCE TO CHANGE
One of the most difficult things for me was realizing that my opinion changed yearly… Sometimes monthly. I’m a continuing project of growth. It was difficult at first because at times I had great passion for what I believed in at the time. Admitting defeat when I attained enlightenment allowed me to embrace each situation. My life only improves… Especially when I follow, “all I know is I know nothing.”

10. GIVE UP LABELS
Be open to everything that’s different and nothing will surprise you. Just accept people as is without judgement. You get insight into their lives and you get to expand your mind.

11. GIVE UP ON YOUR FEARS
This was the toughest. One of my biggest fears was failure. I believe that I failed sometime in 2010 and I decided it wasn’t so bad that I’ll never be able it handle it again. I live being ready for anything. Fear is an illusion,  “The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself.” Franklin D. Roosevelt

12. GIVE UP YOUR EXCUSES
My favorite. I started working out without a new years resolution because I’m so difficult at keeping them. I just went ahead and did it because it was a goal that I’m passionate about setting course. When I meet people that ask abut my exercise, some often tell me that they don’t get time to workout and that they don’t get the right time to cook or they are big boned so they can’t lose weight. I stay quiet and shrug it off because I know that  they are only making excuses. Those acquaintances usually aren’t great colleagues. They limit themselves to their true potential.

13. GIVE UP THE PAST
This was the toughest. I always bring up my past relationship because I’m so anal about being a perfectionist (don’t ask how this is even possible). However it took me a couple years to finally let everything, every ounce of regret and just accept what I have is in the moment and that chapter of my life has closed completely and shouldn’t be reopened to fester the infected wounds. When I did that, I completely enjoyed every aspect of my life. The ability to love without hang ups To let anyone in.

14. GIVE UP ATTACHMENT
When you realize that you can leave the world with absolutely nothing despite all your money, fancy clothes, etc. that you can leave completely naked and vulnerable… back to the grave, you give up attachment.

15. GIVE UP LIVING YOUR LIFE TO OTHER PEOPLE’S EXPECTATIONS
I learned this from a young age and I can say wholeheartedly say: I’m never jealous of anyone. I’m currently living my own life. Dancing to the beat of my own drum and improving what’s valuable for myself. I’ve only one life to live and I only have one shot of making a difference. I’m truly enjoying the journey which isn’t a carbon copy of anyone else. I’ve certainly had others follow what I’ve done and I’ve in turn been inspired by many but it’s the biggest compliment to influence others but don’t make their lives your own. I get messages sometimes from peers who tell me how they admire that I’m doing my own thing and becoming more and more successful in my field. The thing is, something that I may make seem flawless is actually quite challenging but since it’s my dream, the road to get to my goal is enjoyable, I can’t imagine being a copycat is enjoyable… You might as well change your name to that persons’.

Please yourself and your journey will be more enjoyable.