As I embrace my end of year social media and news fast, I’m left with one thought-2019 was so…extra. Crazy politics, crazy people, crazy weather and more. Personally, this year has been a humbling one for so many reasons and a stand out year as well. Ultimately, I’m ending this year somewhere in the middle of where I wanted to be. In this episode I will share the highlights and lowlights of 2019 financially, personally and professionally.
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Personal Life in 2019
- This is the one area in my life that I’ve spent the most time reflecting on. I’m not satisfied with my personal relationships and feel like there are two areas that I have to reevaluate and work on.
- Time with mom-It’s hard sometimes when you’re an only child. Your parent(s) are so connected and invested in you. This year I found myself thinking about the fact that time is flying and I need to spend more time with my mom. I’ve enlisted my mom’s help on a project that I’m working on and we’re already having fun with it.
- Personal friendships and connections-2019 was a very busy year and I found myself not having as much time to spend with my friends. I was super focused on Money on the Mountain and other professional pursuits that I felt required a lot of focus. They did, however, it’s my view that if I had changed how I was working that time sacrifice with the people that I love in my life wouldn’t have happened.
- Dating-The second half of the year has gotten better despite myself. But, I’m going to keep it real. I absolutely hate online dating/dating apps/etc. They feel like work and I already work online. I hate the endless texting, I hate all of the stupid unspoken rules. I feel like men have been emasculated through the process, and I just wish people would be a lot more upfront about: their height, their looks, etc. I post only my fat pictures, I share my age, my height. And, I need you to have the balls to be yourself. In fact, I was supposed to go on a biking date and my date had shared an old picture of himself. When I arrived I walked past him because he was 100 pounds heavier than the picture that he posted. And, he smelled. Then, he mentioned how good I smelled. Well, I take showers and I was on a date. For me, I met people very easily when I go outside of my house. Umm…but, I wasn’t really going outside of my house. Going into 2020, I’m working on how to get out there and meet people organically in order to improve my social connections and dating life.
Financial Life
Not enough people talk about long-term debt repayment and how it affects your state of mind. This year, more than any other, I really struggled with debt repayment fatigue. And, it was horrible. I was so ready to get everything repaid, I didn’t have a lot of energy, and I was just over it. And, as I’ve said before, I totally understand why people give up on their debt-repayment journeys. I’m sick of talking about debt, I’m sick of thinking about it. But, I am much closer to getting it paid off than before.
- Debt Repayment-It felt like the closer I got to getting my unsecured debt repaid, the more Murphy’s Law would appear in my life. I had a goal to get my unsecured debt paid off by the end of the year. And, it’s just not going to happen. However, I did pay off a nice chunk of debt this year, but I could help but feel frustrated by not meeting the goal that I’d set for myself this year.
- Online Earnings and Income in General-One of the areas that I really tried to focus on in 2019 was growing my passive income. Given that I hardly wrote any content, was working on hosting an event, and was generally distracted-I’m completely shocked to say that I met this goal and am so excited to see what I can do in 2020.
Random Highlights in 2019
- Podcast Mentor-I was asked to be a mentor for an inaugural program at The House of Pod nurturing women of color in the podcasting space. I would have done this for free-but, they paid me!
- Consistency-This is the #1 area that I focused on specifically with podcasting. I FINALLY, was able to consistently record and release episodes on a set schedule. This consistency has made a huge difference in how people perceive what I’m doing. People take you a lot more seriously when you show up when you say you will. Changed the perception of professionalism of my projects.
- Made consistent money in book sales-Even though some months were lower than others, I’ve consistently made money with ebooks and I LOVE this revenue stream so much.
- Ran a packed session at Outlier Podcast Festival-People still mention this session to me months later (in a good way) and I’m so happy that it resonated with them.
- Ran a standing room only session at Podcast Movement! It was interrupted by a fire alarm and we continued to run the session outside in the hell heat that is Orlando in August.
- Was on a fantastic panel about women and F.I.R.E. at the Seattle Lola Retreat. I love the work that Melanie Lockert is doing for women, money, mental health, and empowerment.
- Hosted my first ever Money on the Mountain Retreat and it was a huge success. The next ones will be in 2021.
- Lost 20lbs-At the time of this recording I’ve gained my holiday 5, but the process that I used to lose the 20lbs is super easy and as soon as the holidays are over, I will begin working on losing an additional 20lbs.
- Part of BizLifeCon Event at Microsoft Headquarters Denver-This was a fabulous event hosted in Denver and I was so excited to be a part of it.
2020
The first episode of 2020 will share what my goals are, what I’m focused on, upcoming events that I am participating in and lessons learned from 2019. I hope that you have wonderful holiday season and let me know what was YOUR 2019 like?
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I hate dating app too however seems this 2019 is been an interesting year for you!!!
It has been an interesting year. I’m trying to keep things super relaxed as I go into 2020.
You had a good year and got a lot of things done. If anyone can understand you on debt fatigue, it’s me. Sometimes things just don’t go how we want it. I have a feeling that 2020 will be epic though.
Jason, I won’t lie, I was TIRED AF by the end of the year. That’s why I disappeared for awhile. I just needed some quiet and some time to look at what did and did not work. I’m NOT playing around in 2020. My goal is to get the final $7,000 done by March.