2021 Wrapped: A Year in Words

With the year coming to an end, I took some time out of my day to reflect and think about how 2021 has gone for myself like I normally do in the closing moments of December. Rather than keep these thoughts to myself, I'd like to share some of my key takeaways from the year (in no particular order!) that stood out for me at the time of writing this blog.

1. Prioritise your health

With the pandemic disrupting yet another year at university and generally causing global havoc, we've seen that public health is being taken a lot more seriously, and I think one benefit that's come out of the past 12 months is me understanding and ensuring that I put my health (both physical and mental) as a priority. Lockdown was hard, especially whilst trying to complete a degree course and having limited social interaction. These were things that were out of my control, but one thing that I did have control of was my own health, and the pandemic highlighted to me how much of a blessing it was to be able to have good health when so many people were unfortunately unable to. It's rekindled my passion for fitness and running, resulting in me completing my first half marathon (details of which you can find here) and duathlon competition (all the details are here). On top of that I've been a lot more aware of how I'm fuelling my body with the types of food I eat, and seeing ways in which I can enhance my plant based diet.

2. Work together with others to achieve more

Being involved with various society committees at university and working more closely with my course mates this year made me appreciate the benefits you can get from learning from others and solving problems together. I've found that it's been a great way to be more creative or just simply get things done quicker. I realised from remote learning that many of the challenges I faced, my friends were going to similar things, so it was great to work together to overcome them. It's amazing what you can achieve as a collective and the things you can pull off when you all work towards a common goal .

3. Do things even if no one else wants to do it with you

This may seem a bit contradictory to my above point, but over 2021 I've tried and got involved with a few new things on my own. My point being that if you really want to give something a go, not knowing anyone or doing it by yourself shouldn't stop you. Otherwise you'd always end up waiting for someone and never get round to doing it! Sometimes you've got to just give it a go and see what happens. For example, some of the things I got up to over the course of this year included: attempting to learn Hindi and get more acquainted with the world of Bollywood films (still a work in progress!), how to code in Python, join my university's Triathlon Society and start my own blog. 2021 taught me that I don't need to know someone or wait for a friend to try something, just go for it and see what happens.

4. Consistency Pays Off

At times it felt as if things just were not quite right this year. Stuff wasn't lining up and working out as I have planned for it. But I found that in the end, it will work out, as long as you are consistent with whatever you're doing to get to that goal. I'm more OK with having those 'off' days, where you're just really unproductive, because I know that by being consistent I can achieve my goal. I found this particularly when revising for my final exams in my second year of university and independently training for my half marathon.

5. Plan & Prepare, but don't forget to be present

I must admit I can sometimes be too forward thinking, always worrying about what I'll be doing tomorrow, in a weeks, months or 6 months time, and not really enjoying the moment. But once restrictions started easing up this year and I got to spend quality time with friends and family, it highlighted to me the importance of being present with whatever I do, giving it my full attention and thought. This let me get more out of those moments this year.

And that concludes the final blog of 2021! I would like to take this moment to thank each and every one of you who have read, messaged me or subscribed to my blogs this year, it truly means a lot and I appreciate the support.  I look forward to interacting and sharing with you more content in 2022, but in the meantime I wish you happy holidays and all the best for the new year!

J.S.