12 Completely Life-Changing Things I’m Bringing With Me Into 2018

Learn your worth and know to ask for the respect that you deserve.

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hand holding some lights
Riccardo Annandale
hand holding some lights
Riccardo Annandale

1. Accept new beginnings – different places, environments, state of minds. Fall in love with new things and feelings for the tangible quality they hold, for with time they change who you are.

2. Learn your worth and know to ask for the respect that you deserve. If people try to shape you to fill the mold of their desires, let them walk away the moment that they say they want to.

3. Friendships save you. The demons inside your head you do not have to fight alone. The people around you that love you will remind you of your strengths when you are weak – always make time for them.

4. Never dismiss an opportunity to travel. The same sky looks brand new under different lights. You become new with every step further that you walk from the things you have always known.

5. Blocking the world out does not mean that people do not see you. The most unexpected people care about you for the most unexpected reasons, sometimes being just because. Do not let life fool you into thinking there aren’t any good people left in this world.

6. Rise to the challenge. Grab opportunities and agree to do the things you have always wanted to but were never sure you could. Try, even if you might fail. Try, because you really want to. Try, you may just end up flying.

7. There is no standard manual on dealing with grief. Sometimes it takes months, sometimes it takes years. Sometimes.. You never truly get over it at all. But that does not mean that you are undeserving of having or feeling the happiness that comes knocking on your door.

8. Work with heart. Anything done with a genuine heart translates to others in the exact way that it needs to. Do not let the world of superficiality divert you from the heart of who you are, and everything you do.

9. No dream is truly ever far-fetched or out of reach. Do something each day that will get you closer to the life that you want, the job that you want, the self that you want. No excuses. No holding back. The dream that you have – Chase it.

10. The best times are the ones you will have never seen coming. One weekend that you could not have possibly planned can end up being the highlight of your whole year. Life’s like that – Let it surprise you; bask in the unknown knowledge that there is always something to look forward to.

11. Who you are is not who you have been, and people don’t stay the same forever. Forgive the old selves, dive headfirst into the new. Mend broken bridges, reconnect and reminisce the memories close to you.

12. Let loose. Make mistakes, collect moments. You are never going to be as young or carefree as you are today, and right now. Live. Thought Catalog Logo Mark