Attitude matters

 Recently I’ve been working on learning two different things. I’m learning how to climb, having recently switched to bouldering at a climbing gym since I no longer have time to climb outside, and I’m also learning how to code.

I’ve been thinking a lot about attitude and how much of an impact it has on my learning. Today at the climbing gym I surprised myself because I was able to do a lot more difficult climbs than I thought I was capable of. On Tuesday I had attempted quite a few of the same routes but had little success.

The difference between the two days is the mindset that I went into it with. On Tuesday I went to the gym thinking my core is too weak, I’m too weak, and it’ll be so difficult to uplevel to harder climbs. Today I went in with a positive outlook feeling open to trying anything and potentially failing, and I surprised myself with my own strength!

When I think that I’m not strong enough or not good enough, I’m usually right because that’s what I’m telling myself. If I change my attitude and think instead of that I’m strong and that I’m capable, it has a huge impact on my performance.

When I think I can do it I usually can. It might take hard work, dedication, and time, but I can do it. Don’t be afraid to believe in yourself and trust in yourself. We are stronger than we think we are. Now let’s see if I can bring some positivity when I take on the next coding challenge!

Patience, Failure, and Learning

I’m very excited to announce that I’m starting a full-time coding program this month! I’ll be spending the next 8 months learning back end development, and I’m both excited and terrified.

After losing my job I went through a pretty rough time. I felt like I was having an existential crisis almost daily. I had no job, no direction, and no idea what to do next. I had already committed to and partly paid for a UX design program, which would have been an exciting career change, but because of coronavirus the program was cancelled.

I had gone through a lot to get to the point where I was committed to the UX program, so I thought I finally had everything figured out, but then it fell apart and I had no idea what to do instead.

I was in a constant search for my next career. I was considering everything from construction to candle making to cupboard making. I finally got to a point where I decided I had to commit to something in order to feel like I was getting somewhere. Anywhere!

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Traveling Solo

Prompt: Unplanned awesomeness traveling solo

Time: 20 min

It was my first night in Croatia and I felt completely unprepared. I usually read up about the language and culture of a country before visiting, but here I was with no idea how to even say hello.

I arrived past 8pm at my hotel in Split, and after googling hello and thank you in Croatian I asked the concierge where people normally hang out on a Monday night. I was pleasantly surprised when she told me there was a weekly music in the park on Mondays, so I headed that way.

As I approached the park I could see lights and hear music in the distance and my heart began to race.

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Adventure

Continuing on with sharing what I’ve written during a writing exercise with a friend. The topic this week was “adventure” and we had one hour to write:

Adventure (1 hour)

I had always considered myself an adventurer, but traveling alone was something that hadn’t been on my radar until late into my twenties. It had been easy to travel with others and not worry about an agenda or planning where to stay or where to go, but when I found out I was invited to a wedding in northern Italy, I knew this would be the perfect opportunity to venture into solo traveling.

I was excited to be able to build my own itinerary and decide what I would do every day. I didn’t have to worry about pleasing anyone else. I could eat when I wanted, go where I wanted to and stay for as long as I chose.

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Centered

I’ve been doing a writing exercise with a friend, and this week’s topic was centered. I thought I’d share what I wrote since I haven’t posted much recently.

I’ve been thinking a lot about what centered means to me and what I can do to feel centered. Centeredness is something that comes in waves in my life, and I’m realizing that it’s something that doesn’t happen without effort.

As I’ve reflected on it this week, I realize that recently I’ve lost that part of myself. Even a few weeks ago I felt more centered, so I’ve been thinking about what has changed.

A few weeks ago I had a very strict routine. It included daily yoga and meditation, two practices that help me in different ways. Yoga allows me time to get out of my head and focus on my breathe and body movement, while meditation gives me time to just be.

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