Almost 29

This year has definitely been good to me, but as my 29th birthday approaches–the last of my 20's–it has really made me think about what I would like to accomplish these next 12 months. I have so many goals... career, educational, financial, family, fitness, and other miscellaneous goals, that I am going to make sure I prioritize and be intentional about.

I started working on my health/fitness goal around April, right before my trip to the Bahamas. But I did fall off once I got back, and I didn't get super serious about it again until after I came back from Florida/Disney at the end of July. Finally, I'm starting to notice my hard work paying off and I'm almost at my goal weight. I'm going to continue working out at least 3x a week, bringing my meals to work, drinking lots of water, trying to get in at least 10K steps throughout the day, and I'm sure I'll be where I want to be by the end of this month. If I don't let Thanksgiving get the best of me. What I need to be serious about is maintenance. Because every time I hit my goal weight, I slowly end up no longer going to the gym, and I've realized that is just something I can't afford to not do at this point. Maybe it's cause I'm older now, I don't know. But being active is just something that has to be a lifestyle. And that's something I plan to be serious about for sure after I hit my goal weight. Even if it's just working out twice a week.

Another major goal I set for my 29th year was to be in a new position that was more fulfilling, more stimulating, out of my comfort zone, obviously higher in pay, and an easier commute home was a bonus that made a mental note about. I don't know what exactly hit me in August, probably a combination of a few things that were already getting on my nerves, but I started looking at other positions within my organization and applied for two positions that stood out to me. I eventually got an HR phone screening for both of them and had second round in-person interviews for both as well. But after really thinking about it, I had absolutely no desire to go forward with one of the positions... it was exactly what I already do, but with a slightly different (better) title and maybe $5K higher pay. But I'm not fulfilled in my current role, so why would I start all over again doing similar work, with brand new people, for like $400 more a month? LOL. No thanks. I withdrew my application. I felt badly about that because my organization, as huge as it is, it honestly is a small ass world and it was lowkey unprofessional, but honestly... I don't care. They are not the ones waking up every day and living my life, so I was all set.

The other position, I started to second guess myself because after my second/in-person interview, they asked me to come back for a third interview... with 10 more people from the team, and they asked me to do an 8-10 minute presentation about my topic of choice. I had never done such a thing for an interview, so I was so nervous and just really questioned whether or not I was ready for this next step in my life. However, literally right as I was thinking about that, I received an annoying ass e-mail from a colleague and was like, oh... let me go ahead and agree to this third round and decide what the hell I'm going to present to this room full of complete strangers. In any case, I went through with it and it wasn't even as bad as I imagined. And, most importantly, last Wednesday I received a call from my soon-to-be boss offering me the position.

This new chapter of my life starts approximately three weeks and I couldn't be any happier. I'm so glad I stepped out of my comfort zone and got the courage to move forward with that interview. 29 is already looking like it's going to be an amazing year. All I can do is continue to thank God for the blessings he puts in my life and be intentional about the goals I set for myself, and of course... do the work to get there.