I turned 43 this year. 

I don’t remember the last time I shared my age online, but I certainly can remember the years when I genuinely don’t even know my age whenever someone asked me how old I was. Not because I was ashamed of getting older but I think I stopped counting when I turned 27.

So when someone asks, I have to do a quick mental calculation. Subtracting the present year against my birth year. LOL!

Now usually when people do this sort of list, they tend to do it during milestone years. In your 20s, 30s, 40s, 50, and 60s but because I didn’t realise I turned 40, three years ago so I’m doing it this year. 😂

Besides, I think it’ll be a good thing to reflect on especially during this very wild year. Things that happened to me and my family and of course what’s going on in the world. From Volcano eruptions, the pandemic, typhoons and getting the keys to our new house

So, without further ado, here are 43 things I learned about life and business. 

1. Treat your business as a business – stop treating it as a hobby and showing up only when it’s comfortable. Make time for it and actually do work that helps you move towards progress. 

2. Stop looking at what other people are doing – focus on your own growth and stop obsessing over other people’s achievements. You have a different perspective and way of doing things. 

3. Stop chasing too many things at once – focus on one thing at a time. While it’s important to play and experiment, it’s also dangerous to get trapped being a jack of all trades. 

4. Don’t take things too personally – you’re going to have haters and people who don’t agree with your beliefs and that’s ok. But at the same time, learn to listen to feedback and complaints. That’s how you are able to grow and improve yourself and your business.

5. Always pay attention – don’t ignore the signs coming your way. The best business decisions I’ve made were a result of listening to what my audience was telling me.

6. Believe that you’re capable of winning – before you start asking others to trust you and do business with you, you need to start believing in yourself first. 

7. Find time for yourself – Especially if you wear many hats. A mum. A wife, a business owner. 

8. Ask for help – no one is capable of doing everything. 

9. Say NO more often than you say YES – stop giving a piece of yourself to everyone all the time. Protect your time, mental health and energy by saying NO more often so that you can say YES to things that really matter. 

10. Take time to really understand your finances – it’s not just about making money, You also need to understand where your income is coming from and how you’re spending it. Make it a habit to separate your business and personal finances.

11. It’s going to be hard in the beginning –  nothing worth having comes easy. It’ll take time and effort before your business will take off. But don’t get discouraged. These days, you have more help than you can ever imagine.

12. Invest in yourself and your business – don’t be stingy. You’ll find most things online for free but it’ll take you years to figure everything out. Start investing in yourself by enrolling in workshops, online courses, hiring a mentor or a coach.

13. Delegate – learn to trust people with your business. You’ll eventually reach a point where you need to hire someone to help you get your business running. Let others do the work so you can only focus on your zone of genius.

14. Have multiple sources of income – create multiple sources of income to diversify where your cash flow is coming in. 

15. Have goals – goals are what’s going to sustain you in the long term.

16. Establish routines – it’s daunting to do tasks but if you have an established routine, tasks become more manageable and automatic. It’s going to help you push through days where you don’t want to work.

17. Set boundaries – with clients, friends and even family. Let them know when you’re available and when you need to be on DND-mode (Do not Disturb). 

18. Stop assuming responsibility for everybody – you can only do so much. Protect your sanity by thinking about yourself first. It’s ok to help but it comes with limitations. 

19. Take breaks – pause. Don’t feel guilty when you need to rest. If you want to be more productive, you need to learn to decompress so you can come back to your business feeling relaxed, better and refreshed.

20. Move – exercise. It doesn’t have to be a gym-worthy routine. Walk, run and stretch! It’s not only good for your physical health but also for your creativity.

21. Start with what you have – don’t wait until you have fancy tools and gadgets to do something. Don’t wait until you have an audience or a product. Start doing and build what you want with what you have. 

22. Learn to make quick cash – not the get rich quick scheme, no. When you have a business and things get tough or you don’t meet your sales goals or perhaps you need extra cash to spend for something unexpected, you need to find ways to make money fast – it can be a sale, a new product or service.

23. Be patient – everything takes time. But if you want shortcuts to get to where you want to be faster than others, find a mentor and learn from other people.

24. Small offers aren’t bad – smaller, more affordable products can bring in a big chunk of money too. 

25. Big offers aren’t scary – don’t get intimidated pricing your work or product higher. If it helps more people and changes their lives, it’s way more valuable than you think it is. 

26. Surround yourself with people who are better than you – you’ll be compelled to do greater things because their outlook and perspective in life and business will rub off on you. 

27. Impose self-discipline – just because you own your business doesn’t mean you can do everything you want. Show up for your business even if you don’t feel like it. 

28. Don’t be afraid to fail – failing is part of the process. We all learn from our mistakes. What you need to be more afraid of is not trying at all.

29. It’s never too late to do anything you want – be happy for the opportunities given to the younger generation. They are able to do business these days even at such a young age. But so can you. It’s never too late to try new things, venture into a new business or even a new hobby.

30. It’s ok to ask for MORE – don’t settle for less. If you feel your product or service needs to be charged higher, go for it. Ask. The worst they could say is NO but that’s not bad either. Over time, you’ll learn that saying NO to low-ballers would mean having more time for high-paying opportunities.

31. You don’t need toxic people in your life – stay away from people who are constantly draining your energy. You don’t need additional stress in your life. 

32. Cry when you have to – life and business will be frustrating and it will happen. It’s not always rainbows and unicorns. It’s ok to cry and get upset. Express your feelings but don’t dwell on it for long. Move on and start doing great things again. 

33. Dreaming big is not airy hope or wishful thinking – you can actually make it happen. Start small, take action and work your way towards building the life you want to have. 

34. Most things are not worth the stress – don’t dwell on the little things. There are far more important things you need to pay attention to. 

35. Nurture relationships – you will meet people along the way and they will be instrumental in your growth as a person and a business owner. Zig Ziglar said it best – “You will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want.”

36. Always be learning – continue improving your skills and knowledge by learning from others. Once you stop learning, that will be your downfall.

37. Stop obsessing over vanity metrics – Famous doesn’t always mean profitable. Don’t create just for the following. Create because you want to serve. If you want people to follow you, make sure you give them something worth following you for. 

38. Hug your kids often – trust me, they pay attention to anything and every little thing we do for them. 

39. Kiss your spouse/partner every day – this never gets old. We give each other kisses even when we’re angry at each other and it’s something we do since the day we got married.

40. Do less, but better – how to stop getting overwhelmed? Don’t try to do too many things at once.  Small progress leads to great things. Reduce your daily tasks and put all your focus on it. Rather than trying to accomplish everything in your list and end up not finishing anything. 

41. You’re stronger than you think – life will throw lemons, trucks, rocks, whatever at you. And there will be times when you think you’re too weak to handle them. Don’t undermine your strength. Believe in yourself all the time. 

42. Do something that scares you – be uncomfortable, get out of your comfort zone and do something that challenges you to be a better person. Only when you stretch your skills, knowledge and strength will you grow further. 

43. Buy more plants – get all the effing plants you need in the world! If it makes you happy, go for it. Never mind if they’re expensive, your sanity is worth way more than the price tag of a Monstera Deliciosa Albo Variegata. 😉

Well, that sums up my life learnings! 2020 will go down in history as one of the most challenging years we’ve all had as a human race but let’s not let it stop us from doing the things we love (social distancing and safety protocols in place, of course!)

Let this year be a great lesson for us – to do more good, become a better person and know that life is fleeting. So dream on, my friends!

After looking back and writing these lessons down, I realized I’ve changed as a person. So much that I’m sure I’ll be a different person 5 years from now as we go through the different seasons of life.

What about you? What have you learned this past year or past years? 

Is there something on this list you want to adopt for yourself?

Let’s discuss in the comments below.