5 Lessons I've Learned at 35

In celebration of my 35th birthday being this week, I decided I wanted to record an intimate solo episode to share 5 significant lessons that have revolutionized my outlook on both my personal and professional life.

While these lessons are not necessarily directly tied to social media, they are closely related and I do hope my takeaways will shed some light on your own personal and professional life.

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1. Let go of expectations. Be realistic. Do your best and enjoy the process. Don’t let the number results get you down.

I have always been the type of person who enjoys setting goals for myself, whether they be numerical aspirations or a bucket list of destinations I want to travel too. I found joy in checking things off this said list. However, I later realized that these lists can often end up being toxic. For instance, if I do not end up achieving the arbitrary goals I set for myself, I tend to feel incredibly disappointed and as if I was not good enough.

This year, it finally dawned on me that I need to let go of these high expectations. In lieu of numerical goals, I realized that setting habitual goals were much more realistic and healthy. Because at the end of the day, I want to have fun creating content and this joy in the art of creation got buried along the way. Letting go of these expectations can finally help me take a step back and start loving what I do once again.

2. Let go of control.

Admittedly, I am a control freak in a lot of aspects in my life. I constantly feel the need to know what is coming next, what steps I need to take, and so forth. But the truth of the matter is that a lot of things are out of our control in this life. Especially when it comes to things such as the economy and social media algorithms - both are constantly in a state of fluctuation. You may have noticed that your reach has been all over the place on Instagram but this a reminder that this is part of the natural ebb-and-flow of a platform such as this. As creators, it is important to know that the algorithm is out of our control and the best we can do is adapt and try not to get discouraged when we do not achieve the performance expected.

3. There is no end goal.

I used to think that everything I did would ultimately lead to one end goal and once I finally reach that final goal, I will stop what I am doing all together. For the longest time, this has been my mindset because I truly thought there had to be a stopping point to what we do on social media. But at the end of the day, a career as an influencer is still incredibly new and there really is no expiration date. The truth is, there is no right moment to start something or to end something. You just need to keep going and pursuing what is right for you.

The only thing that matters is that as you move forward and progress, you enjoy the process and continually evolve and learn.

4. Take a step back.

I find that many of the creators I know are Type A personalities. Which means that often, we feel that innate desire to keep pushing ourselves to achieve even more. But as soon as we take a pause and realize that others are still moving forward, we immediately fill with despair because it feels like your pursuits are being left behind. But this year, I learned that it is okay to take a step back and to move at a pace that may be different than some of my peers.

Now, I am making a point to slow down and focus on things to help me set better foundations for myself and for my business. By doing so, I am taking a step back from pitching to brands, selling my product, and so forth. But I am learning that it is okay to be stagnant and to take a pause. At the end of the day, other people’s wins do not diminish what you have accomplished.

5. Invest in knowledge. Stay hungry for knowledge. You don’t know what you don’t know.

Recently, I took the plunge and invested in a 5-figure mastermind course which is the most expensive program that I have ever purchased. I know that it is important to take time to learn from experts who have already walked the path that I am trying to take. While it is possible to learn through trial-and-error, I want to reach my goals even faster. Because I don’t know what I don’t know. The things that other people know could be the one thing that stops me from making a huge mistake or may even help me to propel my own business forward.

At the ripe age of 35, the notion that everyone should stay humble and be willing to learn from others is even more apparent. The moment you can be open to learning from people, you will be able to expand your mind.

If you have been wanting to double down on your own influencer journey, the Full-Time Influencer program will be able to guide you every step of the way. I have updated many lessons, added new content with a more video-centric approach, and included new ways to calculate your rates. There is no better time to invest in yourself than now. Trust me.