[bctt tweet=”We know resolutions may be tired and old-fashioned but stick with us here” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”]
So maybe 2016 didn’t turn out to be the year you have been waiting and hoping for. However, I’m sure a lot of us will agree that it feels good to still be standing. Especially after all the shots 2016 gave us.
I know resolutions may be tired and old-fashioned. Nobody really does them any more and most of those who still do, hardly ever stick to them. Whatever your view, we can all agree that if properly followed through, they can make a positive change.
As a child, I thought resolutions were only concerned with changing bad habits. With time, I began learning that changing the way you think can very well be a resolution. Just because you pen them down at the beginning of a certain year doesn’t mean you haven’t been doing it. It serves as a reminder for you to keep on doing the damn thing!
[bctt tweet=”Resolutions serve as a reminder for you to keep on doing the damn thing” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”]
Most of us would say we went through the most last year, and we probably have (I know I have!) I also found, however, that I learnt more about myself than I ever did before, and those very lessons are the resolutions I’d like me and you to carry into 2017.
1. Yes, I can and I will!
Just a few months ago, a 7-year old princess published her very first book, need I say more?
Never stop reaching, Mamelodi Sundowns reached for the stars and caught one!
2. I will show up and stand up where I can
- The girls at Pretoria Girls’ High showed up together and stood up for their right to wear their crowns freely.
- The women who remembered Khwezi and the thousands of fed-up girls who spoke up and stood against rape culture across tertiary campuses knew they had to show up and stand up.
- The hundreds of women and men that run pad, clothing and food drives continue to tirelessly show up for society where no system does.
And, it’s not even about that alone. It’s you refusing to be quiet about topics society won’t touch and linking people who need help with those who can assist. It’s you following your dream and teaching the sisters back in the hood how they can make it too. Sometimes, it’s really just the retweet, share, compliment and advice that matters most.
We need to remember that sometimes, however unfortunately, the people that need help won’t ask for it because of what they’ve been through before. So this coming year, show up for those with no hope, it might change their lives.
[bctt tweet=”The trick is to keep learning, no matter who bad things may seem, you learn!” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”]
3. I will choose love
You must have seen this one on Instagram pics and Twitter throughout 2016 but I promise you it’s worth it. The best kind of love is self-love, the rest of it will translate outward to others.
I know women who battle to find this love after bad relationships and maybe self-disappointment. It breaks my heart knowing I can’t love them where they need to love themselves, the best I can do is tell them they are worth it and hope they believe me.
Every day of 2017, love yourself. That worth you seek in others can only be found in yourself, everyone else can only appreciate it.
4. Some people know better than you, learn from them
Being a ‘new’ entrepreneur myself, I found that there are lessons I can only learn from people who have walked this journey before. I started following and reading about this special group of people and without even asking any questions, their stories taught me a lot of what I know about entrepreneurship today.
MotherlandMogul Tip: While you ask for help, pointers or advice, don’t forget that no one can walk this journey for you, no one at all. You must be prepared to put in the work and research.
5. 2017 isn’t my year either
Yes, 2017 isn’t your year either, but when last was any year for you anyway?
We will still lose loved ones and great figures in society, fail, get hurt, worry, fight and cry in 2017. But just like in 2016, there will be jokes and stories that we think will never get old. We will achieve things we didn’t think we could, we will still regret watching ‘one more episode’.
Twitter still won’t rest, there will still be too much sauce, we will discover a meme almost as great as baby Jake. She Leads Africa will continue to make us great (yay!) and you will smile again.
So yes, 2017 isn’t your year, you and your choices are. If you plan on losing, make sure you learn, otherwise, win with positivity and inner peace.
[bctt tweet=”2017 isn’t your year either, but when last was any year for you?” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”]
6. I will celebrate myself and others
Absolutely, clap for yourself and all the black girls breaking ground around you!
There is nothing quite like seeing girls celebrate other girls and themselves —treating the next woman like the queen they are themselves.
Sometime in December last year, the hashtag #TheGirlsAreAlright was trending and in all honesty, this one is right up there as one of my absolute favourites. The reason for the trend was a thread that was tweeted by a queen herself, @SilindileM_, celebrating beautiful, no problem African queens!
So for 2017, learn to clap when a fellow queen makes it, even if it is before you. You will be where you want to be someday, and until then, celebrate yourself for the small progress you make each and every day.
Look yourself in the mirror and tell yourself YOU ARE ALRIGHT because you are a queen! Above all, teach the young princesses to do it too, tell them how alright they are!
But guys, look, the black girls really are alright, neh? They’re beautiful and they’re happy.
So you see? There is hope for 2017.