"Choose your education over your entertainment."
I saw this on TikTok recently, and it perfectly represents why I chose "Learn" as my theme of the month. January marks the start of the traditional year, and astrologically, the sun moves from Capricorn to Aquarius near month's end. Capricorn represents hard work and discipline toward long-term goals, while Aquarius embodies innovation and community. From my perspective, both signs represent success in different ways, sharing the need to develop specific skills. Discipline, as we heard so many times in the media, is a skill and in order to be innovative, you would have to develop new ways of thinking and problem-solving.
Something I recently discovered was that the second Friday of January is known as Quitter's Day. Quitters Day marks the date when most people typically abandon their New Year's resolutions. The research found that around time, motivation begins to wane and people start giving up on their goals. While I didn’t quit and push past the feelings of things getting hard, by the end of last January I was burnt out and it put me in such a negative mood, that I was in freeze mode until March.
I used to feel so embarrassed and ashamed. It felt like I was wasting my life and I was in such a panic over not knowing where my life going until I fully processed what happened and where there was a major oversight on my part:
Lack of emotional check-ins
Too much focus on the wrong aspects of my dreams
Not recognizing what resources I had available to me
Restricted view of growth
I learned the hard way last year but brought those lessons with me this year to avoid falling into the same pattern. Now I'm focusing on creating foundational goals while monitoring my mental and emotional state. Because I'm more decisive about what I want in life this year, identifying what I want to learn has become easier, and so have the actions required.
To learn is one of the best things you can do for yourself. When I say learn I don’t just mean through books or on a platform, but to learn is to be open-minded to fact we don’t know everything and be willing to set ego aside to recognize what we experience is only a fraction of the multiple perspectives. Allow yourself to be a student for life so you don’t fall into a trap of stagnancy. When you think there is nothing else, you won’t do anything else.
Affirmations
For the Lunar Cycles, I create affirmations. I am sharing the affirmations I created for the cycles prior to this post. The New Moon was in Capricorn on December 30th, 2024 and The full moon was in Cancer on January 13th, 2025.
New moon affirmations
I ACHIEVE meaningful connections that support my personal and professional growth
I ACHIEVE success through authentic self-expression and content creation
I ACHIEVE clarity in my career path as I align with opportunities in the beauty industry
Full moon affirmations
I FEEL empowered to become 1% better every day through the actions of my highest self
I FEEL inspired to keep trying
I FEEL I am made to live the life I keep envisioning
Romanticizing
Motivation Board of the month
Playlist of the month
2025 🦋💋
Description: Songs I like through 2025
Month’s Vibe
In January most of the time, it’s just compelling songs that get me pumped and motivated. There is no true description of this playlist but the vibe is currently feminine rage, crashout music, or that mysterious, sensual vibe. This will also be where I add songs throughout the year that I like. Throughout other months my playlists are really specific to themes.
My Favorites on the list are:
Been Like This- Doja Cat
Right Now - Megan Thee Stallion
Roc Steady- Megan Thee Stallion ft. Flo Milli
Push 2 start- Tyla
Shine- Jaslyn Edgar
Honorary Mentions
They don’t care about us- Michael Jackson
Labour - Paris Paloma
This is America- Childish Gambino
Eats of the month
One of my New Year's goal tactics is to learn how to love cooking again. I used to love it in high school but once I got to college it felt like I was so caught up in trying to prove myself that a lot of the ways I used to care for myself slipped. I’ve been posting some of what I eat at home on Shorts.
My favorite meal I made this month was Ground Chicken Sloppy Joes on Hawaiian Rolls with cooked spinach and turkey bacon on the side. Personally, I do not like cooked spinach but since it was dinner for me and the person I live with I had it once cooked and then the other times I had this meal I had it on the side like salad. I also tried it with cottage cheese because a girl said she does that with sloppy joes to add more protein, so I tried it and it was pretty good.
Also, one thing I have been loving lately is Tzatziki sauce. It is so good with naan and surprisingly it makes a good alternative to mayo. My ex used to make me avocado toast by mashing the avocado with a bit of mayo and adding seasoning. Before we dated I used to just cut up the avocado and put it on the bread, but I liked how he made it and I was obsessed with it for years. Now that I’m on my health journey again I’ve been explorative with finding alternatives to things I love and when I made the swap it tasted even better to me. If I had everything but the bagel season and tomatoes it would been perfect.
Overview
Books completed:
Caroline Peckham & Susanne Valenti, “Zodiac Academy: The Awakening“
Lauren Martin, “The Book of Moods: How I Turned My Worst Emotions into My Best Life”
Books started in January but not finished:
Vex King, “Healing is the New High”
Total books read in 2025 (so far): 2 books
Break Down
Physical- N/A
Audio- 1
Kindle- 1
Shows watched:
Gilmore Girls
I’ve been passively watching since the Fall because I kept getting character analysis on YouTube. I watched it before in High School but couldn’t remember that much.
XO, Kitty [Season 2]
It was so much better than season 1 (in my opinion), but I did originally like season 1 too. I just wish the seasons weren’t so short.
General Hospital
Drew is annoying me for real and I miss Trina and Spencer so much, but I see the potential with Kai.
Everything I’ve been loving
My Walking Pad
Journaling to Higher Self
Practicing my faith more
Walking after breakfast and dinner to improve digestion
Sang Heon Lee ( I fell in love a little bit or maybe a lot)
Content Created this month
Blog
Podcast [On Youtube]
Youtube
Things I am stopping vs things I am continuing with
I am stopping… | I am continuing… |
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Conclusion
Looking back, I would assign a score of 8 out of 10 to the month of January. This time I didn't get burned out, and in terms of my goals, I don't feel negative about them or obsess over when I'll start seeing results. Last year was a learning curve in falling in love with the process. While I get irritated when certain family members focus solely on my employment status—as if that determines my worth and represents how I spend my time—I know my truth. I wake up every weekday at 4:30 am to tend to my needs because I refuse to put my health on the back burner again. My morning routine includes water and vitamins, breakfast, an hour on the walking pad as pre-workout, followed by a 45-minute home workout, a shower, and changing out of PJs so I can start my day feeling prepared. By the time I finish this routine—depending on how distracted I get—it's 7:50 - 8:10 am and I've already taken 11,000 to 13,000 steps. Then I work on content until 11:30, which is when I usually feel the most eye strain, so I take a 20-minute nap before focusing on practical matters like networking and certification courses. My family can have their thoughts about my life, but I know I'm working as hard as I can to achieve my goals. Judgment from someone I don't aspire to be like doesn't change that fact.
I am proud of who I am becoming, and while the journey is imperfect, it is okay there is still much for me to unlearn. I've accepted that even though I may not know everything about how this adult journey is supposed to unfold, my intuition and curiosity are guiding me. My biggest lesson this month was to focus on my truth, because people will make assumptions about you regardless. They'll assume you're lazy simply because you're working in ways they've never seen before. They'll assume you aren't loving enough because they've never experienced a love like yours. They'll try everything to tell you who you are, but at this point, it's just noise. They see you through their worldview, not as you truly are, and it's a waste of energy trying to convince people who are determined to misunderstand you. It took me a while to learn this—while I understood it mentally, there was always this part of me that wanted to prove people wrong, whether they were strangers or not, and whether they'd see the results or not. It was irrational, driven by ego and insecurity. I no longer need to prove myself when I show up for myself every day, regardless of who sees it, because I see myself more clearly than I ever have.
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