2020.
Feel the feels, but don’t act the feels.
COVID-19 has slowed down my world and for me, feeling stuck and unable to go anywhere is a nemesis for me. The thought of the in-ability to move or visit my friends and community bothers me. Nonetheless, I have to continue my walks and open drives.
Meanwhile,
$117K Project (Part II - $32K)
5 Months into 2020 and I’ve now paid off all vehicles, and it is now down to just Student Loans head on to work through squarely. So overall, we’re currently at $65K paid down.
I had the goal to knock off $57K through 2019. I did. I’ve got another $51K -ish left to go but I learned a lot of lessons from 2019. I’ll share at the bottom later. The point is this year, I’m going for $32K in order to finish it all under 3 years. Current Target to be done is March 3, 2021.
Nov. 16 2018 - $117,283.53 (when debt pay-down first began)
Apr. 16 2020. - $51,416.03
Lessons learned:
You need to set a purpose for why you’re doing this. Otherwise things will linger around with the amounts and it will become comfortable and part of life. For me, in order to have the freedom to be generous in my financial race and to contribute my views for education on attacking debt.
Too many people won’t understand what paying down loans means to you and why it is so personal. Especially those super close to you. Things said, unsaid; meant, not meant. It’ll suck.
Don’t give up hobbies unless they are expensive to maintain. It is what will keep you going between each payment. It’ll also keep you feeling purposeful.
Guard your headspace vigourously. That’s where the real battleground is. Let thoughts go through, good or bad, but only let the good ones stay as much as you can. When things start to spiral, you’ll wonder what’s the point and if there will ever be a finish line.
Find a partner(for accountability) who is just as excited about your journey and doesn’t make you feel any type of sadness for your choices. There is a lot of missing out you’re doing, you need support.
Pause to celebrate at important milestones. If you can afford to be generous to someone else too, do it. It’ll remind you of why you need to be free soon again. Just don’t let lifestyle creep in. It’s a one-time celebration not everyday.
Be kind to yourself. ESPECIALLY your past self. The choices that got you here are made. Your future, student loan free self needs your kindness and sacrifice.
If you slip one month, it’s okay. See (7) and get back on the horse. If you slip 3 months running, same thing. One day, snap out of it and get yourself going again.
Record the journey where possible. The anticipation to put in another dent in the debt balances will feel great and keep your focus on the next one.
Focus. In motorcycling, you’re taught where your sight is, your bike will follow. If you see a problem, notice it but look away to where you’re going lest you end up in the problem. There will be cars bought, house warmings, weddings, babies. Again, it’ll suck. Close your eyes, breathe and focus.
Learning to swim
Since there is COVID I unfortunately could not continue swimming lessons. I was just starting to figure out freestyle too. I’m still struggling on back floats and backstroke though. Oh well, it be one of those situations. Till we resume next time. I was able to swim a little bit on my last vacation. It felt amazing and my confidence was through the roof.
TaeKwonDo… aka TKD
I got into TKD at the beginning of the year. My goodness, I enjoyed it too. As expected, COVID ruined that.
I’d already graduated from white belt to double yellow stripe in 3 months. I can also count to 10 in Korea. The learning was great, the stretching and finding avenue to channel out bad energy was going great.
I mean, commes des fuque on COVID. Pardon my french.
Post-COVID hobbies
Learn-5
So I started sharing terms from business that I’d picked up in my studying and for me to reinforce for myself.
I didn’t want to look too far into educational courses so I just started using my instagram page. I’ve been consistently doing this for the last 5 weeks. The idea is simply to share 5 business terms in a quizzical format. It’s on my instagram stories on Saturday evenings.
Taking pics on walks.
Since I can't be anywhere, it’s important for me to get out and not sit too long. For me, taking photos has been a huge release for me. I think I’ll continue
Oh by the way, look at some random photos from the grocery store. lol.
Caption.
When a crush says she likes bad boys.
ME:
P.S. I miss my friends and community.
Stay safe y’all.
Till next month.
