My 6 Greatest Achievements of 2018. 🏆

As the year comes to a close, I feel as though I should acknowledge and celebrate my achievements of this. Yes, I may have completed a lot from my bucket list like seeing the street art in Shoreditch, watching an entire sunrise, entering a poem contest, going to Canada, and getting caricature of Georgia and myself, I have done a lot more this year that have helped me become a much happier, healthier, more productive and intentional human being. So, bucket list goal number #775 is to write 100 lists, this will be list number 20 of 100. This is a list of my 2018 achievements.

1. This year I celebrated my one year of being smoke free.

I started smoking when I was 19 and I was suffering major depression due to being incapable of accepting my sexuality being that I was raised Mormon. At 18 when my body's sexual desires began to appear, it was not a desire for men. Not even in the slightest. And, this confused me, it damaged me, and it causes me to suffer depression and anxiety. I wrested with myself for two years and during those two years I gave into smoking as a form of self sabotage. And I smoked a pack of 20 cigarettes every day up until September of last year (9/9/2017). It was extremely difficult to do, I experienced agonizing withdrawal symptoms for two whole weeks. It was so painful that when it first started I genuinely thought that my appendix had erupted. I had hot and cold flashes, I was sweating profusely, my head was banging and my stomach was the most painful it has ever been in my life (and I have Irritable Bowel Syndrome so I am used to having painful stomach cramps regularly), I threw up what felt like my soul, and it triggered my Asthma on several occasions (which was weird cause the actual smoking never triggered my Asthma). But I soldiered through and it is a year and it is one year and 3 months later. And my lungs feel amazing.

2. This year I also celebrated my one year veganiversary.

The same week that I gave up smoking I also gave up meat, egg and all forms of dairy, and since then I don't think I have ever eating so many fruits and vegetables. I have been having way more than just the recommended 5 a day, and let me tell you, the fiber is good! And I am feeling great! I became vegan due to health issues, that week of agonizing, torturous pain caused me to acknowledge the fact that I am in fact mortal and I should start taking care of my health. My partner Georgia suggested I watch a documentary on Netflix called "What the Health" and I became vegan that very second. Being vegan has not only helped diminish my IBS symptoms, it has helped me immensely with my Asthma, it has helped me become more active and to exercise, it has caused me to lose weight and keep it off, it has helped my skin to look amazing, it has helped open my eyes about the agricultural industry and the destruction we are causing to this planet, but most importantly it has helped me recover from anorexia. Between February 2016 to about, well, September 2017 I suffered from anorexia and I honestly believe if I hadn't learnt about veganism I would probably still be living off of coffee, cigarettes and basically 0 calories (well, maybe not cigarettes cause I had quit that very week). I lost a lot of weight really fast, I started to get sick, I heavily aggravated my IBS, and if I had kept going I would have gotten extremely sick and potentially ended up in hospital with some form of deficiency or lack of energy. In other words, making the decision to turn my life around and to live a vegan lifestyle saved my life.

3. This year I moved out for the very first time and got my own place.

I discussed this quite a bit in a previous video so if you're interested then feel free to go check that out. But, basically, I have always been quite a late bloomer, and it was no different when it came to me moving out of my parents house. I moved out in August of this year and Georgia and I got a place all for ourselves, which is the beautiful place you see here. The video just mentioned also has a house tour if you are interested in that, although it isn't a thorough tour nor was the house finished being decorated, Georgia and I are still working on that. Living alone has truly taught me to grow the fuck up, and it has taught me to be more responsible and to attain new helpful, useful habits.

4. This year I was able to find a job that fitted me perfectly.

Before August 2018 I had never had a job in my life. And the search was difficult and I was under a lot of pressure time wise. I was moving into my first apartment jobless in less than a few months and I was on the urgent hunt. I went through several CV rejections, several failed interviews, until I finally found the job that could genuinely not have fitted me any better. And just in the nick of time too. It started off as an internship, being a videography for a kids sport, dance and events company. I take all the footage and put it all together as social media advertisement videos, which is pretty freaking cool. But recently that internship has gone on to become an official full-time job. And the best thing about it, is that it links to what I want to do for my career, which is to be a full-time YouTuber creating creative content on the daily. The videos I do right now for the company that I work for allows me to practice my art, and my videography filming and editing skills every single day.

5. This year I graduated university.

This achievement not only took a really long time, but it also took a lot of effort, and a lot of myself also. I think the fact that I kept going and was able to graduate without quitting despite wanting too on many occasions is more of an achievement to me than the actual fucking degree.

6 This year I learnt the importance of being intentional with my time, my money, and my relationships.

And lastly, due to living a plant based lifestyle, and focusing more on videography and through having stumbled, some how, on the minimalists I have come to learn and understand the value of living a simpler, more passionate, more intentional life. I have learnt the irrelevance of material possession, and the importance of spending my time, my money, and my energy more wisely. As well as taking heed to the relationships and friendships that I make in my lifetime. By making sure that I am spending my time and attention on the right things that lead me to where I want to go in this life allow me to live a better quality of life. Not only that, but to enjoy life more also.

Some of these achievements were harder than others, and some of them were also way more expensive than others and took a lot more time, but, to me, they all hold the same value and significance in my mind and in my heart. I have worked extremely hard this past year to take care of myself physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, and by achieving this things that I have mentioned above I have been able to develop and grow much closer towards the person that I want to be. And that, is the greatest achievement so far this year.