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I didn’t set goals this year.

Instead, I focused more on my word of the year: alignment.

Last year’s word was confidence.

But I had a rough start to the year which made me reflect - and feel motivated to do more things in alignment with myself.

Things I was scared by but knew I wanted to do.

Like knocking on my neighbour’s door…

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Building community in my apartment

Ever since I moved in, I wanted to get to know my neighbours.

Imagine having your best friends live across the hall from you, how cool would that be??

But I made excuses for myself:

“They’re probably not home rn” or “I’m too busy to chat.”

When the new year started, I felt like…life was just too short to wonder “what if?”

So yesterday I knocked on my neighbour’s door…

My heart was beating so fast. I wondered if I knocked loud enough for them to hear.

I waited…

And waited…

No answer.

Damn. I tried.

So I knocked on another door.

And another.

Started pacing the hallway a bit because I didn’t expect no one to open the door.

But then I heard something.

My neighbour did something I never expected

The door opened, just a crack. “Is everything okay?” My neighbour asked me.

I rushed over to explain.

“Did you hear a knock? That was me, I moved in recently and just wanted to introduce myself.”

I didn’t know if I was supposed to shake her hand or not.

It was still clutching the door so I didn’t reach out.

“Oh, that was you? I got scared when I heard a random knock,” she said. “Do you go to the gym in this building? I’ll grab your number and we can go sometime!”

🥺

I was so glad I faced my fears and made a new friend that I started jumping up and down in the hallways lol.

Reflecting on my hardest moments

A few days ago, I kept seeing yearly highlight reels and recaps.

I was feeling so stuck, behind, and overwhelmed. I didn’t really reach my goals but didn’t really try to last year anyway.

So I reflected on my biggest failures instead.

I realized…

Most of the things I regretted were things I didn’t do.

Things I was too scared to try.

That’s why I knocked on my neighbour’s door.

Because I knew if I didn’t, I’d regret always wondering…what if I could’ve made a new friend?

So that why this year, I’m challenging myself to do scary things (that feel in alignment).

To stop holding myself back because of fear.

When I started doing that, I’ve already felt such a change - things become easier, I feel happier, and there’s so much trust and clarity…

I’ll keep sharing my learnings, because my business (and content) will definitely be impacted when I’m not as scared to do and share certain things anymore.

Excited to keep you updated 🫶

Til next time,

Jennifer

P.S. would love for you to do 1 thing you’re scared of too! Start with the easiest - like today I texted my avoidant immigrant Asian family to set up a weekly call (texting it is easier than coordinating schedules, figuring out what to talk about, or trying to brush up on my Mandarin). Keep me updated if you do that scary thing, I’ll be cheering for you!