The last 36 days in 2024
How are you doing?
Hello there,
Happy new week.
I’m writing a newsletter again, let’s say we should be getting ready to wrap up the year.
P.S. The second section of this newsletter contains links to the events I will be hosting before the year ends in Abuja and Lagos. We’ve worked hard to make these events free to attend, so I would love to see you. If you can’t make it, I would be glad if you shared the registration links and event posters with your contacts.
The past weeks have been a struggle. I find myself only looking forward to ending the year, possibly running away from work and just going back home.
Some mornings, I just watch movies up until noon and spend hours meant for rest on catching up with work.
At first, I was bothered and unhappy with myself for such a poor way of ending the year, but then I realized I have indeed been going hard since the year began, and maybe, just maybe, I’m burnt out and truly just want to simply exist—free from obligations and ‘should-haves’ so I can just catch my breath and feel human.
No to-do lists, no deadlines, no deliverables, no passion project, just a Destiny who’s in bed until she no longer wants to be in bed.
I’m not saying I’ve done so much. I think my body and mind just get to decide when it needs a break.
I started an accountability group on Instagram for completing our last goals in 2024 and they are the reason I kept going. It’s been tough but here’s to finishing 2024 strong.
I completely almost all my 2024 goals and set new ones in October—just 2 new goals, the third one was simply an attempt to complete goal number 3 (Take courses)
These were the updated goals:
↳ Finish my McKinsey course (the only course I took in 2024 so far)
↳ Apply for international scholarships (an attempt to complete goal 5 in 2025)
↳ Host an event in 3 cities (ended up doing two: Lagos and Abuja)
The last set of goals
These were my initial 2024 goals
✓ Goal 1: Move to my own space where I can build
✓ Goal 2: Build my brand and passive income streams
↳ Goal 3: Learn & take courses
↳ Goal 4: Build my character
↳ Goal 5: Travel out of Nigeria (West Africa Road trip/Morocco)
Let’s do a little recap:
✅ I moved to a new city and hey, last weekend I tried bowling for the first time.
✅ I finished my job-hunting and career-building series with 7.4k followers.
✅ I will be working on my brand direction for 2025 as the new year comes and will initiate another challenge to make passive income from my brand. So far in 2024, I made more than 500k from my personal brand (outside my job) and next year I’d like to see myself more than double the numbers (this is my own version of Candy Crush by the way—tell my little cousins to stop asking me why I don’t have games on my phone. This is it).
✅ I learned and struggled a lot in 2024, and it has built up my character. I’m not where I want to be yet but I have identified character traits I would love to build upon in 2025. I can say I checked goal 4 and I still have 36 days to be transformed (I have called 2025 my Marcus Aurelius year & I look forward to this).
↳ Finish my McKinsey course
📈 I’ve been taking my McKinsey Forward program and I’m more than 50% done. My course ends on the 10th of December so I have to meet the deadline. This was part of the new goals I set in October but if you look closely, it’s an attempt to finally complete goal number 5 above
↳ Host an event in 3 cities
This is what I will call a truly new goal. During the job hunting and career building series, I got a lot of questions and thought holding a workshop to provide live support would be a truly meaningful way to end the series. It was tough planning this and I almost gave up on this (I was so close) but Abi and Mimi refused me to give up. So the events will happen. We’ve put in the work so that these events are free to attend so I would love to see you. If you can’t make it I would love you to share the registering links and event posters with your contacts.
🚀 On the 29th of November, this Friday I will be co-hosting a career workshop/youth hangout with Race Africa in Abuja. Doors open at 2:00 pm. I would love to see you. Click here to learn more and register.
🥑 On the 21st of December, I will be hosting a workshop in Lagos and in this particular workshop, I’d like us to plan our career goals for 2025. Doors open at 9 am. Click here to learn more and register.
Both events are as good as done. And with that, this goal also made it to the records of things that happened in 2024
Now, there’s one goal I did not achieve but have started making plans to achieve it…traveling outside Nigeria.
↳ Apply for international scholarships
I wrote this note on a sticky note last month, ‘apply for thingzzzz’. Here’s where it came from:
I’ve traveled back and forth between Port Harcourt and Abuja this year. I will be in Lagos next month and then back in Port Harcourt. These are trips but the plan was to leave the country for the first time.
Since that didn’t happen, I started thinking of ways to make it happen. At work, I was responsible for writing applications to startup accelerators and we got into 7 accelerators in less than 3 months. It made me question what I could possibly achieve if I brought that level of strategy into my travel plans and professional growth. So I started finding, tracking, and applying to international short programs and conferences.
Travel
At this point, I’ve crossed all my goals for 2024 except the last—travel outside Nigeria. This is a goal I am moving over to 2025 and have already started working on it. I plan to travel out of Nigeria with all expenses covered. So I have started applying to various short-stay international conferences and programs (but not my Masters). Worst-case scenario, if none of these work out, I will start up a travel savings and schedule a trip towards the end of 2025.
What I know is, I’m ready to travel outside Nigeria.
I never talk about things before doing them because what if I fail in public? But I am letting that go so I can trust God, the process, and myself.
I am sold with this idea so I won’t hold back.
I will document, every thought, plan, and progress with it.
So when it happens, I will learn once again that dreams come through when chased intentionally. I’ve applied for 5 opportunities, I’m on the sixth one, and I suspended my master’s (MBA) application to focus on short programs.
This is me.
I’m tired.
I’m trying to show up.
I already have an idea of what I want to do next year (actually, I have the goals written down already).
I am hosting 2 events before the end of 2024, you should register if you’re in Lagos or Abuja.
I can’t wait to be with my friends in Lagos for a while.
I can’t wait to go home.
I just want to eat and watch movies.
I want to go swimming with my family once I get home (immediately after I arrive).
How are you doing?
