Written by: Aisha Saintiche, Senior Level Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Real talk…this is legit the sixth iteration of the title for this month’s article. You know what my problem is. I don’t just sit and write out an article. I write some words, based on my vibe or the thoughts that are overpowering my head at that moment and then I get up and some new profound thought or experience happens that completely sways me away from what I was originally trying to write. AAARRRGGGHHHH ‒ this is what I get for such brilliance! Lol.
I digress and appreciate you following my inner thought that I felt needed to be shared with all of you!
Can you imagine that we are only days away from a new year? Like how are we even here! I am pretty sure I only finished my “year in review” reel for Instagram not that long ago, and here I am trying to find the best photos that I can squeeze into a minute and a half clip that reflects and represents another incredible year of self-awareness, self-discovery and self-actualization.
As I write my last article (not forever of course) for 2022 (a girl has been elevated to a Senior Executive Level Contributor oookkuurrrrr) I am finding it hard to get my thoughts straight on all the things I want to share with you. I mean there has ONLY been 365 days of individual life lessons, experiences, challenges, triumphs and revelations that we are trying to speak to in the limited space offered on most social media platforms. Thankfully Brainz magazine is gracious with their word count so here it goes.
In bringing the year to a close, I, like many, will spend time thinking about the greatest lessons learned this last year, where and how I want 2023 to look and feel, what I want to leave behind or take with me (and that includes people, places and things) and most important what am I committing to with intention and purpose.
Sidenote: Just a quick observation I’ve always wanted to make. So, for so long I entered the closing of one year and the beginning of a new year as if there was about to be some cataclysmic reaction (remember the whole hype about Y2K). Like when the clock struck midnight, we would be overwhelmed with this sense of new because it was a new year, but when you woke up the next day the same dirty kitchen you left behind when you went to sleep was still dirty in the new year! What am I getting at? Nothing changes in a new year except for your mindset and understanding of YOUR importance in completely navigating your purpose, power and greatness. And that can happen on a Tuesday at 6 pm in April – you see what I am saying!
Our responsibility, the commitment we must make on a continuum is the opportunity to celebrate (ourselves), elevate (our people) and motivate (others to celebrate and elevate). You don’t need a new year to start seeing yourself as worthy of time and effort. You don’t need a new year to make a commitment to your personal and professional growth. You don’t need a new year to reduce or remove the people, places and things that you know good and well ain’t serving you. You don’t need a new year to start that business you’ve been wanting to start. You don’t need a new year to change you habits. You don’t need a new year to do anything – other than to remind you that another birthday is approaching!
I’m about to really date myself, but who remembers the song “Right Here Right Now” by Jesus Jones. The opening paragraph of the song goes “A woman on the radio talks about revolution; When it’s already passed her by; Bob Dylan didn’t have this to sing about; You know it feels good to be alive.”
How many times have you found yourself talking about what you need something to be, and you miss out on what is? How many times are you so focused on the future and the desired change you feel needs to happen that you don’t take stalk of the lesson(s) you are actively learning right now that may give better insight into what your future will look like versus what you believe it should look like. If there is ANYTHING that we have learned in these last two plus years is that time is more precious that any gem, because it doesn’t always last.
Write your resolutions, create those vision boards, manifest all your desires, beef up those affirmations, but understand that all of this holds no greater weight on January 1st then if it were tomorrow, June 18th, September 30th or November 2nd.
The act of personal growth, like change, is constant. Understand that the change you seek is not governed by a change in time or year, but fully enabled and enacted by your commitment to self-discovery, self-love and self-actualization.
So, if you’re reading this article a minute before the clock strikes 12 or six months from now – my wish remains the same.
See yourself worthy of celebration, elevation and motivation 365 days a year.
Be Bold.
Stay Committed
And Live Unapologetically.
Aisha Saintiche, Senior Level Executive Contributor Brainz Magazin
Aisha Saintiche is a certified Health Coach and the founder and owner of MetoMoi Health. With over fifteen years of experience in Mental Health, Accessibility and Diversity and Inclusion, Aisha has used her experience as a strategic advisor and health coach to understand the complexity and intersectionality of the mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual barriers that keep people from achieving their optimized health and wellness.
Aisha also holds a Masters in Public Policy Administration and Law, as well as a certification in Change Management, Advanced Crisis Intervention and Counselling and Health Coaching. She is also an Integral Master for the Canadian Olympic Committee of Canada, and most recently she became a Published Author.
Always seeking opportunities to bring about change, she is also an active member and Board of Director for the Woman Abuse Council of Toronto (WomanACT) and the Board Chair for Afiwi Groove School.
