Happy Birthday to me.
And just like that, I’m not only feeling 22, but I also just turned 22!
I remember when Taylor Swift’s “22” was released when I was 11, and I remember thinking how far away 22 years old will be.
And now, I actually turned 22! It’s blowing my mind.
I don’t feel old, but I remember how 22 was once so far away from me. And now I’m here writing my third birthday blog post for this blog. I had previously done blog posts for my 20th and 21st birthdays.
Anyways, I’m going to share with you 22 things I accomplished at 22, as well as 22 lessons! I hope you get some value out of my life experience 😊)
Let’s dive in.
Things I Accomplished
at 22
1 – I got COVID-19 on my 21st birthday
Yep, on my 21st birthday, I had to isolate because I got COVID-19. It was fun (not). But at the same time, it became a birthday to remember. It was a great way to start my birthday though!
This is an accomplishment because I could’ve gotten COVID-19 at any other time. Instead, I got it on my birthday.
2 – I did my first road trip by myself
This road trip was 3 hours, and that’s the longest I’ve ever driven by myself. And I’ve done the road trip so many times since then. To be honest, it feels like it gets shorter and shorter the more I do the drive.
The reason why I call this an accomplishment is because I used to be scared to do 3 hour’s drive by myself. And the more I’ve done these road trips by myself, the more I enjoyed my own company. It’s a great vibe – when I blast music in, or I play no music at all and just talk to myself… it’s fun!
3 – Got a new car
With my first car, I’ve had for 5 years. I’ve had that car since I started driving. However, it was getting older and not aging well… so I got a new car!
As much as my old car was precious, it was time for the new car. I’m going to make more memories with it anyway.
4 – Got laid off from my job
I used to be a copywriter for a company, and it was a great role… until they made me redundant and laid me off because they didn’t need my role anymore. As frustrating as it was at first, it led to a series of life lessons.
You might be wondering why getting laid off from my job is an accomplishment to me. It’s an accomplishment to me because it gave me so much perspective that I will only understand if I experienced it myself.
I’ve heard of many people losing their jobs for reasons beyond their control. However, it wasn’t until I experienced it myself that my perspective changed. I learned the importance of not relying on just one job to keep you going. You need backups and safety cushions. I do believe that if I never got laid off from this job, I would’ve been really complacent.
It was one of those losses turned into lessons for me!
5 – Entered my living alone & independence era
If there was one big major milestone that happened in my 21st until 22nd year, it’s entering my living alone and independence era.
This is the first time in my life that I’m on my own, taking care of myself, and only myself. This is also a season of my life that’s definitely going to be temporary. So far, the experience has been great. I’m learning so much, and I know that this experience is going to be something I’m going to treasure for a lifetime.
It’s not always easy, that’s for sure. But the great lessons and benefits I’m getting from it outweighs the challenges.
RELATED: My Self-Discovery Routine
6 – Speaking of which, I actually do adulting things regularly like cooking, cleaning, and groceries
Don’t get me wrong, I knew how to do these things before I entered my independence era. However, this year was the first time in my life that I did it regularly and without help. For instance, my mom did most of the cooking. With the cleaning, I only had my own responsibilities. When living on my own, I had ALL of the responsibility.
But these are great life skills that I needed to practice anyway. If I prove to myself that I can take care of myself, I know that I’ll be able to take care of other people down the track (e.g. my future children). That’s why, it’s got to start with me first and I’m glad that my independence and living alone era is giving me the opportunity to practice those life skills.
7 – Travelled to the USA without my parents
My sister and I went to the USA without our parents for the first time. This is an accomplishment because it was our first time having to experience doing everything ourselves. Each time we went to the USA, we had our parents with us, and they took care of everything. With this trip, we had to be responsible for everything like our passports, insurance, and getting to our flights on time.
This became valuable life experience because I ended up travelling more by myself a lot more than expected, so I needed to learn how to be responsible for myself when traveling.
8 – Became an aunty (to a puppy, but still counts)
Last year, my sister got an adorable puppy named Nelly. That makes Nelly my niece, and I love and adore her.
Why is this an accomplishment? Well, it sounds silly, but I get to practice Aunty duties until it becomes the real thing.
9 – Launched the Free Resources Library on my website
Last year I also finally launched the Free Resources Library which was obviously a big accomplishment because it was months and months in the works.
If you want to know more about it, you can read this blog post that will show you what’s in the Free Resources Library and how to use it!
So yeah, not only was this a blog milestone, it was also a HUGE personal life milestone.
10 – Stayed in a hotel by myself for the first time
I LOVE hotels. I always used to stay in hotels with family and friends. But last year was the first time I got to stay in one by myself.
It was across from the beach, and it was a beautiful room. It had a comfy bed and a relaxing bathroom. This was definitely a milestone because I felt like I was living my main character life. I love hotels, but I think I love it more when I’m there by myself.
11 – Went on my first overseas trip
That year was a BIG year for my solo travel era! This one was when I went to New Zealand for the first time, AND I went by myself.
It’s an experience that I’ll never forget. I still look at photos from my trip and pinch myself sometimes because I can’t believe that I went there all on my own. It was also a trip where I planned everything myself and I had to trust myself that I knew what I was doing.
There were so many travelling lessons that I learned, that were even turned into life lessons. It will definitely not be the last solo travel trip!
RELATED: 10 Powerful Lessons from Solo Travel
12 – Solo Travel Era
Speaking of traveling, my 21st year of living leading into 22 was my HUGE solo travel era. If you told 15 year old me that I’d be travelling by myself a lot, she wouldn’t believe you because she’s always been afraid of being by herself.
I’m excited to travel more solo and see where I end up going.
13 – Travelled to new cities for the first time
I also got to see new cities for the first time in my life! My trip to New Zealand was my first time in New Zealand, in the USA I went to San Diego, and in Australia I went to Perth for the first time!
I’m kind of sad that it’s only three cities, but I know there will be more to come sooner than I know it!
14 – Started writing for a website that I loved reading articles from
I used to read articles from Collider all the time for fun! I had a “why not” moment and applied for a role as a writer with them, and I ended up getting in!
Now I’ve been writing articles with them, and I even had one of my articles reach the Top 5 List articles! It’s been a blast so far despite how there can be a lot of work at times.
15 – Started a new role running & facilitating workshops
So one of the last few things (and recent) things I’ve accomplished at before my 21st year wraps up is a new role as a coach running and facilitating workshops. In this role I’m helping people build healthy habits and mindsets! It’s a great role for me because habits and mindsets is something that I love.
It’s still at the beginning stages, but I’m glad to call this the last accomplishment I achieved before I turned 22.
RELATED: 15 Unique Growth Lessons
16 – Transferred universities & realizing that I don’t want to drop out of my degree after all
Last year, I reached a big level of burnout. The burnout was severe, so I wanted to drop out of my degree altogether, especially since I lost interest in law.
I did go to therapy last year (but won’t go too further into it), and they helped me see that my desire to drop out was an emotional decision, and that I should hold off on it. Instead, I just took a step back, took a break, and transferred universities instead (I wasn’t happy with my former one).
Now that I’m back into studying again, it’s been great so far! I’ve reignited my passion for law again and I’m so glad I didn’t drop out.
17 – Took an extended study break
Speaking of which, I took a longer study break than normal last year. It was a good time to do it because not only was I feeling burnt out, I was also unsure on what I wanted to do with my life.
And also, I never took a gap year straight out of high school. Instead, I just went straight into university. If I COULD turn back time, I would’ve taken a gap year. But at least I got to take my technical gap year last year? I needed it.
18 – Wrote 34 blog posts from my 21st to my 22nd birthday
Since my 21st birthday up until my 22nd birthday, I have wrote 34 blog posts! If I’m going to be honest, my first thoughts was that “it wasn’t enough”, until I took this into account:
- Each blog post takes on average 1 hour to write.
- 34 x 1 hour = 34 hours. That means I spent 34 hours in total writing blog posts… that’s A LOT!
Of course, I have to add my blog accomplishments into my 22 accomplishments, they count!
19 – Read a total of 26 books
I give myself huge credit because I love taking my time reading books. From March 2022 (my 21st) until March this year (my 22nd), I read a total of 26 books. On average, that’s 3 books a month!
Little miss overthinker (me) initially thought this wasn’t enough books, like I swear I should’ve read more. But again, I had to take a step back and think about this:
- On average, a book would be about 200 to 300 pages.
- (using 250 as the average), 250 pages x 26 books = 6500 pages
And of course, that’s just considering the average number of pages, so it’s probably much more than that!
20 – Never missed my weekly self-dates (except when I was on vacation)
My biggest flex is that I never miss my self-dates. The only exception was when I was on holiday or on vacation. But once I came back, I had self-dates week after week.
Self-dates have been life changing for me, and they helped me build a much better relationship with myself. I learnt more about myself, what I enjoyed, and I started enjoying my own company more. It’s fun
RELATED: How to plan a self-date
21 – Gave in and joined TikTok
I was a TikTok snob for the past three years, but I finally gave in.
No comment.
22 – Took risks and learned from them
Without going into too much detail, I took a few big risks this year. Some flopped big time, and some gave great returns.
The most important part is that I learned from them, and those lessons are precious and valuable.
22 (quick) LESSONS
- Day-by-day mindset
Take things day by day, focus on today, and let tomorrow be tomorrow. Been using this a lot lately, especially during anxious and stressful times.
2. Everything’s temporary
My current struggles, circumstances, situations… it’s all temporary.
3.It feels like a dip forever BUT only because you haven’t zoomed out yet.
What I mean by this is that when you’re facing challenges and obstacles, it’s easy to feel like you’re going to be stuck there forever.
But when you “zoom out” aka look at the bigger picture, you’ll see two things:
- How much you have overcome in the past.
- The rises and ups that are yet to come.
You’re not going to be in that dip forever!
4.Own journey, own story
I’ve been caught up in timelines lately, and comparing myself to other people. That’s why I find myself having to remind myself constantly that I’m on my own journey, and I have my own story.
5. You’re more capable than you think you are
It’s so easy to look at people who have achieved success or have accomplished their goals and question your own capability (I know I do many times). Sometimes, I forget that I’m more than capable of doing what they did (if not more). Self-doubt and inner critic sometimes like paying a visit sometimes.
6. Adulting is challenging, but you can do it!
Learning this lessons as I navigate my independence and living alone era. Adulting is harder than I believed it to be, but I know that I can overcome anything.
The adulting setbacks and challenges are what helps you grow.
7. What other people think of you is their problem
For someone who struggles with what other people think of me, I also constantly need this reminder. I find myself reminding myself that what other people think of me has nothing to do with me. At the end of the day, I can’t do anything about it. It’s their problem.
8. Everything always falls into place… always
Whenever I feel like life is a mess and it’s all over the place, I remember the times when I felt that exact same way, and every single time it fell into place.
9. The worst-case scenarios are created in your head, not reality
Most of the worst-case scenarios I stress and get anxious about are really the ones that I’ve created in my imagination. It has never been in reality. It’s an important reminder most times.
10. There’s nothing to be ashamed of when it comes to doing things by yourself
I remember the times when I was so embarrassed to be seen by myself – at restaurants, movies, anywhere. But I’ve learned more than ever that there’s nothing to be ashamed of. After all, whenever I see someone by themselves, I don’t think there’s anything for them to be embarrassed about either.
11. You’ve accomplished a lot more than you give yourself credit for
While I was writing my 22 accomplishments, I had a bit of a meltdown because I couldn’t think of anything else that I’ve accomplished.
If you remember from the earlier lessons, sometimes you have to zoom out and see the bigger picture, and how far you have come.
12. Maybe you didn’t accomplish the typical milestones, but you still accomplished the non typical milestones
What I mean by this is that I didn’t accomplish the typical milestones – graduating, engaged, etc. BUT I still accomplished many more milestones that aren’t typical in my age.
I accomplished my solo travel era, living alone & independence era, and my hustling/content creator era.
13. Stop rushing. You’re not in a hurry.
Sometimes, I’m guilty of rushing to get everything done (e.g. my degree). That’s why sometimes other people and even myself have to remind me that I don’t have to rush anything.
14. Never make decisions based on your emotions
If you remember when I talked about how I wanted to drop out and I was so close to doing so, it was all because I was emotional. But I’m glad that my psychologist helped me see that it was an emotional decision, and encouraged me to take a step back instead. It was an excellent decision because I ended up returning to studies, and thriving, and am so glad I didn’t drop out.
Imagine that I did, it would’ve been because I was emotional.
15. Go with the flow. Like seriously.
I’m guilty of trying to rush things, and there have been multiple times in the last year when I was confused about what to do next. That’s where I had to really practice going with the flow. During my 22nd year, I’m going to do more of that.
16. Don’t let other people’s opinions throw you off
There have also been many instances where I had to make decisions and I kept asking people for their opinions. It threw me off because I ended up becoming even more confused (and making it hard to go with the flow).
Then, there were also times when I was going to pursue something, and many people’s opinions made me second-guess the decision I already made. That’s why this was a big lesson I learned.
17. No one’s rushing you to travel the world, it’ll happen
I’ve always been adventurous and I love traveling. There have been so many more cities that I wanted to visit, but can’t just yet (due to budget and time restrictions). So, I’m reminding myself that no one is rushing me. I know that one day I’ll get to see the places I’ve always wanted to visit.
18. There are people that admire you and you don’t even know it
Someone told me this and I found it so hard to believe. Mainly because I felt like an average 21-year-old. Why would anyone admire me?
But I’m learning to just believe it a bit more, especially during times when I feel like I’m not doing enough.
19. Your independence and love for me-time is helping you more than you think
I made an effort in the first year of my 20s to spend more time with myself. I took myself out on more dates and spent time in my own company. Little did I know that it was preparing me to start living on my own. I didn’t know it at the time, but it had helped me more than I thought it would.
20. What you’ve achieved > what you haven’t achieved YET
I think I do well most of the time when it comes to looking at what I’ve achieved, rather than what I haven’t done. However, there are times I still slip and look more at the things I didn’t achieve yet.
21. There’s so much more you haven’t experienced yet
Whenever I feel like I haven’t done enough, seen enough, or beat myself up for not achieving my goals, I like to remember this. I like to remember that there are so many opportunities that I’m still going to run into, and there’s so much more that I haven’t experienced.
22. Bad day doesn’t mean a bad life
For the longest time, every time I have a bad day, I get into this spiral of believing that my whole life will be like this. That’s why I hold onto this reminder as much as I can.
To Wrap Up
No small steps for this blog post! But I do hope you got some value out of the learnings and lessons I learned in my 21st year heading to my 22nd.
I appreciate you being here and part of this season of my life where I have this amazing blog.
I cannot wait for what’s to come and I’m excited to see what I get to write in my birthday post for when I turn 23.
Again, Happy Birthday to Me 😊
-Lauren <3
P.S I recommend you read these blog posts next:
- Week in My Life
- 10 Lessons I Learnt From Travelling Solo
- Two Years of Blogging – How is it REALLY Going?
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Hi, this is Lauren! I’m a law grad from Melbourne, Australia. On laurenbarri.com, I create content on all things personal development, productivity, self-care, and habits! I am super passionate about these topics because of how they helped me in all areas of my life, and I want to share it with others!
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