The Highlight Reel

Someone started a thread on Facebook yesterday for #MotivationMonday and asked us to share our favorite inspirational quotes.

This one really resonated with me.

"Don't compare your behind the scenes with somebody else's highlight reel." 

Marc and Angel said it another way: Every day we’re comparing apples with oranges – comparing our insides with other people’s outsides.

It's so true. We're not posting our failures on Facebook or sharing those lazy days in on Instagram. There's so much more to the journey than what we share publicly.

Sure, I can give you my resume. But I think my story's a lot more interesting.

What Are You Excited for Today?

"Who do you want to be? How do you want to feel? How do you want to show up?" -Silvia Christmann

What a way to start the year. Yesterday, I went to my first event of 2015, hosted by a powerhouse community called Dreamers & Doers. And what an event it was. I remember starting 2014 feeling frustrated and defeated. We're only nine days into the new year and I feel inspired. 2015, I'm ready for you!

Silvia led a session on bringing joy and gratitude into your life. Yes, please.

The How: Practice joy and gratitude every morning and night by thinking, "What am I excited for today? What would make today great?"

Just as you wake up every morning (and hit snooze if you're like me), read theSkimm, brush your teeth, hop in the shower, and get dressed, practicing joy and gratitude should be part of your routine.

I've put a sticker under my bathroom mirror that says, "What are you excited for today?" Actually, it's my name tag from the event but if anyone has ideas for a nicer sign, I'm game. But I digress.

Don't have time? Think about it while you brush your teeth. It made me think about what I actually think about when I brush my teeth. I'm pretty sure I'm not even thinking.

I also loved the way she talked about the people in our lives and connecting on positive frequencies. Who are your doers (motivators), enthusiasts (cheerleaders), skeptics (for constructive feedback), connectors, coaches, mentors, examples, etc.?

And who are your energy vampires? You know, the ones who make you feel bad for hustling and make you think you have an obligation to give them your energy. Cut. Them. Out.

I've never done a people inventory before, but this is the year to start.

The Gratitude Project

I've always had an issue with expressing gratitude. I think part of it stems from a need to be self-reliant and independent and then the other part of it just stems from me being awkward. Sometimes I can't even take a compliment! I'll just stand there... stop and stare... cue OneRepublic... cue awkward turtle... slow... clap...

It's something I want to work on.

Enter The Gratitude Project. It was actually Sukhy's idea. We met briefly at lunch at ConnectorCon (I was leading a panel on personal branding). I couldn't stay for the entire conference but Sukhy followed up with me afterward, sharing that one of the things he wanted to do in 2015 was to write and mail a short Thank You card once a week.

To say I loved the idea is an understatement.

I sat down a few days ago to brainstorm a list of people who might be the lucky recipient of a card. It was a good exercise in itself just to realize how many people I'm grateful for. And I know this isn't a comprehensive list. It'll grow and change as the year goes on.

This week I sent my first card (pictured above). It took me a few days to actually get the nerve to write it. How could I express my gratitude in one card? How would the recipient react? How many exclamation points can I really include in this?

Signed, sealed, (to be) delivered. We'll find out.

New Year, New Blog

"I want to get back into blogging."

I cringe hearing myself say (or think) that because I've said it every single year since 2010.

• 2010: The Closing Banquet
• 2011: Untitled
• 2012: To Be Continued
• 2013: To Be Continued (after a hiatus)
• 2014: Life By Yu
• 2015: Tiffany + Yu

I have a feeling this year will be different.

As per usual, I spend one of my first posts looking at my resolutions from the past year and setting some new ones for the upcoming year.

To be honest, I kind of forgot about my 2014 resolutions. The year went by so quickly I feel like I blinked and it's already 2015.

1. Write more. I'm not quite sure what would constitute "more." I was more consistent with writing in a journal, plus I wrote a couple guest posts for chloe + isabel, a piece in Levo League on staying in the know, and my first piece for REVOLT!
2. Save money. This is an ongoing process, but I was more serious about it this year. I moved money over to a savings account I couldn't easily access every month.
3. Better diet and exercise. It's constant battle. About halfway through the year, I started walking. A lot. With ResQwalk, I can track my walk and have money donated to Mr. Bones & Co., a local NYC animal welfare non-profit. I've been trying to be more disciplined with my 30-minute yoga workouts and recently, eating better meals from my friend Chef Melissa Gellert. 
4. Live life, be positive. 2014 was a year of transitions. This was definitely an aspirational resolution.

For 2015, I want to:

1. Work on being on time (let's start with work)
2. Live in the present (limit "looking at phone" time when around people)
3. Be magnetic (attitude of gratitude)
4. Note to self: stop saying "sure" and use "yes"

Broad, I know. They're more like intentions I'm setting for this year. I like the idea of writing a journal entry from the future and monthly check-ins.

January 1, 2016

Wow, is it already 2016?!

I traveled to:

1. Seattle

2. Philly

3. Costa Rica

4. DC

5. Manila

6. Other impromptu places

I spent more time:

1. On "me" projects

2. Supporting my friends and making some new ones

3. Expressing gratitude

I'm most proud of

1. Inspiring others

2. Stepping out of my comfort zone

3. Being my best self

Words to describe 2015: meaningful, growth, thrive

Goodbye 2014

New Year's Eve, so we meet again. Since it's the last day of 2014, I wanted to take some time to reflect on the year. It was a tough year but so worth it. Here are some things I learned:

1. Make sleep a priority
I have tendency to spread myself thin. I want to do everything and I want to be everywhere. When I started the year, I was working in a job with overnight hours. The job gave me the freedom to do whatever I wanted during the day, but I never quite figured out when to sleep. Usually, it was broken up throughout the day in 3-4 hour blocks. I was in a consistent zombie-like state and not a fun person to be around. Arianna Huffington was right, "Sleep your way to the top."

2. Timing is everything
Earlier in the year, I got a job offer from a company I really admired. I was excited about what the company was doing, but the position wasn't helping me propel my career forward from a responsibility and compensation perspective. I ran the offer by a few members of my board of advisors, and they all had their hesitations about it. I was stubborn and tried to defend my reasons for why I was going to take it. When I took a step back, they were right. While it was nice to feel like another company wanted to hire me, I was unhappy in my role at the time and my emotions almost drove me to make a rash decision. Ultimately, the timing and position were not right for me. A few months later, I received another job opportunity, and it was the right time for me to leave.

3. Make time for you
Sometimes you just need time for yourself to recharge. Especially in a place like New York City, everyone is so ambitious. Why does everyone have to be in such a rush? I spent the latter half of this year finding time for myself. No plans, no errands to run. It was amazing. I know we have a million things booked on our calendars and on our to-do lists, but why can't we make "me time" a priority too?

4. Show up
I'll admit, there are times when I'm "too tired." Seriously, I hate that excuse, but I'm not perfect either. There are also times when I'm not really in the mood to "network." Actually, that's most of the time, but I digress. If you live in NYC, you know that this is an amazing place. Friend's birthday? Networking event? Just show up. Chances are, you won't regret it. This year, I had the chance to be inspired by Arianna Huffington, Soledad O'Brien, Alexa von Tobel, Amy Chua, Chantel Waterbury, Scott Harrison, Louie Psihoyos, the list goes on. And I had the chance to support and catch up with some of my amazing friends.

5. Everyone matters
This is advice I would give to college students looking for networking advice at finance internship information sessions, but it applies outside of that. I try to make it a point to make everyone feel welcome, because it sucks to not feel welcome. And I'm sure we've all been on the receiving end of that before. I also try to make it a point to respond to your messages and meet with you if we're in the same city. (If you've sent me a message and I haven't responded, please send it again.) Everyone has a story, everyone is interesting, and everyone matters.

6. If you don't ask, the answer is always no
This can apply to a lot of different areas of life, but for me, it was about stepping outside of my comfort zone. I had originally asked my mentee if she knew of any campus organizations that might be interested in hosting an event with my chloe + isabel business (there is a lot of asking involved here, too). She ended up introducing me to a campus organization that wanted me to share my career advice with its members. It was incredible to see how much of an impact my personal story could have on others and motivated me to want to find more opportunities to share my story.

7. It's OK to make new dreams
I thought I was following my dreams. I wanted to meet interesting people and have a broad platform to make an impact. I was in a job thinking I was taking steps toward my dream, but after awhile, I was so unhappy that I wasn't hungry to keep chasing it. I read the open letter from Bethenny Frankel when her show was canceled, and it resonated with me: "I felt a bit diluted, filtered and somewhat constricted. I am a free spirit. My late father (a horse trainer) used to say 'She is a mustang. You need to let her run.'" I finally had to admit to myself that the reality wasn't what I wanted.

8. Save, save, save
It really wasn't until I went to LearnVest Live that I started thinking about saving. You never know when life is going to throw you a curve ball and your financial situation changes. Set aside some money every month in a money market or savings account.

Do you agree? What did you learn?

Stay Tuned

More to come. Thank you for visiting!