Today marks 12 years since I moved to Santiago.
As I type that, it’s hard to believe that that much time has gone by. Facebook kindly reminds me of fond memories with photos and previous posts from over the years, and I’ve found myself reminiscing about “the good old days” when I traveled and was more carefree.
Looking at the past few years, the pandemic really affected me much more than I originally realized. I got into the habit of staying in, not socializing, and spending too much time in front of a screen. I also let exercise, physical activity, and healthy eating fall off of my list of priorities. Worst of all, when faced with some challenges I let my self-doubt take over and hold me back from taking risks and moving forward.
Anyone that knows me knows that I’m a huge fan of Gretchen Rubin and her lists of goals for each year. As a part of my 22 goals for 2022, I put the goal of moving to a new apartment right at the top. My current apartment was meant to be a place to live for a few years until I could find a larger space, but then the pandemic hit. I’m grateful that I had my current apartment to myself with a balcony, steady internet connection, relatively quiet neighbors, and a supermarket across the street. Despite that, it’s time for me to move on.
In a few weeks I’m moving to a new apartment, just a few kilometers away. It has 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, an open concept kitchen/living area, two balconies, and a nice view facing the south. It’s near a subway station, across from a supermarket, and a 5-minute walk from a mall, so it’s a great location with everything I need. It’s also much lighter inside, which I think will be a nice change from the dark features of my current apartment.
I’m looking forward to the move for so many reasons. Starting anew with a new apartment will be like a clean slate in terms of my habits and routines. I’ve been able to sort through things I’ve been hanging onto for one reason or another, and now I can either sell or donate things I’m not using. I’m also able to sell old furniture and redecorate based on a space with much lighter colors. I will finally have a dedicated office space that is separate from my bedroom as well as a guest bathroom for friends (or if/when I go back to in-person classes for students).
Reflecting back on these 12 years makes me realize that I am capable of so much more than I give myself credit for. I tend to minimize my achievements and compare myself to others, letting that inner critic take control of how I talk to myself. I’m letting go of the self-doubt, perfectionism, and some traumatic experiences related to the business acceleration program from last year. I’m learning to worry less about what others think of me and potentially failing; it’s a part of being your own boss and a part of life. I’ve also decided that my word for 2022 is ACTION. I tend to spend lots of time thinking about what I could do, but then not following through.
I don’t know that every project that I decide to launch is going to work, but I’m learning to be ok with taking small steps, (no matter how imperfect) towards my goals.
Just as I’m working on embracing imperfection, here is a photo I just took now. I’m not clean-shaven at the moment, and my skin isn’t in the best condition right now. My last haircut was a buzz cut that I gave myself since my barber caught covid the day before my appointment, and he does a much better job than I do. Despite all that, I’m ok with being imperfect and sharing it with the world.
Thanks for reading this, and I hope some of what I shared resonates with you.
20 Responses
Hola! Llegué no sé cómo a tu blog y me parece muy bueno, con mucha honestidad y con esa simpleza de lenguaje que dice muchas cosas profundas.
Muchas gracias por compartir ideas, pensamientos y sentimientos.
Muchísima suerte en todo, mucha fuerza y buena salud.
Veronica.
¡Gracias por tu mensaje tan linda Veronica!
Me anima mucho recibir los comentarios de algun lector de mi blog.
¡También te espero suerte. salud y exito en todo!
Daniel
Best of luck in everything you do! I will be following you! 🙂 I can see myself in your thoughts and situation, as well as your future plans. I think to a certain extent it is ok to minimize ourselves/ actions/ achievements a bit… but it is true we are SO MUCH MORE and we should embrace that! Action is the password for this year, definitely! Good ludk!
Thanks so much for your kind words Dana! I hope all is well in your part of the world!
Thank you for sharing and being so honest. I wish you the best. Much encouragement and Blessings to you.
Thanks so much Verna!
Totally enjoyed reading this! Best of luck with your new endeavors!
Thanks so much Anne!
Another Anne here! I arrived at your post via Discover Chile. Thank you for sharing your heart with us- the public!- and for being so raw and honest and tender. I wish you the very best in this year of action!
Thanks Anne! I’m glad you enjoyed it and wish you well too.
I enjoyed your post, and your reflections resonate with a lot more people than you may think. Best of luck.
Thanks Patrick!
Great blog post. Thanks for sharing and good luck with all your plans for 2022.
Cheers!
Thanks so much James!
Daniel, what a great story! I really enjoyed reading your reflections and your small (but significant) steps towards change. The sentence “I am capable of so much more than I give myself credit for” is inspiring. Great reminder to us all. And kudos to coming to grips with imperfection. It’s the name of the game.
Thanks so much Elena! I appreciate your comment and encouragement.
Daniel, I saw your post on Facebook (Discover Chile) and since your story is similar to mine, I thought I’d checkout your blog post. I’ve been living in Chile since April 2009. My career path was sales management which I continued here in Chile. Although I continued to be successful in sales management here, I struggled to work under the Chilean management style. So, in the end, as I approached my mid 50’s, I decided to go a different direction. I tried installing security cameras for a while and was fairly successful doing that, however it was a lot of work but not terribly profitable and it wasn’t work that I particularly enjoyed, well except for the selling part.
In the States, one of my sales management positions also required that I do technical training for end-users of our products. I remembered how much I enjoyed it and decided to try my hand at teaching English.
As with any new project such as this, it took time to develop the business. I decided what type of client I wanted to go after, and priced myself accordingly. I also decided to primarily use LinkedIn as my channel for reaching new clients. Although I truly enjoyed face to face classes, it’s not very efficient for me since I live outside of the city. So the advancement of online classes through the pandemic, has actually helped me to go in a direction that better suited my clientele as well as myself. I don’t think that I will go back to face to face classes because of this.
Thank you for sharing your story… it was good to read a similar one to mine.
Sincerely,
John
Thanks for sharing your story John! What a great example of trying things out and then making changes if they don’t work out. Take care and perhaps our paths will cross in person one day.
You have been discovering who you are. I think that’s wonderful as so many people never find that out. Congratulations!
Thanks so much Tilly!