I’m a little late to the January round up party but thought I would introduce this feature on my blog for 2020. Give me a pen and some washi tape and I’ll journal all day in my Leuchtturm 1917 but I never seem to transfer my thoughts and memories over to my digital space, aka The Adventures of Charlotte. Considering it’s got a pretty apt name, it seems like a waste. So, here we go, time to delve into the first month of a new decade.
January religiously always sucks, it’s cold, dark and payday always feels like a lifetime away. I was determined not to let the January blues get in the way though, after all, the notorious new year, new me is back.
The Adventures of Charlotte
I had a few adventures for January and really, it was quite an enjoyable start to the month. I had nights out with my pals, watched quite a lot of football, saw one of my favourite bands twice in super intimate venues (shout out to Wage War) and also had a wonderful day out with my pals in Manchester seeing While She Sleeps.
On the other hand, I also had a bit of a breakdown. By a bit of a breakdown, I mean probably the worst spout of depression and anxiety that I’ve been through ever and my god, it was tough. I spent a lot of time with my loved ones and couldn’t be more grateful for the love and support they gave me during this time. I made some choices and changes to my life that seem to have helped me to ditch some of the pressure. I started a stress control class through the wonderful NHS (which you can also self-book) and that has helped so much with my symptoms and thoughts towards my mental health. I wasn't going to talk about it publicly but it has really taught me not to suffer in silence because at rock bottom I was genuinely terrified because I felt like I didn't want to be here anymore. Thankfully the changes have helped a ton and I feel much better with myself.
I do feel much better now though, which leads me nicely onto personal development.
The Adventures of Personal Development
Personal development is an area I’m really trying to work on this year. I started my new journal with some sketches, no spend trackers and a mood tracker to really help with my debt free journey and also to help with my mental health. I’ve also set myself some goals for 2020 in different aspects of my life which I think are realistic, but also all help to make me a better human in one way or another.
I’m also REALLY missing Marketing, so I’ve rebranded and relaunched Tyson Digital, offering digital marketing services to small and medium sized businesses (if you’re one of those and would like a bit of help please feel free to drop me an email). I presented a lecture to some second year students at the University of Hull all about resilience and adaptability in the workplace which made me remember that the road isn’t always smooth but if you put the effort in, you’ll get to where you want to be. After a setback in December, I feel like this year is going to be a year of finding myself and really pushing on my career goals.
The Adventures of Spotify
Ten songs that I've had on repeat all month...
Bury Tomorrow - Cannibal
Wage War - Gravity
Yours Truly - High Hopes
The Story So Far - Nerve
Wage War - Me Against Myself
Beartooth - Disease
We Came As Romans - Wasted Age
State Champs - Frozen
While She Sleeps - FAKERS PLAGUE
Krewella + Diskord - Beggars
The Adventures of the Debt Journey
Just thought I'd add this in as a monthly update. If you've seen my previous post regarding debt, you know I'm quite open about my finances. I started 2020 with £14.8K of debt after paying off £11.4K in 2019. In January I paid my car off in full, 10 months earlier than I should have done and it feels so good knowing I have an extra £200 a month in my pocket! I also realised that I had paid about £300 more to my student finance than I had noted down which took my debt total down to £13.7K at the end of January! If you're interested in following the journey to debt freedom, feel free to follow the dedicated instagram page, @journeybacktotheblack!
Join me next month to find out what went down in February!
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