Grad Meets World 2012 Round Up

Amanda Abella — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 14:00:04 +0000

What a year it's been for Grad Meets World! I warn you guys now, this is a long one, so grab some coffee and enjoy clicking through all the fun stuff. If you would rather not read the entire post then please make sure to fill out this survey so I can better serve you in 2013.

Photo by Amanda Soler Photography

In a nutshell.

I tried things differently this year. It was a year when my post-grad anxiety started to subside, I succeeded in starting to put my health first, reconnected with Miami and even started dating again. Despite the hardships that sometimes ensued, like upsets at work or serious heartbreak, it's the best year I've had in a long time. It's also the most calm I have felt in what seems like years. No regrets.

I also made tremendous progress financially, within my career and in my personal relationships. A lot of it is thanks to this blog and it's readers. You guys not only inspire me, you also help keep me accountable and for that I am forever grateful.

2013 will be dedicated to planning workshops (already have two in the works!), partnerships and creating a space where millenials can share, grow and learn from each other as we create our careers, our health, our personal experiences and our lives. I want this to be a space where you guys can come for positive reinforcement, resources and connections.

With that being said, please make sure to fill out this survey so I can better serve you in 2013.

Thank you all for another incredible year!

The Ultimate 2012 Round Up

What a year for Grad Meets World! Apparently some of the topics discussed got some serious attention! With that being said here are the top posts from the year:

10 Top Notch Gen Y Blogs of 2011

Why It's Okay to Be a Boomerang Kid (This little number sparked quite a controversy and even got my blog featured on The Consumerist! You guys had some awesome things to say in what turned into a healthy debate.)

4 Signs That You May Be an Entrepreneur at Heart

10 Odd Things You Should Never Do at a Job Interview

Some of my personal favorites...

Love and Relationships

How Do You Deal With a Breakup? 7 Steps for Getting Over a Breakup

The Love Manifesto: 23 Principles to Help You Thrive in Your Romantic Relationships

Side Hustling

How I'm Making Over 1K from My Blog This Month

10 Lessons Learned from 2 Years of Freelancing

3 Ways Your Blog Can Make You Money Without Being Sleazy

Career

Just for the Ladies - Resources to Help You Kick Ass in Your Career

20 Lessons Learned from Conducting 200+ Interviews

5 Ways to Get Your Life Back from Your Job

How to Network Like a Pro (The Non-Sleazy Way)

Money

10 Biggest Obstacles to Financial Success in Your 20s

Calling Yourself Out on Emotional Sp ending

Health

Learning to Love Your Body

How Do You Practice Self-Love?

How Poor Health Can Cost You A Lot of Money

Favorite Things I've Written for Other Websites

6 Things That Keep 20-something Women from Financial Success - Forbes

How LocalLEVO Is Helping Me Through a Breakup - The Levo League

Interview Tips from Hiring Recruiters: How Not to Be an Idiot in a Job Interview - The Levo League

New Grads: Are You Being Unrealistic in Your Job Search? - SALT

Top Free Networking Tools and Events for Post-Grad Millenials - SALT

Can You Come in for an Interview - Tomorrow? - The Daily Muse

4 Ways to Deal With Big Life Changes - Lifehack

3 Ways Freelancing Can Land You a Full-Time Job - Simply Hired

How I Plan on Getting My Savings Back After Spending $6,000 - Careful Cents

20 Lessons Learned From 2 Years of Blogging

Grad Meets World turned 2 years old this year! 2012 truly represents a year of tremendous growth for this blog and myself as a person. With that being said, here are some of the most important lessons I've learned.

1. It's okay to be vulnerable for your readers. In fact, it makes for true connections.

2. Building a practice of any kind - saving money, exercise, meditation - is like strengthening a muscle. It takes time, work and dedication, but the rewards are sweet.

3. You can use your own hardships to reach out to others and help them.

4. At the end of the day we're all human. We have the same victories and we have the same hurts.

5. It's more than okay to take a break and recharge.

6. I'd rather have fewer clients who pay well then a bunch of projects that pay shit.

7. My life coach training constantly pushes me out of my comfort zone.

8. The only certainty in life is uncertainty - it's what you make it mean that matters.

9. You have to think of the bigger picture in terms of your career - not just what your paycheck is. That is to say, what's going to benefit you in the long run? What extra stuff can you do? How can you go big?

10. Learning how to manage your boss is probably more important than actually managing your job.

11. Forgiveness is the bedrock of a happier life.

12. It's okay if you have a different path than what others want for you.

13. Make your friendships more romantic and your romantic relationships more brotherly. (Favorite lesson from Gabrielle Bernstein & A Course in Miracles. Really came in handy this year.)

14. I'm not going to die if I don't pay off my credit card in full one month. I just have to make sure not to make it a habit.

15. Sometimes it's okay to take a risk with your money. And it's certainly more than okay to invest in yourself.

16. Your relationship with yourself is the most important one you will ever have.

17. Your family cares for you and they want what's best, but sometimes you have to tune them out in order to become who you are meant to be.

18. Having compassion for someone who hurt you is not rolling over and playing dead. In fact, if you can see the humanizing factor in every undesirable situation you're going to heal much faster (and more gracefully) than you ever imagined.

19. You can be open and honest in every aspect of a romantic relationship and it'll work for however long its supposed to. If it ends it's not because of being so open, it just wasn't meant to be. Simple as that.

20. Networking and getting involved in your local community is one of the coolest things you can do for your career - and for yourself.

Personal 2012 Milestones

Partnerships: I teamed up with American Student Assistance as one of the writers for their SALT blog. It's been an incredible experience as I share my career experiences with others who are just starting out. They are also some of the coolest people I have ever had the pleasure of working with. Keep a look out in 2013 for a Career webinar by yours truly and SALT!

Writing: This year was HUGE for me as I got published on one of my favorite business publications - Forbes! This was all thanks to the incredible team over on Glass Heel. Make sure to check these ladies out for anything you can possibly need to go from cubicle to board room! I also started writing for The Daily Muse, Lifehack and continued writing for my favorite career ladies over at The Levo League.

Community: I went on a networking marathon during the latter half of 2012. I am proud to be a part of The Levo League's LocalLEVO Miami chapter and have connected with such incredible ladies as a result! I also got to meet The Levo League co-founder Amanda Pouchot, Community Manager Maxie McCoy and The New Professional's/The Daily Muse's Angeline Evans! Furthermore, I got together with local Spirit Junkies and Gabrielle Bernstein enthusiasts to start a group of women who are there to support each other, help each other and be like spiritual running buddies. It's truly been an incredible opportunity to meet so many like minded ladies living in my own community! Here's to helping each other elevate not only our careers, but our lives as well.

Life Coaching: In April 2012 I officially started my life coaching certification course. The entire process has been a huge eye opener and I see myself using the skills I've learned in my writing, in my personal relationships and at my job. I've also taken on a couple of clients (both long time readers of the blog) to help me create a program and test out exercises (thanks to the both of you for being so patient with me!). In 2013 I will be putting things to the test with workshops and webinars. Make sure to sign up for the email list to stay updated!

Fitness: December 26, 2012 marks one year since I decided to practice yoga on a regular basis. Regardless of what is going on in my life I always find myself back on the mat. I've had the absolute pleasure of getting to know incredible teachers at Prana Yoga Miami and take tools I learn on the mat into my daily life. Yoga is truly a gift and I am thankful to have incorporated it into my life. In September 2012 I also picked up mixed martial arts/boxing and have been steadily going ever since. I can feel (and see) the changes in my body and it feels great! If you're ever in Miami make sure to check out Arena Combat Sports for a hell of a workout and some pretty cool people.

On a personal level: I have made some incredible connections this year as I maneuver my way through the crazy city of Miami. There's always something going on in this vibrant town and for that I am so grateful! I also opened up on a much more personal level through a romantic relationship, released some fears that had been holding me back and got a huge lesson in compassion and forgiveness. I've really opened up this year - both in my personal life and on this blog - and the process has been a beautiful one.

What's next in 2013?

1. Live workshops and webinars!

I've teamed up with some incredible people, both locally and online, to bring one of my blog dreams to reality - workshops and webinars! I've got a fitness goals workshop in the works with an awesome Miami personal trainer & I'm teaming up with a couple of great websites to create career development workshops in the Spring. Keep an eye out for more info!

2. Newsletter

One of my goals for 2013 is to write up monthly email blasts for my loyal subscribers. You guys are the lifeblood of this blog and if it weren't for you this blog wouldn't be what it is today. I plan on cracking myself open and going deep in these posts so make sure to sign up for insights you'll only get via email.

3. How can Grad Meets World improve?

My goals is to help you guys in your post-grad lives. I get a lot of material from my own life as I learn to maneuver finances, my career and personal relationships but I want to make sure these things are helpful for you. Please feel free to use this contact form to send me any insights or suggestions. Or, please make sure to fill out this survey.

Thank you again for another incredible year for Grad Meets World! May all your goals, wishes and dreams come into fruition as we enter a New Year!

Upon reflection of my blog's birthday, I once again realized that my writing is a direct reflection of what is going on in my own life as I maneuver this roller coaster we call life. I've also noticed that different years have taken on different themes.

The first year focused around getting my external shit together. Finding my first full-time real world job. Figuring out my finances. Working my ass off at a freelance writing side hustle and generally running myself into the ground. It was a very rocky start - as most starts usually are. Not much socializing, getting used to the city again, kissing the ground when I found a full-time job, etc.

2012 was completely different though. I took a step back, revamped the blog and in turn revamped my life. I started focusing more on health and wellness (approaching my yoga birthday too!), the connection between mind and body, making new friends, reconnecting with old ones and just going out there and having a good time again. This has led to great adventures, fun times, a good relationship, starting my life coaching certification and above all learning how to chill out when I really need it.

Granted this has come with many surprises. My job is great but I have to deal with some crazy stuff every once in a while. The job market in South Florida is also still utterly depressing. The relationship was fantastic but brief. The life coaching classes are awesome but sometimes they're hard to juggle with a full-time job, a side hustle and a social life. The family is wonderful but sometimes they drive me up the wall.

But hey, that's life, right? Full of sweetness but with some bumps along the way. As a result, Grad Meets World's second year was all about handling situations as they come our way. It can be summed up as one big lesson:

We may not be able to control what's going on outside of ourselves, but we can control our reaction to it. Whether we come from fear or love is our choice.

In other words, we can choose to hate our exes or forgive them for hurting us. We can choose to loathe our jobs or come from a place of gratitude. We can choose to polarize and create separateness from our peers or we can choose to come from a place of oneness. We can choose to bitch and moan about our health or we can take positive action toward improving it. We can choose to surround ourselves with negativity or we can change our environment. We can choose self-defeating thoughts or we can choose to come from a place of self-love and compassion.

At the end of the day it's all up to us. How we choose to perceive our the situations in our lives will make all the difference in whether we are thriving or merely just surviving.

So what are you choosing today?

Quick GMW Announcements:

Publication Schedule:

I've been consistent with publishing three times a week for months, however, I think it's time to bring it down a notch. Starting this week there will be new blog posts once weekly every Monday. There are a few reasons for this:

1. Quality vs. Quantity

I really want to provide you guys with quality resources to help you thrive in your daily lives. The current publication schedule doesn't really allow me to do that with everything else I have going on in my life. At the end of the day it's about providing quality, not banging out content a few times a week.

2. GMW is spreading the message offline too!

I've been asked to possibly start preparing a couple of live workshops in my local community for millenial professionals. I am also in the process of partnering up with a fitness trainer for my first ever live event. In order to really serve these people I need time to really focus on providing quality content for the participants.

I've also become involved in a few local groups such as Local Levo, Miami Spirit Junkies and most recently The Daily Muse meet ups. I look forward to really getting involved with these groups in order to help out the professionals in my local community.

3. Building relationships with my clients.

I've got some pretty awesome freelance writing clients and as of late our professional relationships are really flourishing! One of them has even asked me to prepare a webinar for post-college job seekers!

I am also a columnist for a few other websites and need the time to focus on providing quality stuff for them as well.

4. Coaching

I really want to create a powerful space where I can coach future clients on their goals and endeavors. I've made major progress in the certification process but I have still got a very long way to go! With that being said I need to re-prioritize and regroup so that I can really start becoming more and more present during my classes and for my current clients.

What does this mean for the GMW reader?

Well, nothing really. Grad Meets World is definitely still going to be around to help you kick ass, you'll just be getting a once weekly dose from now on.

With that being said GMW is definitely still open to guest posts, suggestions and product reviews. Just shoot me an email if you're interested.

Also, make sure to sign up for the email list so you don't miss a beat! You can also still connect with GMW on the main social media sites. I will, of course, be keeping you guys up to date with happenings around these parts - both online and off.

Here's to another year of post-grad adventures!