Hey hey.
It's been a minute, no? I hope you're doing well. It's crazy that 2021 is ending in a few days. Where did time go? AlhamduliLah sha. We survived.
Like everyone else, I’ll be unwrapping the year. I don't exactly want to use last year’s format so I’ll just share some of the wins & losses I had over the year + lessons I learnt, instead.
***If you want to read 2020 review, check here.
Hopefully you'll learn a few things and if you're comfortable enough, you can leave a comment or an email reply about how your year went.
Well, I'll get to it. Enjoy.
WINS.
• TECH
If you know me, you know the dream is to marry a tech bro, lmao. I'm half-joking when I say this but there's a deeper story to it. I shared in this newsletter.
Anyway the win is that I'm well on the journey to becoming a proper tech sis, myself. I'm currently learning about product management & UI/UX design.
I'm super grateful for Amin of EverythingNaArt (& now, Twitter) and Abdulrahman of Paystack, two fantastic human beings who inspired me so much and made me realise that I could explore non-coding options in tech.
Grateful to the amazing people on Twitter & WhatsApp who have been sharing resources to make my journey easy!
Also super super grateful to be an AIESECer because I applied for the AIESEC in Nigeria scholarship program and I've started the Google UX Design certification course.
There's a lot to learn but I'm all super excited about it. AlhamduliLah. Major major win this year.
• MONEY
I have bad spending habits but a win this year is that I reached my savings goal. Where can I buy Benz, plis?😁
• FRIENDSHIPS
Via Unsplash.
My God. I feel like I won the lottery this year with all my friends. What?! I know the absolute best people!
Friends who are very supportive. Friends with whom I have the best conversations around Deen, life, everything and anything. Friends who have hacked my love languages & send me words of affirmation, send me money, food, ijekuje. Friends who sponsor people for my communities. Friends who clear my courses wishlists (because I'm such a nerd)
Two big highlights;
A new friend (at the time) gifting me a one year Mind Valley subscription (worth ₦80,000 ish)
Me craving cake during big Eid ( I was in school) and messaging a few of my friends about it. They sent me money for cake and Coldstone ice cream.
The cake.
Many times this year, I felt so loved and appreciated. There are soo many amazing things my friends I've done for me.
It's all so beautiful to see. I like to think that it's because I'm a good person but honestly? It is manifestation of answered duas and I just think I'm blessed. AlhamduliLah.
Grateful for the friends I made from Twitter, new friends, old friends.
Shoutout to Tee, the H and A of the HAN gang, Muffkins, Abdulhameed, Yesir, Umar, Ganee, Barakah, Nihmah, Sakeensky, Shams, Abdulfattah, Mustapha, Optimus, Amamayoyo, Halimah, Desodun, Fareedah, Zay, Nana, Hadlah, Sadiyah, Salmah, Ameena, Nurudeen, Simbs, Tawakalt, Ridwan and many more.
Thank you all for being my friends and loving the flawed me!
Also a win - I matchmaked two of my male friends this year. One didn't end well but the other is going so beautifully well, I'm low-key preparing my asoebi already 😁
• PROJECTS
Two projects I worked on this year that I'm really proud of and I consider wins are the LFJ Tribe and TMB book club.
The LFJ Tribe was relaunched as an exclusive community for Muslims who wanted to grow personally and spiritually. I carefully curated a learning curriculum of knowing about Allah, the Seerah of the Prophet Muhammad, tafseer and tadabbur of the Qur'an and more. The feedback from members has been amazing and I'm grateful for being a delivery girl for this type of gift from Allah (to the members). alhamduliLah ☺️
The TMB book club was 78 members strong this year. We read 20+ books and had very insightful conversations.
If you're a Muslim who wants to be a better version of yourself in 2022, you should join us. You can join the LFJ Tribe here and you can join the TMB book club here.
LOSSES.
So yes, the year was good but let's me share some Ls, kay?🙂
The biggest L for this year for me, was applying to be Vice President for Talent Management in AIESEC in Ilorin and not getting it.
I didn't apply at first. There was a sole applicant for the role and it seemed like he would get it. At that point, I was the electoral committee chair for the election process. Seeing that person and others go through the process interested me and I told myself if by any chance the role opened up again, I would apply.
A few days later, an announcement was made. The sole applicant wasn't selected & applications had been reopen. For the next 48 hours, I would do nothing but work on my application.
Getting letters of recommendation. Working on my resume. Answering questions for the application booklet. Doing a lot of research about the role and AIESEC in general. Making a YouTube video.
It was a whole lot. And I loved every minute of it.
There was another applicant for the same role. But I wasn't too worried. I mean, I'm Nusaybah, I wanted it and I would get it.
I put in 110% into the whole thing.
The network in my room wasn't good so I had to go to a lecture hall at night so I could have good network for the manifesto reading & election process. Twice. Because people didn't turn up the first time to vote properly.
The second time when they finally turned up, I got a big shocker. Of 16 votes, I had gotten just 4 votes. Just 4?? Honestly? I was very pained. Did people not know good things?
I sat with my hurt for a few days but then I started looking at it from an objective perspective.
The other applicant was good. And she articulated what she wanted to achieve better than I did. She had more leadership experience in AIESEC in Ilorin. So I guess it made sense why people voted for her, instead of me.
This was a huge loss for me because some 2022 plans were hinged on getting that role.
But it is what it is.
What made this loss easier to deal with, was the support I got from my friends.
So AlhamduliLah. Right now, I'm internalising that me not getting the role was for the best. And I'm curious to see how everything plays out after this.
I applied for a product management fellowship and I didn't get it.
This one didn't really pain me since I'm still a newbie in the industry but it was an L nonetheless.
I didn't stretch myself.
I’m not quite sure how to quantify this. But I didn't challenge myself enough. I played small. And that's a big loss. (The goal for 2022 is to have at least 50 rejections. That means I have to apply x3 that so that's putting myself out of my comfort zoneee)
So, there you have it.
4 wins & 3 losses.
Honestly though?
My year was more than these 7 things.
I learnt a whole lot. I struggled with my mental and spiritual health. Part of my already split family moved half across the world. I'm still holding on to the anger of last year. I grew a lot. Etc.
I'm just sharing this because maybe your year wasn't fantastic and you've been comparing to the yearly reviews you've been reading.
I want you to know that people only share their highlight reels online. They only share the packaged versions of their truth. So never compare yourself to people. The only person you should compare yourself to, is who you were yesterday.
13 Lessons from 2021
(this should be 21, pun intended. I'm just too tired to think of them. Please manage 13. Thank you)
Death is so close. I lost 2 classmates this year. Both around my age. They never thought their time would be up so soon. A reminder that eyan le ku anytimeee.
The Internet is the best invention ever. Learn to use it properly. See ehn, if you're only buying data so you can check people's statuses on WhatsApp, you’re O.Y.O (on your own)
Learn how to learn. Learning doesn't end with school. To survive and thrive in this world, you have to learn how to learn. Enough said.
Have an empowerment circle - the people who empower you to fulfill your purpose and achieve your goals.
Make gratitude journalling a thing in your life. It allows you appreciate more of the beautiful life you're living.
When you're tired, rest. I promise you, you won't die if you rest.
Have fun! Go out. Either with friends or alone.
Don't take yourself too seriously.
Say No more often. It's hard o but try. Say No to things you don't want to do, things that won't serve you.
Assign value to your time. How much is 1hr of your time worth? ₦50,000? Or ₦5,000? Use this value to decide things that'll take your time. E.g if your time per hour is worth ₦5,000, are you happy wasting 35hours in a week watching movies? That's ₦175,000 worth of time.
Your time is very valuable. You'll never get the time lost back. And if you're Muslim, you know that you're accountable for every second you spend.
Forgive yourself. That thing you're still holding on to? Let it go. You didn't know better.
It all begins with intention. What is your why?
So yeah. This is how my year looked like.
It wasn't the best year.
But it was a year. And for that I'm grateful.
I already did the intense work to really examine the year and see how to be better (may Allah make it easy)
My theme for 2022 is Abundance & Congruence.
What's your theme for the year? (Share in the comments)
Did this resonate in any way with you? How did your year go? Leave a comment or send an email reply. I'd love to hear from you.
BENEFICIAL RESOURCES
Apps
Presently (Available on Android) - for gratitude journalling
Gratitude app (Available on iOS & Android) - for gratitude journalling
Scribd - for reading & listening to audiobooks.
Castbox/Google Podcasts/Spotify - for listening to podcasts.
Deepstash - for reading curated articles.
Three Questions
• If you died today, what would you want to be remembered for? (this is your legacy)
• Looking at 2021, what are you grateful for? Write 20 things and why you're grateful for them. (It's hard but very fulfilling to do)
• What is your big why? What is your purpose? Why are you here (in the world)? (As a Muslim, the only right answer here is to worship Allah. Check surah 51 ayah 56. Internalise this and see how your life changes)
PS- if I helped you in anyway, annoyed you in anyway this year or you have any advice for me, please feel free to leave a feedback here.
Here's to a better year. Here's to living our true purpose & showing up 100% each day.
Lots of love,
Nusaybah xoxo.
Enjoyed this so much. You write in such a captivating way, allahumma baarik! AlhamduliLlah for 2021, may 2022 be so much better, bi idhnillah 💜.
This is so good. I was reading this with a really good flow and how you put together a value packed article from start to finish is really impressive and inspiring.
Also, your efforts this year is a proof that you are unstoppable! Kudos to you!
May Allah grant shower more of His blessings on you.
Wishing you all the best in 2022!