6 Things You Need To Do Before This Year Is Out

As 2019 is coming to an end, it’s important to get moving on some important things I believe are great to take care of before 2020 arrives. Some of you might already be on top of these things and took care of them throughout the year, but I encourage you to take a break from some of your holiday fun and set aside some time this week to go through the following:

1. Schedule Your Annual Physical. Your health is very important. So make sure you schedule your annual physical for the upcoming year. I know different people who don’t like visiting their doctor’s office, however, it’s smart to know what’s going on with your body and staying up to date with your physical will inform you and your primary care practitioner of anything you should be aware of or working to improve.

2. Declutter. If you have a regular practice of getting rid of stuff that you don’t want or need, then you’re probably fine, but I encourage you to go through your clothes, old and/or obsolete electronics, books, movies, music, or anything else that may be taking up your space and go ahead and declutter. You can donate anything that someone else may find useful or just discard them if what you have is no longer useful. Your choice.

3. Check Your Credit Score. Taking care of your finances is smart. Making sure you know where your score is will let you know if you’re in a good state or need to work on getting things improved. There are different apps available, some that are free, that will allow you to check your score without negatively impacting it.

4. Update Your Resume. If you had a job change, role change, or picked up some new skills and opportunities this year, you need to update your resume. You should also plan to do some networking and begin applying to different career opportunities you’ve thought about if that’s something you want to do. Why not pursue a great career change? You can even go after your dream opportunities too.

5. Write Out Your Goals (With End Dates Included). I started writing out my goals in October. I already know what I want to accomplish in 2020, and I hope you do too. When you write things down, and more importantly, put dates and deadlines at the end of them, they make your goals more attainable and increase your chances of accomplishing them too. I wrote out five that I know I can get through within a year’s timeframe. What are you planning to do?

6. Pray. I pray a lot and encourage others to pray too. While everyone has different religious and spiritual beliefs, I believe prayer can work and making it apart of your life can pleasantly surprise you. While every prayer I’ve prayed has not come true, there have been other areas of my life where I’ve seen how it’s paid off. So pray, and allow the power of prayer to move in your life this upcoming year.

The Day I Became A Kidney Donor

About a year ago, I had a dream my dad wanted to talk to our family about something serious. I wasn’t sure what he wanted to discuss, but I knew it was something I needed to prepare myself for. Around the time after I had this dream, I remember stopping by my parents place and sensing something was going on that they weren’t telling me. I tried to dismiss what I’d been feeling, but I couldn’t shake it. Something serious was happening. As I returned to my home after visiting them one day, I was in my kitchen washing dishes when a heaviness hit my heart like nothing I’d ever felt before. Something’s wrong with dad. That’s what that dream was about. God, what’s going on? As I continued washing dishes, I started crying and praying. Then in mid-spring, my dad held an unexpected family meeting that would change all our lives forever. He hesitated at first, and as his voice started cracking and he started crying, he said, “Well, I wanted to talk to ya’ll to tell you that I have kidney disea...

Thoughts From a Black Educator: Qualified, Credentialed, and Constantly Undermined

I’m a Black educator in my fifth year of teaching middle school English, and in my third as the 8th Grade English PLC (Professional Learning Community) Lead. And while I genuinely enjoy the purposeful work I get to do, seeing the growth of my scholars, and continuing to hone my skills in a content area I’ve loved since I was a little girl, I’ve had to confront some unpleasant experiences in this space. I’d been through much worse when I was an academic advisor at a Christian university. Racism, sexism, harassment, and workplace bullying were sadly norms in that environment. However, some of what I’ve experienced as a Black educator hasn’t been normal … It doesn’t seem normal to be the only Black educator in my department – in a predominantly Black school. One of my Black colleagues once said, “It should look like a Tyler Perry movie in here.” But it doesn’t. It didn’t feel normal being reprimanded in a meeting (during my second year of teaching) by an administrator who went in on...

The Day I Made A Will

When I was a teenager, I remember writing a list of my greatest fears. One of the things I listed was death. Looking back, it was an interesting item to list because inevitably, death is something each of us will face at some point in our lives. Even though it’s no longer a fear of mine, I understand why and how it’s not a comfortable thing for everyone to navigate. But regardless, this past summer I completed a detailed will. I signed it, had witnesses sign it, and got it notarized. As I was getting everything done, one of the witnesses looked at me and said, “You know, it’s just that you’re so young…” I’ve learned that death doesn’t care how young or how old you are. You can be five, fifteen, thirty, or fifty, and it’s still something that happens. Completing my will wasn’t scary. It gave me peace of mind having documentation in place stating my detailed directives and requests. A year ago, I had one of my kidneys removed. It was a surgery that came with risks that were presented cle...

Making Waves