New Year, New Me. A Lovely, Uplifting and True Cliché
Here's my 2024 review and my 2025 resolutions.
So much I want to say, but I have no idea where to start.
2024 was by far one of the most turbulent years of my life. So many things happened, everything changed. For the first time in my life, I have absolutely no clue and no certainty what the coming year will bring.
In fact, you never have any certainty.
If I look at the goals and hopes I wrote down for 2024, none of them came true. I was a lousy manifester this year.
But all those hopes and dreams came from my head—what I thought and believed I needed, not what I wanted from my heart. So, I'm happy I didn't manifest my head-thought goals, and I'm proud I finally started choosing for myself.
Some tough choices were made, but today, I know I'm well on my way to a truer life. I’m Awakening.
2024 was
A lonely year
A substack year
A transformational year
Let's dig deeper.
A lonely 2024
I'm a great storyteller; I'm so good at it. I believe everything the voice in my head tells me. And boy, oh boy, it can be so convincing, I wouldn't even dare to question it.
For years, I've told myself I'm happy to be alone. I love my alone and quiet time. I'm an introvert; it's just who I am. I don't need anybody; I can do it alone.
Guys, you can't do it all alone. You just can't.
Humans are wired to be connected with other people, belong, and be part of a group.
The truth is, 2024 was one of the loneliest years I've ever experienced, and I only see that now, in hindsight. I even wrote an article titled 'I'm not lonely; I feel forgotten.' I couldn't and wouldn't admit I was lonely.
But I was, and still am, in many ways or forms.
I feel disconnected from everybody around me, but mainly from myself. I haven't allowed myself to feel for years as a form of self-protection. The loneliness was joined with an extreme form of apathy. I felt barely any emotion.
This way of life wasn't maintainable, so all those inside-building feelings started pouring out in July. I took drastic measures and completely changed my life. I ended my long-term relationship and moved back home to Belgium from Milano, Italy.
Spoiler alert, the loneliness didn't end with these decisions. It got even worse the first months after the break up. But slowly I started healing.
A Substack 2024
I published my first substack newsletter in February 2024 and went all in. It was a coping mechanism against loneliness. It kept me busy, and I felt seen and understood. I loved to disappear into my online persona.
I had such big goals. I wanted to make a lot of money, build my online success story, and have many subscribers, including paid subscribers. All of that came tumbling down painfully during the summer months.
BUT! I'm still here, writing weekly, and I love my little corner on the internet. I'm super proud of the Bored Millennial and myself. To see where I come from, how much I have grown, and how I've remained true to myself.
That's one of the biggest reasons my newsletter keeps growing.
Writing every week has been healing, inspiring, and truly transformational. I highly recommend it to everyone. It's a unique way of understanding yourself and your thought process. It's a valid form of creativity, and trust me when I say we all have creativity inside of us.
I went from being an unknown newcomer to somewhat "substack famous" (or so my ego told me) to finding my voice, ignoring the shiny objects, and just doing my thing.
And in true TBM fashion, here are the latest stats:
I CROSSED THE 10k MARK 🤯🤯🤯
What a beautiful way to enter 2025.
Here are the top 3 articles you loved the most:
These articles have the most likes, comments and shares!
And here are my 3 favorites:
These three articles profoundly impacted my personal life, and that’s why I love them so much.
A transformational 2024
I moved twice this year, from Ghent (Belgium) to Milan and from Milan back to my hometown in West Flanders (Belgium). I'm raising a dog, Lola. She is 9 months old and the light of my life. It's just her and me now. She is the reason I get up every morning.
I wasn't a writer, but now I am.
I earned a lot of money as a contractor for big corporations and governments, but it was a huge source of unhappiness and boredom. So, finally, I got the guts to let go of that negativity. But that also means I'm without a steady income.
I've traveled and discovered terrific new places in our wonderfully beautiful world.
After the breakup, I installed rigorous routines and an extremely healthy lifestyle, but I realized I needed softness, kindness, and my friends and family instead.
I left city life behind and exchanged it for a countryside life. And honestly, it is so good. I'm writing this now with soft piano music in the background, Lola next to me, and a view of the morning sun on the frozen fields.
I'm starting to understand why I am the way I am.
I see now that I have ignored my heart, my inner child, for so long. It's super hard for me to feel emotions and let people in. It's my way of protecting myself. "I can do it alone; I don't need anybody, and I'll only get hurt if I open up." But this isn't serving me any longer, and it hurts more to stay this way.
So, I am radically choosing myself. I'm ready to do the hard work in 2025 and the years to come.
What I want for 2025
A simpler life
No big outrageous goals
Discover what I love
Let go more and more, live in the now.
Try new things
Learn to set boundaries
Spend more time living real life
Spend less time online
Find the access to my heart
Learn to embrace my emotions, the good and the ugly
Feel joy again
Laugh a lot
Love and be loved
Keep writing
I trust I'll find my way.
I wish you all the same for 2025.
Big love and a massive hug!
Marie
x
Being a reader and accompanying you on the journey makes me proud of you, and confident that most, if not all of these goals will be met! Journey and Adventure on!
beautiful wrap up Marie. im so glad you decided to become a writer. youve been a big inspiration to me and im sure im not alone. cheers to the best year ever!