Can I see your ID please?

Left: 2019 Right: 2023

When I first saw these images side-by-side, it made me emotional… I think because it reminded me of how far I have come with my self-development journey. Which I first started in 2016, when I ate something supposedly healthy (cough cough kale) that made me feel so ill, and I remember looking in the mirror and thinking something needs to change, I’m sick of being sick.

Fast forward and I had more or less resolved my issues with my digestion, but I still didn’t feel the energy I had been hoping to feel by going on this journey. Sure, I could eat what I wanted, but my weight kept fluctuating, and everything else in my life was well… not what I wanted… at all.

I was in a job that paid me minimum wage to work maximum hours, I was in an out of going-nowhere dating situations and feeling that this was now the trajectory of my life. I stopped going out, I barely saw my friends, and I was feeling pretty plain…

I had tried to read many self-development books, but most went over my head, didn’t make sense, or I just couldn’t figure out how to apply the techniques. But then I came across a book, High Performance Habits, by Brendan Burchard, and a manifestation coach, Lacey Phillips. This is when things started to shift, because the common thread between both of these was that their techniques required me to ask myself questions, real questions that helped me delve deep into my own psyche and situation.

I didn’t fully understand that this was what helped me at the time, but all I knew is that it was helping because my situation started improving. I started getting better opportunities, meeting better people and finding other coaches and information that further helped my growth.

I remember clearly when that photo in 2019 was taken, because I remember feeling better and more alive than I had been feeling… I was actually shocked at how dull and unhealthy I looked (don’t try, and “ no, you weren’t” me). But I also didn’t give up, I remember thinking, it just means I haven’t got there yet.

What happened between then and now is mainly just stages of growth. I continued working on my physical wellbeing, followed by my emotional and mental, and now more recently my energetic and spiritual wellbeing.

This isn’t the order it needs to be done. There are many examples of people working on their spiritual wellbeing and their physical body “heals”, but for me, this was the natural progression of evolution.

Comparing these photos reminds me that all the time, money and effort was worth it… And back in 2019 I visualised the person I am now… To see my future self as my current self is probably one of the most validating examples that this shit works.

And it makes me so grateful for how far I’ve come and so excited for what is yet to come.