It’s pretty crazy that a whole new decade has just begun so it’s the perfect time to reflect on what I’ve learned this past decade. I was 16 when the last decade started and honestly didn’t quite understand the magnitude of it.

As I’ve gotten older, experienced more things, and learned more about myself, the idea of new decades and the year 2020 has truly become something that intrigues me.

I’m currently on my own spiritual journey and there’s a plethora to learn when it comes to manifestation, astrology, numerology and so much more.

From the bit that I do know, I’ve learned that in numerology every year has a universal number which tells you the general idea of what the year will bring.

There are 9 numbers and 2020 is a 4 universal year which means this year is for building a foundation for the future by setting goals, getting things done, conscientiousness, and paying attention to detail.

Personally, I resonate with this so much because I’m halfway through my 20’s and these are the years I should be putting in the most work to live the life that I want to have in my 30’s and beyond.

I recently launched my art print shop called Captured By Keppford (currently on hiatus) so this year is going to be about building the brand, gaining exposure and continuously creating new content for the shop.

And while my “building a foundation” is related to business, it feels like so many people I know in real life and from social media got engaged, married and/or started families in the past year so the theme of building a foundation can come in so many ways.

You can take numerology even further by figuring out your personal year number for a more specific outlook of your year. I’m a personal year 4 which reiterates slow but steady progress, working hard, and getting organized. Check this link if you want to figure out yours here.

It’s been fun to reflect on this past decade especially since everything changes from ages 16 to 26. Sometimes so drastic, it’s basically another lifetime for some people.

Here are 10 things I’ve learned this past decade:

The world is SO small

Throughout the past 10 years, I’ve started fresh in 3 different cities and it’s crazy that no matter how few people I knew from different circles and from different instances, there always ended up being mutual friends. I’m sure this is something that so many people can relate to.

Something even crazier is back in 2018, I worked Bumbershoot in Seattle for the 2nd time doing artist transportation. As a worker, we got catered hot food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and on one of the days, I ended up seeing a girl I went to high school in Texas with.

She was working for the catering company and approached me as I was eating. We hadn’t seen each other since graduation back in 2012 so it was so wild to reconnect and catch up a bit.

This little moment also reminded that it’s important to always be nice to everyone because you never know when people are going to pop back into your life.

Everything in life has its season

As a millennial, everyone’s in the phase of life where they’re finding love, getting married and having babies or making moves in their career.

The people who are still trying to figure it out can feel left behind but idea that we all have to follow the same map is a lie. There is no manual on how to do life and what makes people happy is subjective.

2019 has definitely shown me that everything has its season. These past 2 years I’ve been able to travel a decent amount and have gotten quite a few messages from people asking me how I travel often.

On the other hand, I can ask them how they can be so vulnerable online, how they found love, or started a successful business.

The main thing to remember is that you can definitely have it all in life but you can’t have it all at the same time.

Anyone can create the life they want to live

Growing up I always thought that whatever is meant for you in life will come to you no matter what you do, but now I fully believe that it’s up to you as an individual to create the life that you want.

With hard work and determination, anyone can learn any skill. Sure some people might learn it faster than others but in the end everyone is capable. It all comes down to passion and what we choose to focus on that becomes our life path.

I fully believe that this applies to people from any economic background and sometimes being born to riches is a curse. Oprah is a classic rags to riches story and a recent updated story of riches being a curse is the affluenza teen.

Your 20’s are the most important 10 years of your life

Honestly I wish I fully realized this back when I graduated high school because then I would have planned better but it’s never too late, just harder.

Growing up we’re always told, “oh you’re young, you’ve got time,” but the truth is you don’t because time isn’t guaranteed.

Your 20’s is such a powerful time because you have the energy and patience to put in the work to build your tribe, further your career, and meet the most compatible life partner for you. Then in your 30’s and beyond you can enjoy all fruits from the tree you planted in your 20’s.

It’s important to learn your lesson the first time

Life is hands down all about lessons and we are constantly being tested in little ways everyday. We each have our own individual lessons to learn and most of the time they come in the form of another person.

There are many different kinds of connections you can have with other humans that either build you or break you.

If you keep making the same mistake then you will constantly find yourself in similar but harder situations until you finally change your behavior.

Through self love, reflection and feeling your emotions it becomes easier to notice when things aren’t positively serving you and move on to bigger and better.

Everything is energy and energy is everything

I remember learning about atoms and energy back in school but I never really understand the depth of it until I got older. One of the books I read this year was Divine Magic by Doreen Virtue and it truly put everything I knew into perspective which was life changing.

The fact that everything on this earth is energy and vibrates is so powerful, because that means the rate of objects and situations can be changed to your favor.

By vibrating on a high frequency and changing your thoughts, you can manifest anything into your life. It’s definitely a lot harder than it sounds because it’s an ongoing journey and something that doesn’t happen overnight, but once you have the awareness you are well on your way.

There’s no such thing as a coincidence

I definitely used to be someone who believed in coincidences but from the Divine Magic book I’ve learned it’s all cause and effect.

The reasoning in the book states that, “causes aren’t creators of events or circumstance. They’re catalysts in a long chain of them, usually driven by underlying beliefs about life and “the way that it is.””

The way that I interpreted this statement is that it’s important to be aware of your beliefs and the true deep reasons why you believe them.

By being aware of your “causes” you can avoid getting tangled up in negative influences. And if you believe that things keep happening to you by chance then that means you need to figure out the underlying issue.

Solid and supportive friendships are everything

Luckily, I’ve never had an issue making and keeping friends but the hard thing when it comes to friendships in life is finding quality friends. There are many different types of friendships you can have with someone based on what your common interests are.

It’s funny how when you’re younger you’re friends with people for superficial reasons such as because you both liked to party or simply because you had a class together and saw each other 5 times a week.

When you get older it’s so important to be surrounded by a good group of friends because those are the people that influence you and help you in your journey to become your best self.

To go deeper, they can become your family and that’s so special for people who didn’t have a positive family dynamic growing up because you get to choose who is part of this family so that it’s only filled with love.

As humans we are more similar than we are different

The more people I meet and places that I travel to proves to me that this is true every time.

No matter where we are on this earth, we all go through the same phases of life and experience the same emotions eventually so it’s interesting that we choose to divide.

There’s nothing more exciting than having a conversation with someone from a completely different country and having the opposite upbringing than them and being able to relate on so many levels.

A moment that sticks out to me the most is when I was hanging out with my friend Myriam whose from Morocco. As someone who grew up in the states, it’s easy to be naive and assume that people in less developed countries didn’t have access to the same things as you.

But one of the days we were reminiscing on the days of teenage angst and jamming out to songs of the times by Paramore, All American Rejects and My Chemical Romance.

We each knew all the words and were able to relate on having this same childhood experience of being obsessed with these songs which was really reminded me that we are more similar than we think.

To heal the world we must first heal ourselves

Life is all about cycles and one of the worst ones we participate in is hurting each other. When people are in a negative place, it’s common to bring other people down with them whether they do it intentionally or not.

A lot of the terrible things that happen in the world occur because of greed and that can come in many forms.

Until we individually work on ourselves and learn how to control the ego then we will never be able to fix all the issues in the world.

I’m putting out the energy that everyone who comes across this post has a year full of personal happiness, achieving goals and living the life of their dreams. 2020 is the year for transformation and this decade is ours.

What is the main thing you learned this decade? Let me know in the comments.

Thanks for reading and stay hungry to learn, create and grow!