Year of the Butterfly

In Jan 2018 my friend Jadayah and I became accountability partners using the CoJourn Accountability system. CoJourn asks you to set a “Theme” and “intention” for your year. My theme was “Year of the butterfly” because my intention was “Coming out of my cocoon and back into the real world on my terms”. To better understand that I have to take you back to December 2017.

In December 2017, I was in a very dark place. I felt overworked, lonely, unappreciated, and as though I was existing on the terms of others instead of living a life of my own. I had graduated from college, become a 2nd-time mom, and moved over a hundred miles away from most friends and family. I could feel the essence of myself slipping away each day. I didn’t want to get out of bed much less leave my room, new projects didn’t excite me, I was just not the same “Georgie” anymore.

Silently I was waiting for someone to come and help me find myself again. But deep down I knew the only person who could help me, who could SAVE me, was… ME.

Slowly I started to get out of bed more, started to search in old journals and blog posts to “find myself”. While reading my old journals I reflected on how much I had changed over the years and I realized that I’ve also matured and grown. Unfortunately, this led me to the conclusion that I wouldn’t find 2018 Georgie in these books, I would only learn about who I used to me. I could though, look at the patterns, and trends of when I was the BEST Georgie, what circumstances ( both good and bad) and environments produced the BEST Georgie’s. This new approach helped me to discover a pattern.

When I put myself out into the world on my own terms and just unapologetically asked questions, explored, gave value, took chances, and had fun. I was the BEST Georgie for not only myself but for the others around me. I started with a vision and then created an execution plan of HOW I would reinvent myself and bring forward the best possible Georgie.

Vision Board for 2018

Some key elements to this included:

1. Getting my finances in order -> I started consciously saving and financial planning
2. Getting my mental health in order → I got a therapist through Talkspace
3. Saying no to things -> “Not because I can, means I should”, became my new motto
4. Removing things and people who were no longer a good fit in my life -> I unfriended IRL and unfollowed some friends and FAMILY who simply put… just weren’t good for me or to me.
5. Love Myself out loud and FIRST -> Practicing self-care and what that looked like for me was Reading, Working ( Yes work makes me happy ), learning, dancing, eating more yummy foods
6. Forgiving everyone from my past who have ever hurt me physically, mentally, or emotionally -> I realized I was carrying around a lot of baggage from the past and it seeped into my present day. It was as if the people who have hurt me put a stamp on me stating I was “Damaged Goods”. I am my experiences and my journey, it was far from perfect but this is my story and I own it. I refuse to give my power to anyone and anything that does not serve me well.

Ordered this from AddieRawr.com as a gift to myself for my butterfly year.

I slowly started to unravel my cocoon. I started to attend events again, host events, do speaking engagements, read and take classes, work with companies that were creating impact, and just say YES to the things that would pour into Georgie being able to produce and provide at her BEST.

Throughout this journey, I feel as though I have finally stepped back into my own shoes. I am creating and putting myself out there while having fun. My stress level and things I allow to stress me have significantly decreased, I have come out of that dark places and embraced the light. I made some of the HARDEST decision about life this year all in the pursuit of being the BEST Georgie.

I can say proudly that I accomplished most of my goals this year, and came out of my cocoon as I planned.

Next Year is going to be my “Year of the Lion”. I am going to be fierce, shine bright, take charge, and lead. I realized that I don’t shine as bright as I know I can due to a fear of outshining others, being judged, being “that girl”, but I realize that these are lies I tell myself to stay “ humble”. But I can be humble and also celebrate and blaze my trail of greatness at the same time!

Things I got done in 2018

I often silence my wins. The next part of this post is my attempt to share my accomplishments this year with the world.

Books I Read: 24.5 ( Haven’t finished Becoming.. YET!)

1. I’m Judging you — Luvvie
2. The One Thing — Gary
3. You Need More Money -Matt Manero
4. Year of Yes — Shonda Rhimes
5. Don’t dumb down your Greatness — Anthony Frasier
6. You’re not that great — Elan Gale
7. David and Goliath — Malcolm Gladwell
8. Awkward Black Girl — Issa Rae
9. Black Privilege — Charlemagne the God
10. Outliers — Malcolm Gladwell
11. The four agreements — Don Miguel Ruiz
12. What I know for sure — Oprah Winfrey
13. The subtle art of not giving a fuck — Mark Mason
14. Yes Please — Amy Poehler
15. So Close to Being the Sh*t, Y’all Don’t Even Know — Retta
16. The Defining Decade — Meg Jay, PhD
17. Unfu*k Yourself — Gary John Bishop
18. Between the World and Me — Ta-Nehisi Coates
19. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up — Marie Kondo
20. The Last Black Unicorn — Tiffany Haddish
21. Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? — Seth Godin
22. We’re going to Need more wine — Gabrielle Union
23. Self Inflicted Wounds — Aisha Tyler
24. The mother of black Hollywood — Jennifer Lewis
25. Becoming — Michelle Obama

Classes I’ve taken: 2
Udacity — Front End Developer
HBX | Harvard Business School — Entrepreneurship Essentials

Interviews & Talks: 7

Carry On Friends BEING CARIBBEAN IN TECH WITH GEORGIE-ANN GETTON MCKOY & MALCOLM PAUL http://www.carryonfriends.com/being-caribbean-in-tech-with-georgie-ann-getton-mckoy-malcolm-paul/

Young Boss Media Master Plan Season 2 Episode 4: Georgie-Ann Getton Mckoy of Get Shit Done Summit https://www.facebook.com/youngbossmedia/videos/1608107565974772/

Blacks In Tech Interview “Building A Startup While In College” w/ Georgie-Ann Getton-McKoy https://www.blacksintechnology.net/bittechtalk-ep-114-building-startup-college-w-georgie-ann-getton-mckoy/

Secret Birds Caribbean Interview Podcast Episode 68 with Georgie-Ann in the USA via Jamaica. Being a Young, Black, Caribbean Woman in Tech & Entrepreneurship https://secretbirdshq.com/podcast-episode-68-with-georgie-ann-in-the-usa-via-jamaica-being-a-young-black-caribbean-woman-in-tech-entrepreneurship/

Maven.io Conference Digital Storytelling & Disruptive Hacktivism Panel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hnar_JzzrKM&t=64s&index=6&list=PLz3QkMgjk_qDFinQ6HD97IoI-U39PXoM-

East Bronx Academy for the Future Graduation KeyNote https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyP4YOTtxKI&t=224s

Awards: 3

Echoing Green Future of Work Competition — Top 8
Ebay Startup Cup NY — Top 25
Ignite Caribbean 30 Under 30–2018 30 Under 30 Honoree

Vision Board for 2019

Goals 2019
15 Speaking Opportunities
Read 30 books
Take 3 Classes/Educational Opportunities
5 Awards

Originally published at www.gsdwithgeorgie.com.