AYM Higher

Resiliency is built through consistency & stubbornness

Stress is a combination of what your mind knows and body feels

Taking care of people is a learning process and sometimes the person in front of you is practice for the next

Planning is for the expected, intuition will handle the rest

Asking for help mitigates mistakes from happening, ego dangers everyone around you

Choosing people who don’t choose you back is the quickest way to resentment

Creativity sparks joy

Being a professional doesn’t mean you have to be boring

Learn the rules & policies — it makes the ground you stand on robust

Even machines need a reset/reboot — you can’t operate at 100% 24/7

2025 was a year of becoming…

Becoming a better Man

Becoming a better Nurse

Becoming a better Friend

Becoming better at recognizing my strengths, weaknesses, potential, limitations, & boundaries

Excited for another year & opportunity to continue getting 1% Better Ever Day ❤️❤️

October 11, 2024, was the last time I journaled, 10 days before I started my first job as a nurse.

Here I am again, 16 days before flying solo.

I won’t have somebody holding my hand and taking care of me as I help to take care of patients. I won’t have somebody readily available to fix my mistakes or help me prevent them.

I went from stressing over exams that would cost me a good grade to stressing over what those exams were preparing me for — nursing in the real world.

In nursing school, you know that one of the answers is correct. So you have four options in front of you.

I’m no longer studying books, I’m studying people now. And there’s an infinite amount of possibilities that can happen…

What if I say the wrong thing?
What if I don’t ask the right questions?
What if there’s something I’m not seeing?
What if I grab the wrong medication?
What if I give the wrong dosage?
What if I’m not fast enough?
What if I’m not good enough?
“What if” is a game that I can never win…

Recently, I did compressions on a patient for the first time in my life… He didn’t make it.

They teach you how to save a life, but not how to deal with losing one.

I went from being unable to sleep at night because I was worried what questions would be on the exam to not being able to sleep now because my adrenaline is spiked post-shift and I’m replaying every interaction, and what could I have done better?

Aside from the fear, stress, and the number of times I’ve cried in the past couple of months, I wouldn’t change a thing about the journey I’m on.

I’ve made it through countless obstacles in the past.

As much as I say I suck as a nurse, other people trust me & I know I’ll get better.

I don’t know what happens next, but I know I have no quit :)

“Even if things don’t unfold the way you expected, don’t be disheartened or give up. One who continues to advance will win in the end.” -D.I ❤️

Coming up with another 12 things I learned in 2024 didn’t feel normal, so I went with what felt right:

You learned from the process, not the win.

Problems don’t disappear the more you run away from them; they grow, compound, and become more difficult to bear.

No one else can feel the anger youhold within.

The older you become, the older, your parents do, too.

You don’t lose the right people when you speak from the heart.

Friendship takes work.

kindness is not awasted action.

#2024

I spent a long time unhappy last year with no one to blame but myself. Recovery takes effort and patience. I hope you find someone who will allow you the space to explore the deepest and darkest parts of yourself. I hope who you become this year is a reflection of the work you put in yourself and your faith that everything will work out the way it’s supposed to happen.

✌🏽& ❤️

Advice To New Trainers — AYM Higher If I just got my personal training certification today, here's a list of things I would do to find the correct path. Before I can tell you what the "correct path" is, I first need you to understand that direction is much more important than speed. I had little success during the first year