What Have You Learned In The Past Year? Join In On The Latest TikTok Trend
by Megan Pavek
This article was written by The Zillennial Zine’s spring editorial intern Megan Pavek. Find her on Instagram at @megan.pavek. If you would like to share an article with The Zillennial, send us an email at thezillennialzine@gmail.com.
January is known as the month of reflection. With 2022 in the rearview mirror and our self-care journals in hand, we reminisce on the wins and the losses; the good days and the bad. And once we’re finished self-diagnosing, we write the prescription for the new year ahead that will help us improve in 2023. Hey – it’s cheaper than therapy! Plus it’s important to have goals, which we often can’t achieve without learning from the past.
On TikTok, people are sharing what they learned in 2022. Some are hard lessons and others shine a more positive light as we all march onward, aspiring for growth. Regardless, “Things I’ve Learned This Year” TikToks can be used as a beneficial tool for self-reflection. If you hop on this trend it will can rewarding in the future when you reminisce about years past and how far you’ve come!
Affirmations For Your Future Self
Some TikTok users treated this exercise as a love letter to their future selves, sprinkling in little reminders that you don’t need to have it all figured out, and to always be kind to yourself in the process.
- Life is not a race, take all the time you need
- Everything you’re going through now will make sense in the future
- Success is subjective, define it for yourself
- Romanticizing little moments sometimes makes your life feel bearable
- Your pain will turn into power/ your pain is part of your success story
- There will be bad days and that is completely ok
- You’re your own best friend
- Be kind to yourself, life is hard enough
- You have more cheerleaders than you know
- Everything comes back to self-belief, so believe!
Life Advice
Other videos take a more productive tone while listing lessons they learned in 2022. Here are a few of my favorites:
- Don’t ask twice; asking twice is too close to begging
- No response is a response
- With hard work comes sacrifice, but don’t sacrifice your health and happiness
- Don’t continue to worry about how long your journey will be, enjoy it!
- Sometimes the best therapy can be spending time in nature
- Living somebody else’s dream is exhausting, follow your heart
- You can’t change the past, move on and let go
- There’s no shame in needing help
- Before you vent, ask if the person has the space to hear you vent
- Always get dessert!
How To Make Your Own
To make your own “Things I’ve Learned This Year” TikTok, start by personally reflecting on your life over the past year. Write down some of the highs, lows and most notable moments. Looking back, think about any advice you would give to your past self now that the year is over. Maybe you lost a job, friendship or loved one. How did you deal with this hardship? Are there any silver linings, affirmations, or life lessons you’d like to remember moving forward?
The original trend is done by creating a picture slideshow on TikTok and using a sound bite from Billie Eilish’s “when the party’s over” for the background music. Add text to each picture to share what you’ve learned! Others have been doing a “get ready with me” video and talking to the camera, sharing llessons and advice while getting ready for the day. Some videos follow the theme of “22 things I learned in 2022” where users talk directly the camera and list off 22 things.
Feeling inspired to make you own video? Not only is this a fun thing to do for yourself, but it can also beneficial for others! In sharing our life experiences, hacks and hardships we offer validation and understanding to others. Someone out there may have experienced something similar durin the past year, and seeing your self-reflection and advice could help them too!
We hope this article has inspired you! Do you have any advice or lessons you’ve learned over the last year? Comment below!