A lot changed in 2012, because I gave myself permission to do so.

I bought a new car and a new laptop (and a Mac, at that).

I went to two conferences: the Jewish Futures Conference in New York, and an Interaction Design course at one of Neilsen/Norman Group’s events.

Finally, I started a new job at Vistaprint at the end of the year.

The common theme is that these were all things I’d previously told myself I couldn’t, or shouldn’t, do.

I’d told myself I shouldn’t spend this sort of money on myself. I’d told myself that jetting to a conference with a Macbook or working at a household-name e-commerce company were things that only the “cool kids” could do.

And I told myself, as I always had, that I was one of the unpopular kids. I came up with moral reasons to justify to myself why I didn’t buy the tech I wanted, the car we needed, or go after the career opportunities I was ready for.

But I was lying to myself if I said that I didn’t go for more because I really didn’t want it. So I faced my fears, and I succeeded.