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The Q4 Glow-Up Plan You Need To Plant The Seeds For A Successful 2024
When you reflect on your wins from this year and what you’d like to get out of the rest of 2023, what comes to mind?
Are there fitness goals you want to put into action? Is there a follower count you’d like to hit on social media? Maybe you hope to land your next dream job. Whatever the case may be, the end of the year has a way of illuminating our personal goals — and when prioritized correctly, they’re more than possible to obtain.
Depending on what kind of year you’ve had, you may opt for a soft landing to cap off the end of the year, while others may use the last remaining days to pack in final goals and lay the foundation for the year ahead.
And if you’ve been anywhere near TikTok these days, you may have noticed that many users are getting a head start on their 2024 plans to “become unrecognizable'' and are using a new strategy to do so.
Enter the Q4 Glow Up Plan.
Your Q4 2024 Glow Up Plan
@jodiektay Your 2024 glow up starts now! All the things you need to do to have your best year yet #jodiesgems #networking #glowup #glowuptips #personalbrand #greenscreen
You might be thinking that a Q4 Glow Up Plan is just another variation for a vision board or simple goal setting, but it’s a lot more than that. It’s a game plan. This strategic roadmap helps individuals optimize the few days left in the year so that life doesn’t just happen to you, but instead, gives you direction on where your time and energy goes.
The concept was recently popularized by TikTok creator and a corporate senior director, Jodie Taylor. She explains that the plan allows you to give your life a SWOT analysis (a marketing term meaning strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) to identify areas of growth.
Taylor “has a plan for everything,” which sparked the inspiration behind the Glow-Up Plan.
During the pandemic, she utilized her free time to consult with a life coach, therapist, and physical trainer; a decision that ultimately changed the trajectory of her life. “I began to see the net benefit of what it looks like when you have support and you're intentional over the course of three months or six months and co-create your life,” she tells xoNecole.
Many of us become motivated to regain control over our lives after spending weeks or even months on auto-pilot, only to wake up and not know where the days went. Approaching the end of the year from a place of strategy not only provides us with a routine to follow but also gives us tangible steps to follow in order to awaken the change we desire.
"I began to see the net benefit of what it looks like when you have support and you're intentional over the course of three months or six months and co-create your life."
@jodiektay Part 2 of your 2024 Glow Up Plan #jodiesgems #networking #glowup #glowuptips #personalbrand #greenscreen
But before we can take action, we must first reflect.
“Optimize and reflect back on how you felt in the past year,” she says. “What did you enjoy the most and what experiences do you want more of — whether that's financial freedom, increased relationship, or social network? How can you do your best to ensure that you are creating the roadmap and intentionality to have next year look even better.”
Striving to achieve numerous goals in a limited time can be an overwhelming experience. Thankfully, there are tools in place that can help us move in the right direction. For starters, Taylor recommends using a wellness wheel as a “diagnostics test” to rate the top areas of your life from 1-10.
“See what you're really happy and excited about and what areas of your life that you wish looked differently,” she says. “Then you can create your wellness or glow-up plan from there.”
Taylor likes to break down her glow-up plan into four main quadrants: physical appearance, social, career/finances, and intellectual/spiritual. For professional and personal development in particular, she’s found success in building new connections by attending conferences and galas, joining local junior boards, and investing in a life coach in order to grow her network and build confidence.
“Having ownership of your life is such a freeing feeling,” she says. “I think there's times when you feel like a passive bystander in your own life. But life is so rewarding when you have a clear vision of what you want your life to look like; but more importantly, feel like.”
Ultimately, glowing up by the end of the year is more than just doing an internet trend to change your outward appearance — it’s about leveling up your mindset and self-concept to believe that you’re both worthy and deserving of your dream life.
If you see what you’re capable of in just 30 or 60 days, imagine what you’ll achieve when the next 365 come back around.
“I think sometimes the action comes before the thought,” she says. “Meaning that when you practice these things, you slowly begin to change how you think about yourself. If you fundamentally want to change your life and change how you view yourself, committing to small actions and identifying changes over time will gradually transform you into that person.”
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Featured image by LaylaBird/Getty Images
Aley Arion is a writer and digital storyteller from the South, currently living in sunny Los Angeles. Her site, yagirlaley.com, serves as a digital diary to document personal essays, cultural commentary, and her insights into the Black Millennial experience. Follow her at @yagirlaley on all platforms!
'Love Island USA' Star JaNa Craig On The Reality Of Black Women On Dating Shows
Love Island USA just wrapped up its sixth season, and it has been the talk of the town. According to Nielsen, it's the No. 1 show on streaming, proving it's just as entertaining as the UK version. One of the reasons this season has been successful is due to the authentic relationships formed between the islanders in the villa.
You have the sisterhood between Serena Page, JaNa Craig, and Leah Kateb, aka PPG, and the real relationship moments between couples like Serena Page and Kordell Beckham, who were named the winners of this season. The other finalists include Leah Kateb and Miguel Harichi, Nicole Jacky and Kendall Washington, and JaNa Craig and Kenny Rodriguez.
While JaNa made it to the finale with her boo Kenny, her journey in the villa was far from perfect. Viewers saw the Las Vegas native get her heart stomped on a few times after many of her connections didn't work out.
At one point, it even looked like she was getting kicked off the island. While she had a lot of support from people watching the show, it was clear that she was in a position that many Black women on reality dating shows find themselves in: not being desired.
It has been an ongoing conversation among Black women watching reality dating shows as we see time and time again that non-Black women or racially ambiguous-looking women are often chosen over Black women, especially dark-skinned women. In a discussion with Shadow and Act, JaNa opened up about the support she received from viewers.
@cineaxries i love them 🤧 #janacraig #janaandkenny #loveislandusa #foryou #peacock #loveisland #janaloveisland #xybca #kennyloveisland #janaedit #loveislandedit #janaedits #loveislandusaedit #viral #loveislandusaseason6 #foryoupage #peacocktv
"You know what’s so crazy? I’m so grateful, because when I got my phone, the way they’re making us The Princess and The Frog…I felt honored. I will be that beautiful chocolate queen if I need to be. And the comments like 'beautiful chocolate girl,' I’m like, all Black women are beautiful. There’s the whole light skin versus dark skin, which breaks my heart. I just really don’t understand that, but I will take pride and represent us well," she said.
She also candidly discussed her experience as a dark-skinned Black woman on the show. JaNa and Serena had been in the villa since the first episode, and they were the only dark-skinned Black women there. As new men aka bombshells came into the villa, they found themselves not being wanted by many of them.
"Me and Serena literally had a heart-to-heart before Kenny came in and she’s like, I just don’t think it’s fair that the Black girls don’t get enough fair chance.' Every islander that came in, we were not their top pick. And we just [thought], maybe because we’re Black girls, and the dark-skinned Black girls. It sucked," she said.
"I’m like, 'Serena, we know what we bring to the table. We’re great personalities. A guy’s going to come in for us.' That’s when we manifested what we wanted, and that’s when I manifested Kenny."
@ashleyvera__ We love to see it 🥰 #loveislandusa #loveisland #loveisland2024 #janaandkenny #loveislandseason6 #peacock #realitytv #fypage
After many failed connections, Kenny came in and immediately turned JaNa's experience around. America watched the model get the care and attention that she deserved.
"I’m not going to hold you. When I was in the bottom for a quick second, I’m like, ‘There’s no way America doesn’t [ride for us]. I know Black America had to ride for me, but maybe because I’m a dark-skinned … hmm … maybe … you feel me? And you saw the Casa Amor lineup. Beautiful, beautiful light-skinned [women]," she said.
"We looked at each other like, 'Damn, Love Island did their big one with this. And every single Casa Amor girl was like, 'You girls are gorgeous, you guys are stunning.' They expressed love. You guys are beautiful and it felt good."
Although she and Kenny came in third place, JaNa is happy that she got her man in the end. "I think the thing I’m most grateful about is the fact that this is a beautiful love story like you guys complement each other and there’s no hate toward the skin color. It’s all love and support. I love that more than anything," she said.
"That’s why I was like, 'I won,' even though I didn’t win. And the fact that Serena won, we were like, 'Yeah, run that.' Either way, we won. And I love the support from all communities."
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'Industry' Star Myha'la Herrold Reveals Fiancé Slid In Her DMs After Watching Her On The Show
Myha'la Herrold is on a high while promoting HBO Max's series Industry. She plays Harper Stern, a tenacious recent graduate competing for a job at an investment bank in London. Now in its third season, Industry is garnering more and more buzz, and thanks to the show, Myha'la's star is on the rise. But that's not the only thing the Bodies Bodies Bodies actress has to thank the show for. The series led her to meet her now fiancé, Armando Rivera.
While visiting Late Night with Seth Meyers, she detailed the hilarious DM exchange between her and Armando and their engagement. "Season one comes out; it's deep Covid, 2020. And of course, I'm alone, and everyone is like, oh my god, are you having so much fun? The show's come out. I'm like, yeah, I'm literally alone," she said.
"So, of course, I'm going through my requests, and there's some great things, some like congratulations, some feet pic requests, some weird stuff--and there was just one that said, 'congrats on the show. I'm a huge fan. I wish you all the success in the world or something like that. And I said thank you, and the next day, I woke up to a string of video messages."
Myha'la Herrold and Armando Rivera
Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images
While she was annoyed by the number of video messages she received, one look at his profile picture had her singing a different tune. One of the videos Armando sent Myha'la was asking to interview her for a class project, and she decided to do it.
"The next day, we hopped on a Zoom and we were meant to be on five, ten minutes. Forty minutes goes by and he stops the recording, and then I was like, 'so where are you from?' Embarrassing," she said. "We hoped off and I was like 'oh, I'm in love with a stranger. How weird."
After following up with him about his class project, they continued to DM each other, and after three weeks, he asked for her number. They had FaceTime dates, and a month later, they finally met in person.
"Three and a half years later, he proposed, and now we're gonna get married," she said happily.
In a separate interview with Marie Claire, the 28-year-old revealed that Armando proposed to her in the doorway of their apartment, and they exchanged matching sterling silver rings from a vintage shop. “I tried on some sparkly things, diamonds, and it just didn't feel right on my body,” she said. Congrats to the two love birds.
Check out the full Late Night with Seth Meyers interview below.
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Feature image by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images