Jasmine Nicole

When I was in middle school we used to have this expectation that when another student was speaking, we had to track them.

So we actually had to turn and face them while they were talking and say “track” as a class because it affirmed the fact that we were doing it. It was the way we showed respect to our classmates and, for our benefit, it made it so that we were paying attentions during important class discussions.

At 12 years old, I sometimes hated it. It was tedious and I felt like I should be able to carry on doing what I was doing because my I thought my attention wasn’t dependent on my optic focus. Now at 31, I understand.

When we fix out eyes on something whether literally or figuratively, we give it our full attention.

I’m still a little like the 12 year old me; a bit defiant and I’m not always tracking what I should be giving my respect and attention to. And as a result, I fail sometimes.

My year has been sprinkled with failures, and looking back, I know I wasn’t tracking. I know my full attention wasn’t given to things I claimed I wanted so bad but didn’t have the focus to make it happen.

The beauty in today, though, is that focus for new goals is on the horizon. An opportunity to track and stay on track.

I have goals bigger than I ever dreamed up for 2026 and there’s some fear deep down that I won’t be able to do what I plan to do.

But there’s a young girl inside of me who is very familiar with staying focused on what she didn’t always deem important. So I know this woman can focus on what’s most important.