Skip to main content

Self-Awareness & Growth


 

I'm sure seeing the title made some people cringe.

Are these not some of the biggest buzzwords over the last 5 years? On one hand, I am sure a lot of people are frustrated with the avalanche of "self-improvement advice", I am sure that there are feelings of aren't I already enough? Am I not already good enough.


You are 100% enough.


That is not the point of this post. My hope in writing this is that it may help you appreciate how often we are our own barriers for the success that we want. Most of us have grown up and come through systems that promote the status quo. Most people will rationalize the status quo (even when it is in conflict with their own interests) as legitimate in order to fit in and be accepted.

A popular frame for this is that it is done out of fear. That we fear the unknown, it lacks certainty so we do what we can to avoid it. The truth is you cannot fear something that you know nothing about. Your fear is coming from your perception of the unknown, the frames that you put around it. You fear the certainty of the known, of where you fit in, and of how you currently understand the world.


It's powerful once you come to appreciate that and give yourself permission to not only question more about the world around you, but your own beliefs and understanding of it.

The only way you (or anyone) can truly help yourself is by challenging your ideas.


When you are feeling frustrated with where you currently are, when you scroll social and see 'everyone' more together, more successful, happier than you are; you feel frustrated because of how you are perceiving where you should be. We start looking for a "quick fix". It must be that I need a relationship, a different relationship, more friends, less friends, a better job, etc.

The truth is you are focusing more on winning than you are playing the game. If all you think about is how to 'win' you will never be satisfied with where you are.


Start focusing on progress. 

What are your interests? What do you choose to do with your time when you have complete control? What are things that are tied to that or run parallel?

What are the parts of your job you enjoy? Is there another job that has more of that type of work? Have you looked?


You have to invest in yourself. No one can give you the answers. Life is not a math equation, there is not linear way to approach the problem and solve it (if there was, it would be a pretty boring place!).




Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Give your best stuff away

    This is an interesting and sometimes polarizing topic. One group of people believe that the more content (ideas, conversations, posts, videos, etc) that you put out into the world, the better your return is as you are connecting with more people and getting greater exposure. Another group feels that by investing all of this energy into giving away "free stuff", takes away from what you could be doing to grow your business, give to your clients or to your employer. That giving your stuff away doesn't pay the bills, so what's really the point other than feeling good. For me personally, I'm all about giving my best stuff away for free, and what follows are really my "whys". First and foremost, I don't really prescribe to the idea that anyone really has "best stuff". That's finite and fixed and I truly don't believe this applies to people the way it can be associated to things. If you are a miner, and you m...
Post a Comment
Read more

How to Avoid the 'Quick Fix' Lure of Technology That's Stifling Your Creativity

  We live in a world that is obsessed with solving problems with a system or technology. How many times have you hear someone [basically] say "let's get an app for that"? Crazy. I'm all for shiny new things. I love my toys as much as you do.  Rarely however does that new systems, application or software suite fix any of the underlying issues. When was the last time you started using something new, either in your personal or professional life, and it immediately fixed your problem and you changed nothing about what you are doing. Often, what ends up happening, is that as businesses look to implement some new tech, they also end up having to change HOW they are doing things. The changes that are made to core processes is what drives the success. Using your phone to track your steps, your sleep, your workout or to even help you write. Pause for a second, think about any of those situations.  Tracking your steps and setting daily goals means that you are actually walking ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Delicate Dichotomy of “The Right Choice”

  The Best Decision Isn’t Always as Obvious as It Seems Your success at work is correlated to the quality of your relationships. Easy right? It’s common sense. You might even be wondering who doesn’t already know this. The challenge isn’t about attitude though. You’re right, nobody likes the as%ho^e — Don’t be that person. The challenge comes when you have to choose between being right or making the right choice. The Problem My team and I had been working on a large project that had been pushed back multiple times over the years. The market finally got to a point where the problem in the field had to be addressed. We dusted off our files and started looking at the information we had built 3 years prior. We made our plans for what needed to be refreshed and how we would go about it. We cut through the project quickly. The team had matured a lot in that time and those roadblocks from the past were mere pebbles on the road this time around. Cue the problem. The fundamental assumptions...
Post a Comment
Read more