What Makes It Worth It?
My Personal Insights, November 2022
Yesterday I was in my bath and reflecting about where I was a year ago.
It's been one year since my first bigger burnout episode since I first burned out in 2017, but somehow I currently feel worse than a year ago - at least physically and health wise.
Thoughts running through my head: "You're a failure", "When will you get yourself back together?!", "When will you finally learn and completely heal from burnout?!"
It's hard to face the fact that I was feeling better, stronger, healthier and in a better place professionally, financially and personally 1 or 2 years ago, despite the fact that I'm older and "wiser" now. It hurts…
But then a thought came:
"Think about what you’ve learned this year. From November 2021 to November of 2022."
And I soon realized: The struggles were worth it.
Knowledge, experience and insights are invaluable and often come only through hard and challenging times.
I still often wonder if I made a mistake to quit my regular job, because this year really hasn't been easy for me. But then I think that if I hadn't taken the leap into the unknown, I'd still be in the same place, at the same job, dealing with the same problems and without all these experiences and personal insights I've gained while going through the challenges of this year.
As cliche as it sounds, failure is the way to grow.
What makes it worth all the struggles, challenges and hard times are the lessons that you learn and can then share with the world.
It's like the classic lesson from the Hero's journey where the protagonist goes through hell and all the different troubles to get the treasure, bring it back home and share it with his tribe.
My prompt for you today is to change your perspective.
Whenever you feel like your progress has stopped or you feel like you're not moving anywhere, look where you were 1, 2, 5 or 10 years ago. Reflect about what you’ve learned in this time. Think about all the lessons, insights, findings and discoveries you gained and how much you’ve grown.
All too often we see only the current problems and difficulties, so that we forget what we have overcome and how far we have come. So when we’re stuck in that place in our minds, something as small as a change of perspective can provide us with new insights and really change our state of mind and being.
Don't take anything for granted. Be proud of yourself and all your achievements.
That’s it for this edition of “My Personal Insights” . I hope you enjoyed it, found it interesting and insightful!
If you missed my previous personal insights, you can check them out in the link below:
Take care, talk to you again next week!
Thank you Livio!
There are some many things I've learned this year, I'm planning on making an article at the end of the year with a review of my year and everything I learned.
On top of my mind, one thing that really stands out is how my internal patterns, stored emotions and traumas have been negatively affecting my health and well-being and how important it was and still is to deal with them.
Thanks for sharing, Jani. I can recongnise myself in this.
Would you share some of the things you have learned in this last year?
I would put resilience at the top of my list.