Hello world (or, just people who know me and read my blog every now and then). Lately I’ve been experiencing a lot of “you are amazing”, “I don’t know how you did it”, and just general admiration coming my way from friends I know and/or work with. In my heart I wholly accept these compliments, but I also have to say that it didn’t happen overnight, it’s still a work in progress, and that they can do what they love too. I felt like I was starting to repeat myself a lot so why not write about it here.
A lot of these people (you included maybe) haven’t known me for very long. Ask my best friends about how long I’ve been working toward figuring out my path and they would say it’s been going on my whole life. Yes, seriously my whole life. Years and years of doubting myself, years of quitting, exploring, and monthly breakdowns about my lack of direction. Read this and this and this and you’ll see what I’m saying.
After much contemplation and struggle, here are the keys to success (that sounds real cheesy) I’ve learned over the last few years.
Be patient.
Seriously, be patient – with others and especially with yourself. Nothing happens overnight. People don’t change overnight. And life doesn’t change after a single “eureka!” moment. It happens after millions of small steps, each just a tad closer to the life you wanted. It’s okay to be in a state of growth and transition. After all, that’s just life.
Listen to yourself.
If something is really bothering you or you’re constantly wanting something different, don’t ignore it. Sometimes it feels impossible to know what your heart wants and that’s okay. But do something about it. Yes, be patient, but like… don’t just sit there! Make an effort to make what small changes you can to improve your life and improve yourself. Even if it’s just taking one hour every week to sit in a cafe to enjoy your favorite caffeinated drink. Do the things that will nourish your heart and your soul.
If it’s hard, then you can probably learn something from it.
This one I would have to say mainly comes from my boyfriend. Through all the struggles, he always reminds me that despite not being my ideal situation, what I have is what I have to learn from. There are valuable lessons to be learned and the people who surround you will be the ones to lift you up, so don’t take that for granted. Open your eyes to what’s around you and make the most of where you’re at. It can only help you to become a stronger professional, a stronger person.
Appreciate what you have.
Live in the small moments of beauty. Things could be so much worse.
Talk it out.
As evidenced by all my introspective blog posts, you can see that I think about my life and my growth… a lot. And I’ve probably talked about it 100x more with my colleagues and friends. So don’t bottle things up. If you have to talk it out, then talk it out. Find someone who is willing to listen or is going through a similar situation and give yourself permission to vent. Sometimes those talks really lead to figuring out what you want for yourself.
Alright, that’s all I got for now. You definitely have the capacity to shape your life into the life you’ve always wanted. You just have to make the decision to take those small steps forward and know that it may be 50 or 50,000 steps more to wind up where you wanted to be. Either is okay, as long as you don’t give up.
