This past weekend, I felt very bad and unmotivated. The burnout was starting to overwhelm me beyond my control. Aside from being sad, I felt useless.
I felt stuck on all the planes of my life. My career and personal goals felt like they didn’t make sense and were more of a filler than an actual driver for my life. At the moment, I sat in my feelings, which is normally fine. However, at that moment, I got deeper into the state of emotionlessness. I couldn’t talk or open up about it. Everything appeared to be too much to deal with.
The next day, I felt better. When my partner asked me through text how I was, I said I was feeling okay, but not much better. He simply wrote, “Baby steps”. This is exactly what I needed to hear to bounce back.
Nothing is permanent
Whether it’s pain and suffering or happiness and success, everything passes. When underperforming or feeling down about something, it is important to remember that this is not what identifies you as a person.
This being said, just because you are not good at using Excel doesn’t mean you are a bad employee or a bad person in general. It just means you are learning day-by-day, task-by-task, how to do it. Learning and getting better takes time, but eventually, you will get better.
There is no point in being disappointed in yourself from the beginning. It is impossible to stay bad as long as you care to improve.
Slow progress is still progress
Hustle culture and all the self-made entrepreneurs and/or influencers have put a lot of pressure on how I see progress. No matter where I start, I have to start doing well as soon as possible—actually, now if possible.
In the conquest of fame, recognition, and “becoming the best version of yourself,” it is hard to lose yourself in the process. Isn’t becoming better at something supposed to feel enjoyable, almost like a hobby?
The way social media is promoting working on some professional skills creates a false sense of urgency that feels forced and fake. While learning new skills, I should still maintain and practice the old ones, which makes the progress slower than if I’d had all the time in the world to learn and practice the new ones.
Taking it slow and appreciating the progress as it is, even if not at the speed you originally thought you would advance, is something to enjoy and be happy about.
Create space for mistakes
Growing means failing multiple times. As a baby, you probably fell multiple times. This is not because you wanted it. Your muscles and bones had to gain strength, your balance had to catch up with your desire to get from point A to point B, you had to teach yourself to grab things in case you felt like falling, and you even had to learn how to fall in a way that won’t hurt so much next time.
So many baby steps (literally). But allowing you to sometimes do bad is essential. I am not the one to tell you that negative information is way more memorable for us. Like it or not, it is essential to do badly for you to evolve. Not only are mistakes a great way to teach yourself how to do better, but they also lead you to insights that are working for you and might not have been put on any instruction yet.
Conclusion
Letting go of the feeling of urgency and permanence can unlock a new sense of motivation to go back to your goals. If you are feeling down or stuck, it is important to shift your focus away from the future and see what you can do now. Let yourself make mistake and learn how to enjoy it! After all, failing is the getaway to new insights about your journey!
Success!
Photo by Nout Gons: https://www.pexels.com/photo/road-in-city-during-sunset-248159/
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