Things I’ve Learned: 2021 Mid-Year Edition
3 min readJul 15, 2021
- Trust your gut. You will know the difference between natural fear and a gut feeling that something isn’t right. There are different ways of finding this out; sometimes, no matter how many times you try talking it out with friends and assuaging your fears, it still won’t feel right. That’s a gut feeling. You might feel a sense of relief when you think of leaving; that’s a gut feeling. Sometimes you just know, and the hard part isn’t the knowing but the actual accepting of and making the decision. Often, you already know the answer. All it takes is listening to yourself.
- If it’s not a hell yes, it’s a no. Don’t go through with something, or do something, “just to get it over with.” Fill your time with things that make you excited, that make you happy, that energize you and bring you peace and joy. Doing things “just to get it over with” should only be reserved for yearly medical exams.
- It’s ok to walk away from the things that don’t serve you, even if they were things you thought would be really good for you in the beginning. Think of it like beta testing. You’re not failing; you’re just discovering bugs and proceeding to adjust and see if those adjustments are successful. Sometimes you think something will be right…and it’s not. And that’s ok; just adjust and try something else. Companies don’t call this failure; they realize this is a part of developing and growing. So why shouldn’t we apply the same philosophy to our own lives?
- Sometimes the courage isn’t in “powering through”; it’s in having the strength to walk away from something that isn’t in line with your values, and having the strength to put yourself first.
- The universe will course-correct. If you were never meant to somewhere, it will find a way to show you that you need to leave. If you were meant to be someplace, the universe will give you signs. If something is not right, you will know; you will feel it.
- You don’t have to take every opportunity that comes your way. You’re allowed to say no to the ones that don’t excite you. You’re allowed to say no to the ones that won’t take you where you want to go. And you’re allowed to walk away from opportunities that seemed promising at first, but that you realized weren’t for you after all. You are never required to stay anywhere that doesn’t feel right to you.
- Being a quitter doesn’t make you a failure. Sometimes, quitting is the best decision for your mental/physical health (hey, just look at Naomi Osaka). Sometimes, quitting one thing just means making space for something much better. Trust yourself and trust what feels right.
- Nothing is worth your mental health and physical health.
- You will know the difference between the things in which you need to persevere, and the things you need to walk away from. Sometimes, all it takes is for you to listen to the reasons why you’re seeking out advice. Are you asking because you want encouragement to keep going? Or are you looking for permission to walk away, and validation that it is ok?
- Don’t worry; you will naturally want to persevere at the things that are meaningful to you; you will only want to walk away from things that no longer have value to you. When things get hard at something you love, you will want to push through the hardship, because the thing you are pursuing is something you love. If it’s something that isn’t meaningful to you, then the hardships will be just another reason why you don’t feel like this is right. Your gut will tell you everything you need to know.
- Be imaginative. When it comes to your life, your career, anything — you don’t have to follow a specific formula. You don’t have to do what everyone else does because you think that doing those things are what’s required in order to be successful. Live a life and have a career and have relationships that are in line with your values. You don’t really HAVE to do anything; the only real requirements are inhaling oxygen, exhaling carbon dioxide, eating food, and sleeping well. Everything else is optional. So be imaginative; do things your own way. If no one’s ever done it before…well, there’s a first for everything. So why not be the first?
