the path to resilience ep16.0
Obviously this newsletter/blog/splurge of ideas tends to be focused on resilience, I mean, it’s in the name.
I haven’t been the most resilient as of late. Things have been, challenging. Last week I talked about maintaining a level head amidst chaos, how that is what toughness is. I recently started reading “Do Hard Things’ by Steve Magness. It’s an incredible book, and a lot of what he talks about I can relate to. This quote in particular:
“Real toughness is experiencing discomfort or distress, leaning in, paying attention, and creating space to take thoughtful action. It’s maintaining a clear head to be able to make the appropriate decision. Toughness is navigating discomfort to make the best decision you can.”
The part I personally have been focusing in on is “creating space to take thoughtful action.” I’ve found recently, amidst a flurry of life challenges, that thoughtful action is incredibly important.
Everyone goes through hard things, but taking a breath, and deciding the next steps can make the difference between growth, or catastrophe.
I’ve spent a lot of time deep in thought recently, thinking about work. Building a company isn’t easy, but after some consistent effort I can feel the needle moving in some big ways. About myself, who I am and who I’m becoming. I forget sometimes that I’m 22. That failure is okay, and mistakes happen.
I have storm clouds tattooed on my arm. The original idea behind it is a simple reminder. “Into the storm, through the storm.” The storm will pass. It always does.
I got to see a mentor of mine the other day, as always it was great to see him. We caught up, talked about life. As I was leaving our conversation he said something fairly simple, “this too shall pass.” And I’ll tell you what, he’s right. I don’t think he realized how essential that phrase was for me.
Did you know that cyclones in the south pacific ocean are vital for the ecosystem? It’s pretty nuts. Basically a cyclone comes around and brings more oxygen to the living things way below the ocean’s surface. But without these storms, those species would go extinct, and that would have a drastic impact on the rest of the ecosystem.
Long winded way of saying that storms are vital for survival and growth. It’s the same for us, and me.
But it sucks, there’s no denying that.
If I’ve learned anything in the last few months of taking resilience seriously, is that it’s a decision. It’s a choice to maintain that level head, that smile and calmness.
Here’s to the storms.
See ya next week.