EP.13/ How To Thrive Through Growing Pains
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Typically as a new year approaches, we pick a set of goals and set a timeline to reach these goals. But the thing that we tend to not consider is the growing pains that come with the exponential growth we’re seeking in the new year. This is what this episode is about! Today we’re touching on 3 tips to help you thrive through growing pains and help you reach a more evolved and capable you.
Here’s what we cover in this episode:
I’ve outlined 4 essential tips in this episode to help you learn not only to embrace the growing pains but to capitalize on them. In order for these tips to work their full potential, it’s important to be open to being honest with yourself, accept your flaws, be kind to yourself and be willing to practice these exercises to achieve a more confident and capable you.
1) How social media hinders us from understanding our growth
In an insta-perfect world, it’s easy to feel victimized and alone when something bad happens to us. The problem with how we live now in the digital era of perfection is we feel that any attack or threat is personal and direct. We feel we don’t deserve the pain and suffering that comes with life, and we wallow in self-pity and suffering, feeling utterly alone and deserted. But one unarguable fact that we all (myself included) sometimes forget is that we are all equal in the sense that we are human and therefore will inevitably suffer some sort of pain and discomfort.
The real power comes in recognizing that, and capitalizing on it. Recognizing that life will eventually be challenging, and acknowledging that struggles will eventually find us, helps us become more prepared and resilient when these challenges arise. We will naturally rise to the challenge and find ways to cope and grow from the pain. It’s a truly humbling experience.
As children, we’re all told we’re unique and that everything will be okay. And although this is said with only the best intentions at heart, this constant repetition that we’re special and exempt from suffering eventually hurts us and makes us more susceptible to falling and drowning. We must change the paradigm and instead of asking “why me?” when a challenge arises, ask ourselves why not me – “what makes me especially exempt from the challenges of life?” – and take on the challenge with grace and confidence, knowing you are capable of handling whatever is at hand.
2) The Importance Of Caring for yourself
Self-care comes in many different shapes and forms. I find that the idea of self-care that frequently gets attention is the face-mask-bath-wine-time self-care. Although this is an essential part of self-care, and particularly one of my favourites, it’s not all of it.
Self-care also means doing things that are uncomfortable to reach a whole new level of self. Especially when we’re in a growing phase.
This can mean different things for each of you. It might mean showing up to the gym when you much rather be at home in a blanket watching your favourite show, it might mean choosing the healthier option rather than mindlessly snacking or ordering in, it might mean sitting down with yourself and writing down what parts of your life you feel you need to focus on, what your plans are or where you see yourself in the future. For each of us, it’s something different, but it’s that nagging feeling in the back of our head that tells us “please take care of me, I need you now more than ever”.
Ignoring this part of you that so deeply craves care and attention, eventually numbs you and makes you complacent, tired and frustrated with life. You can start feeling self-destructive, and convince yourself nothing you do will fix the problem you feel so deep.
By choosing to care for each part of you, by showing up for yourself and doing the uncomfortable work as well as the gentle and loving care that you need, you can tap into a whole new potential of yourself that you may otherwise not have known existed.
3) Finding the balance.
It’s easy to get caught up in the moment and “drama” of the world. We tend to consume news and information that isn’t always beneficial for ourselves. Finding balance and reconnecting with every part of your life is necessary to keep your head in the game and to embrace growing into a more evolved you. I’m not going to lie, I myself struggle with this point the most. I feel the reason why is because I convince myself that in order to find the balance I have to fully disconnect from everything completely. I’ve quickly learned the opposite.
Balance is just as it’s described; “an even distribution of weight enabling someone or something to remain steady” in this case, we want to feel steady and in control of our lives considering all the madness around us.
See, finding your own balance isn’t about trying to distract yourself with random things to disconnect. Finding balance simply means evenly distributing the weight, the weight of every aspect of your life, including:
Maintaining deep connections with loved ones/family
You time
Goals & Personal Projects
Health & Wellness (sleeping well – at a decent time, eating healthy, working out, etc.)
Lifestyle & Activities (snowboarding classes, hiking, hanging out with friends, etc.)
Keeping a balance considering all aspects of your life can be challenging to maintain. One tool that helps me a lot is having a daily journal or calendar that I fill in every morning including at least 1 task of each category. This way you actually achieve your goals and projects more efficiently at the given timeline you intended, and all of your other needs are being met as you acknowledged their importance and set aside specific timeframes for each one.
It might sound far-fetched right now, but once you try this you’ll surprise yourself how fulfilling life is once you’re living every part of it, not just the “project/goal/work” part.
4) Showing up for the world & others.
Showing up for others and the world can add so much fulfillment to your life. Not only is it a “good thing to do” it can also bring you joy, reduce your stress levels and give you a sense of gratitude for your own life/situation.
I know right now it feels daunting and we almost feel guilty for taking a step back and showing up for what’s physically around us at this moment, especially when we know in the back of our heads that there is so much wrong happening in the world. But in order to make a difference in the world, to embrace the uncomfortable, to grow despite the challenges, we need to take on the approach of stubborn optimism – acknowledge the bad, be aware of the problems, but be stubbornly optimistic to change the narrative, to change the way things are and to make it better.
Ending Note:
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