Productive Positivity: There’s more to your hustle than a good attitude
We’ve come to an interesting time of the year. The first month of 2018 is over, and now we decide whether our resolutions are worth sticking to. If you’re not the type to make “resolutions”, you’re probably evaluating your progress with personal goals. Regardless of what you call it, I think it’s safe to say that everyone is in a reflective state of mind. It comes with the territory of February.
That said, so does disappointment. Many of us aren’t where we thought we’d be by now, and it’s discouraging.
The easiest thing to do at this stage of the process is walk away, and I don’t blame you! Self-growth can be exhausting. It makes sense to stop investing in things that no longer inspire you the way they once did. When things get hard, it’s time to let some of that #selflove kick in, and take a break. Right? Wrong.
The reality is, ambition and failure go hand in hand. If you’re trying to move out of your comfort zone, you have to get uncomfortable – and that doesn’t always go according to plan.
You’ve probably been bombarded with motivational quotes since the new year began, all insisting that you can achieve anything you put your mind to. That all it takes is a positive mindset. That if you want this to be your year, you can simply will it into existence.
Positivity is a healthy foundation for you to build your hustle on, but it’s not the only aspect of goal-setting. You need more than that. I feel like these days, not enough discussion is centered around nitty-gritty details, simply because they aren’t aesthetically pleasing. The truth is, overcoming ugly parts of your journey makes the story worth telling. When you can challenge yourself to stick with something once its charm wears off, that’s where the real growth happens.
Let me be the first to say that I absolutely support prioritizing self-care and making healthy choices — it’s literally what I’m all about. If things are getting to the point where they severely affect your mental health, take a step back.
If, however, you’re “just not feeling it anymore”, think about why. Then realize that there’s a fine line between loving yourself and coddling yourself. Loving yourself means aiming to accomplish things that you know will make your soul happy, and pacing yourself along the way. Coddling yourself starts off the same, but it ends like this: reality sets in, things get hard, you claim “you don’t need this”, and you quit.
Here’s the thing. It’s amazing that we’re ambitious. We have high hopes, and genuinely want to do great things for this world. We just need to realize that it’s not supposed to be easy. You need to be aware of your shortcomings to figure out where you need to grow. This means facing the fact that you are not the #boss the internet said you were — but you can be! That’s the beauty of having goals in the first place.
When this year began, I told myself I would write regularly, and channel some of that effort into a blog. I sealed the deal by putting it on my vision board, and basked in momentary pride. One month went by, and I had published absolutely nothing. It wasn’t a lack of intention or laziness that was holding me back; it was the fear that my writing was not worth sharing.
Now, I’ve decided that my writing doesn’t have to be perfect for people to read it. I recognize that I am a work in progress, and my goals are not a to-do list that can be checked off overnight. It’s going to take time, but these posts will get better.
I hope you adopt a similar mindset when things don’t pan out the way you expect. Chances are, they’re going to take a completely different direction and bring challenges you could have never foreseen. But don’t let that stop you. The key is to embrace the unfamiliar with relentless ferocity, and own it. You’re a work in progress, and there’s so much to learn that can fuel your journey. Use your positive attitude to get comfortable with the uncomfortable, and slay the rest of 2018 away.
For those of you who have made it to the end: Thank you so much for making my first post a part of your day. Stay tuned for more!
