'I think I want to drop out.' My son says to me. He's just started a coding assignment in the military. Out of the 7 selected for this unit, he's the only one without any coding experience. 'I'm slowing everyone down. They're all ahead in the assignments.' When things get hard, it's natural to feel like giving up. So I asked him, 'Is this something you want to learn and do?' 'Yes.' he said. So I said, 'Then you'll have to be prepared it will be hard in the beginning because you're trying to learn something in 2 weeks which they took 2 years to do. What can you do to make it easier?' I don't know the answers, but I hope it's planted some ideas in his head to go look for solutions and find a way to make what he wants work. Like my son, we all face challenging times. It feels so much easier to give up. But giving up is the last thing you want to do when things get hard. It's the surest way to live a small, limited life that gets harder and harder because your ability to handle hard things shrinks. Life will always present you with challenges. Every time you give up, your life gets smaller. Conversely, every time you rise to the occasion, you grow and expand a little bit. Your ability to handle more expands. Soon, big challenges become smaller challenges. Life gets easier, more enjoyable, and more fulfilling. You feel more confident and powerful. When things feel hard, it's because your brain is making new neural pathways. Your brain is restructuring itself. You're getting smarter and mentally stronger to handle more so life becomes easier. Everything that we find easy now was once hard to do. What you want to accomplish but haven't yet is no different. One thing that's helped me get through these hard times is journaling through the difficult emotions and frustrations. I'm showing you how I do it this Thursday. Steal it, copy it, make it your own. Then use it to go do the hard thing to get what you want! Sign up HERE. See you soon. Sharon |
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Hi Reader, I ended up the breadwinner, and started a business on the side of my job out of necessity. I had a 6-figure business debt, school going kids to support, my husband wasn't able to work, and I to leave an untenable work situation meaning we had no income. Sounds dramatic, and it definitely caused a lot of stress and anxiety at the time. But that was also when I decided that I was going to get smart about money because nobody was coming to save me I also realized that being in a...
Reader, Work expands to fill the time you give it. That's Parkinson's Law. This past week, I tried giving myself 10 minutes to write my daily LinkedIn post in the mornings. It worked. It might be stressful to some, but it energized me, as I watched the timer counting down while I typed away. 10 minutes isn't a magic number - there's no research behind it. It's just what I could fit into an already early start at 4.30am after my morning routine. So now, my morning routine looks like this...
Reader, It's 9.17pm on Sunday as I'm writing this newsletter that I should have sent by 9am today. And I really didn't feel like doing this when it's almost my bedtime for an early morning start tomorrow at 4.45am. Then I remind myself - this effort is the work that's building my dream. One brick at a time. One email at a time. So here we are! Today's topic is about owning your story. Because your story has value. All the decisions you made, the actions you took, the ups and downs - they all...