No one goes through adversity thinking, “Wow, I would sure like to repeat that again.”
Yet, the lessons learn can carry throughout your life.
What’s difficult then is to not make things a big deal every time something “bad” happens. We just don’t know what’s good or bad for us. What will be learned. What course correction it makes.
What we can count on is that humans are adverse to change. We can’t stand it. And change is the constant.
We get so wrapped up in our own stories and narratives that we forget that others have felt the same way we do.
Everyone has felt loss, grief, loneliness, dissatisfaction, disappointment, depression, sadness, anxiety, pain, suffering…
You are not alone. The bravest thing we can do is to acknowledge this fact.
What we find detestable is what we define as less than human.
The culture pushes us to optimize everything.
As a result, we become aware of how we “spend” our time.
Leisure is no longer leisure.
If our brains are always turned on, then it becomes wrong to ever turn them off, which has a negative effect on us.
It is important to know who you are talking to and have someone in mind who will pick up your piece.
Writing might still be one of the hardest skills anyone who teaches needs to hone, even in the digital AI sphere.
Once we clarify our words and ideas, we can put them into action for others to see.
You are more than a resume. A resume is a tool for interviewers to sort out candidates, an excuse to point out what’s missing, not what’s there.
Instead, we need to point to a large body of work—a lifetime of projects or portfolio showing the work you do.
I finally had time to organize all my projects under one roof, and I was also surprised to have forgotten some of the hits along the way. It’s a good reminder of what you have accomplished and a signal of what you are doing next.
7 years of projects (and counting):
The difficulty in being content is with the constant bombardment of seeing more.
More clicks, more likes, more money, more experiences…
Once we achieve so much convenience, we become conditioned to think faster and more is better.
What’s left isn’t the next buy but what we create.
While capitalism is built on scsrcity, what isnt scarce is in what you create.
The combinations of keystrokes is indeed endless.
It’s impossible for humans to focus on two separate thoughts at the same time. We can switch between them quite rapidly but cannot hold them simultaneously.
We can also use this to our advantage. Perhaps the best tip I have ever heard on sleeping is to put on something that can occupy that space of thought while trying to sleep or when you wake up in the middle of the night.
Some people will put on old television show episodes, but for me, the best thing has been listening to audiobooks by Pema Chodron. If you have a partner you don’t want to wake, use headphones and have it cued up before going to bed.
Remember, there’s no button to force sleep. You can’t control it or turn it on. You must perform it by “faking it until you make it.” It’s an act of surrender. Looking at the time, looking at the screen, stressing about the process, or worrying about how little you are getting…all make it worse. Sleep is truly the practice of letting go. This is a very difficult lesson for all of us.
Watching children gladly smash a bug, it’s a reminder that violence is in our nature. It’s so much easier to destroy, kill, tear down than it is to build up, love, and be empathetic. Without someone to show us the way, and too many of us don’t have the kind of role models around us, we are left to discover this path on our own.
These important skills are not talents. It isn’t something we are born with. In the age of the internet, exponential technology, and AI—we need more leaders—not less. Even if all the menial tasks are done and convenience is a click away, we will still need to someone to connect us.
When we are worried about our job—we are anxious.
When we are worried that are work doesn’t belong—that is shame.
When we can’t sleep because we are worried about the outcome—this is fear.
Again and again the same problems continue to plague humans. The trick then becomes not to solution of problems but to become the type of resilient person that can withstand the constant bombardment of challenges we face.
(And of course, most problems we face are not as bad as we imagine.)
Josh Allred's Blog 