I’ve written recently about a new quest I’m on personally. The gist of it is that I’m learning to trust myself more. As I mentioned before, I haven’t always been the reasonably responsible person I am these days. Once upon a time, I dropped the ball frequently. Had a hard time following through.
It took decades of practice to become more disciplined, more organized. These days I perform at a very high level. Heck, most days I even thrive.
But the fear never leaves me. The worry that if I cut myself slack that I’ll take it too far and revert back to my old ways, the times when I routinely disappointed myself and countless others with my flakiness and lack of followthrough. Because even though it’s been around for quite a while now, it’s hard shake the sense that the diligence and focus are precarious.
But I’ve managed to challenge those assumptions even so. And I’m pleased to find that it’s going well. Really well.
In fact, I’m happier than I’ve been in a very long time — and that’s saying something because there’s still a plague going on, hardly the best conditions for happiness.
I’m still doing quite a bit. More than enough. I haven’t broken that trust I’ve started to extend myself.
And I think I know why: It’s because I’m not focused on providing as much rest as possible. No, instead, I’m focused on my overall well-being.
This means I cut myself a break on a bad day. But this also means that I won’t just let work pile up that’s easily done. Because that’s unkind to my future self. So if I can do it easily then — and I usually can — I do it.
The key is focusing on my overall well-being and not my short-term gratification or one facet of my life to the detriment of everything else.
That holistic outlook makes all the difference.