What would you tell your younger self?
I was recently on a call with a lovely lady who is coming to the end of her studies and preparing to join the workforce. She had booked a call with me via Insidery for some 'real talk' on what it's like and sent me some of her questions in advance.
One question, in particular, got me thinking. "How did you overcome challenges along the way?"
I pondered this. It's a great question.
During our call, we talked far more broadly than simply answering 'how did I?'
I shared learnings about perspective... how over the years I had observed that challenges that had often felt big at the time were quickly replaced by the next week’s drama. How many did I remember and still feel the pain of a month later? a year later? 5 years later? In the scheme of things very few.
I shared that upon reflection I did not always handle challenges well in my early days, pushing through with brute force and sheer stubbornness rather than with skill and empathy.
That with age and experience I handled challenges better and had become more aware of my triggers BUT was still imperfect. That I learned from observing others around me and time in the role. That every time I changed my role and company I learned more.
And more than anything I had finally realised those BIG, BIG challenges which had felt earth shattering at the time had turned out to be part of the journey. They were in fact on the way, not in the way.
It got me thinking, what would you tell your younger self?
