Estimated reading time: 5 minutes, 7 seconds
Growth often costs something.
Sacrifice often precedes success.
Perhaps the things you're losing are making room for who you're becoming.
Let’s check out today’s Illustration:
At first glance, this tree looks like it's dying.
Its leaves are falling, its branches are bare, and everything appears to be in decline.
But we know that’s not the end of the story, right?
Spring is coming, and leaves will soon be blooming again, perhaps even more beautiful than before.
Loss isn't always the end of the story. Sometimes it's simply part of the process of growth.
Trees shed their leaves because they need to.
In the same way, we often have to let go of things that once served us so that we can grow into the next season of our lives.
Let’s check out today’s Saying:
"To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often."
Growth doesn’t happen by staying exactly as we are.
It requires change and change asks us to let go of something before we can become something new.
I recently had the opportunity to visit my old college.
Walking through the same corridors after over a decade was a strange experience.
It made me reflect on just how much has changed since I was a student there.
That journey hasn't been straightforward.
It's included struggles with my mental health, discovering a new sense of purpose, getting married, building Wisdom Made Easy and becoming a father.
Looking back, I realised that growth has always involved some kind of loss.
I've had to let go of old identities, unhealthy habits, addictions, limiting beliefs, and versions of myself that no longer reflected the person I felt called to become.
If I'm honest, I'd like to think I'm almost unrecognisable compared to the young fool who left that college twelve years ago.
Not because I'm better, but because I've kept growing.
So, if you’re desperate to experience growth, here are 3 important reminders to hold on to:
Let Go to Grow
We often want growth without sacrifice.
But every new season asks us to leave something behind.
Sometimes that's a habit, a vice or just an old identity that no longer serves us.
Don't Confuse Loss with Failure
Losing something isn't always a sign you've gone backwards.
Sometimes it's evidence that you're moving forwards.
The friendships, routines, or identities that no longer fit may simply have served their purpose for that season of life.
Keep becoming
Growth isn't about arriving at a perfect version of yourself.
It's about continually becoming.
When you view it as a journey rather than a destination, the decisions and sacrifices that you have to make feel more purposeful than painful.
Let’s dive deeper into today’s wisdom with these 3 journal prompts:
What part of my life might I need to let go of in order to continue growing?
If I met the version of myself from ten years ago, what would have changed the most?
What kind of person do I hope people see when they meet me ten years from now?
Today’s resource is The Last Dance.
Whilst this a basketball documentary on the surface, there’s a narrative of continual reinvention, sacrifice and the cost of pursuing excellence over many years.
I wonder how you’d interpret this. Check it out and let me know your thoughts!
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Catch you in the next issue!
Thanks,
Michael