This is something extremely personal to me as I write down, I wonder how many times days I have spent in anxiety just because of the following sentences like:
Start earning with 10K, then why don’t you earn like Priya. Her monthly salary is 50K.
Buy a one-bedroom flat and hear people say, “Have you seen Priya’s new bungalow? It’s so beautiful and well-decorated.”
Why can’t you be like her?
I wonder why I can’t be me all the time. everyone has their own time to do their own thing. A moment spent on thinking good thoughts and anxious ridden thoughts are not a waste, so how could be doing the best you can do for yourself be?
This rat-race will never end, the world will say more and more but all you must do is listen to your inner self. Life won’t go as planned; shit happens but it goes on. No one can fit in your shoes, so why you expect everyone to understand you. Whether, the world understands you or not is none of your business. However, how to stop this constant exploration of anxiety that comes handy with the rat-race, the human kind offers. Let us drive into details.
1. Be prepared to work hard
The day you decide to choose yourself and put all your time, effort and life to your goal is the day you release how difficult it is to take a step. I remember while I was doing my graduation, people were like, “Why have you scored in 57% in English Literature? You can’t even score 60%. That’s such a shame.”
Sometimes, things don’t go as planned, focusing on one step gives you clarity towards the next one. The amount of focus, dedication and determination required to do your work in a good and bad manner requires courage. Later, I did go through ups and downs that were reflected in my examination’s score but it is perfectly normal. In the end, I managed to score above 60%, so let’s celebrate it.
2. Be you
In the constant murmur of the world around you, it’s difficult to find your own distinct voice and identity. If being yourself means being alone, so don’t worry. Even your own shadow leaves you in the crowd, being alone takes bravery. Why?
This is because in the silence, we can retrospect who we are, what we are doing and how. It enables one to slow down, process the things at their own pace and face their own inner demons. Being a person who has procrastinated a lot of times, it has given me an option to reflect about how my health issues slowed my work and take accountability instead of complaining.
Be open-minded, know various perspectives but the ultimate decision of who you choose to become is completely up to you. In my initial year of making English language reels, I did try to imitate others in the same field. As you have guessed, it has completely diminished my confidence to the very core. They had so many followers but I didn’t. Their videos get so many views but mine didn’t. It left me utterly unsatisfied as a result of which I quit after a year. Again, I decided to give it a shot but now, as I am growing, I am learning new things like digital marketing, video editing, poster making and of course, English in depth. Soon, I will be back but slow and steady wins the race because it helps us to analyze, correct and then progress towards our goal.
3. Take risks
Embrace your failures as well as your successes. Life goes on from ups and downs but the most essential thing is to listen to your inner calling. The one that says yes when the world says no. The one that says go left when the world says go right. In the process of doing so, if you make mistakes, it’s fine, no one is perfect, you cannot be right all the time. It is a part of life.
The great stories are built with conflict, one trouble after another until it reaches its peak and then the tension begins if the conflict will end or not. Yet a story is a story, isn’t it? If in the books, the imperfections are so acceptable so why can’t it be so in real life. However, the happy ending and the happy ever after doesn’t exists. Remember that. Accept. forgive and live your life because this moment is yours and yours only. It doesn’t belong to anyone’s else.
4. Keep learning
Learning is a never-ending process that never ends. If you feel like, you know everything, boom, I’m sure you will come across things that you don’t know. Even after years of learning English, my English language teaching journey is filled with days of self-doubt and anxiety about my teaching. There are many things that I have read and learned but knowing a thing and doing a thing does have some differences. Even after spending a year of gaining experiences, no two days remain the same.
5. Add value
Know what is significant for you, you may forget the things learned in the book but you will never forget how to do a thing. In the kitchen, when our mothers teach us the recipe of cooking something say a chicken curry, we forget about how many tablespoons of spices we need to add but we do remember the taste and use our intuition to cook accordingly. The same goes for your life itself.
In the fast-paced world, it is important to remember to add value to your life and as usual retrospect. The responsibilities in your life will never go away. The addition of work-life balance is important so does taking some time for yourself to invest in things that you love doing. We call it self-care.
We don’t need to follow the crowd but we need to do the things that are essential for your well-being. Instead of comparing, focus on yourself and the things that matter to you.
The rat-race will never go but you can decide to exclude yourself if you want. You can decide to live in the moment instead of peeping into other’s life. This is how you add value to your life.
In one word, add clarity in your life, do your work instead of waiting for others. Forget the rat-race of this human world, be a human first. Know your strengths and weakness. Do your work in your timeline. Life will never be perfect but you can always do your best regardless of where you are and what you are doing.
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