A Reason For Spiritual Weakness In High Achievers

Something I have noticed with myself and other millennials in our generation is the impact that an over achieving mindset has on the spiritual dimension of a person.

Millennials often want to make an impact in the world yet many of us are stuck in a loop of inaction, and (unfortunately) comparing ourselves to our peers who seem to be where we want to be in life, this is particularly relevant due to social media.

We continuously dwell on what we want to do and where we will be in the future. Whether it is related to our financial careers, social influence, spirituality etc.

The issue is that we struggle to set on any given path to achieve our goals, we overthink, dabble here, try this, change that and never really put in the consistent effort to achieve something concrete.

We then judge ourselves against great people of the past and present who have done extraordinary things. Picturing ourselves in their shoes.

Why does this matter? Because when we try to be at the level of these enormously successful people (spiritually or financially) and we (obviously) aren’t there yet we punish ourselves according to their standards of performance, which causes huge damage to our self esteem.

This puts many of us in a place of extreme frustration and can give rise to spiritual diseases such as jealously and spite. We get furious with ourselves for not being at the highest standards of the perfect models of success, hard-work and sainthood. We can’t act as though we are at level 10, when we are only on level one.

So what’s the solution? How do we come to terms with the fact we are not perfect and how do learn to love the journey more than the goal?

1. Realise that you are not perfect and you are on an active journey of self improvement.

2. Appreciate the fact that anyone who has achieved anything of significance had to put in the hard work. It is that hard work that makes people valuable, not the results.

3. Stop comparing yourself to others, you are fully unique. Every second you spend thinking about others is time you could be spending on your own journey.

4. Think small and consistent. Great things happen by working every day, by putting in the effort every day, by showing up every day.

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This piece of writing is based on personal experience. I hope that it adds value to those reading.