It is what it is ’til it isn’t

Are you frustrated with where you currently are?

Looking for a magic key to becoming happier and more successful?

Here’s a little secret — you don’t need more motivation. You don’t need more inspiration. We all want to believe that if we read enough articles (like this one) a switch will flip. Suddenly we’ll get it and everything will line up. We believe we’re one 30 point article away from money fights and a private yacht (or however else we define the “good life”). We keep trying to find ways to game the system. We think that if we do the “8 things Mark Zuckerberg does before 8am” or “Richard Branson’s 32 productivity hacks” that we’ll suddenly be different people.

Here’s the thing though — We don’t need to be different people. And while we can move the needle forward slightly by working on positive habits and showing up in a way that promotes personal growth, we can’t game timing. We can show up every day to our best intentions but sometimes life is what it is ’til it isn’t. Life often can take us the long way around to teach us the lessons we need to learn. And despite how frustrating it can be at times, we need to give ourselves the permission to be where we are when we’re there. What’s happening right now can become our inspiration later, but only if we let it. Only if we see experiences as lessons instead of barriers. We can spend our time making ourselves miserable that we aren’t where we think we should be — or we can embrace the journey and let timing do what it needs to do.

“Sometimes the novel is not ready to be written because you haven’t met the inspiration for your main character yet. Sometimes you need two more years of life experience before you can make your masterpiece into something that will feel real and true and raw to other people. Sometimes you’re not falling in love because whatever you need to know about yourself is only knowable through solitude. Sometimes you haven’t met your next collaborator. Sometimes your sadness encircles you because, one day, it will be the opus upon which you build your life.”

– Jamie Varon, To Anyone Who Thinks They’re Falling Behind

Opportunities never show up in the way we think they will. Life (and business) isn’t black and white and doesn’t travel in a straight line. We can’t force it, control it and often times we don’t understand it — but we’re human. Sometimes it’s just a matter of doing our best, being in the moment and letting that be enough.

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Originally published at www.thelaunch.ca on March 15, 2016.