I often feel like I am in my flop era. In fact, I seem to get humbled every day.
And yet, each time I fail, I come back stronger. Why is that? Some might say it is because endurance builds up over time. That is definitely a part of it — but I’ve recently acquired a new perspective.
Every Saturday, I take a morning yoga class to de-stress myself from the havoc an academic week wreaks upon my life. The Saturday class is especially relaxing because the instructor has this soft husky voice that feels so safe and lulls you right to sleep.
The reason I bring up yoga is because during one of the asanas, or poses, the instructor said something really interesting — to reach our arms as high as we could while simultaneously planting ourselves firmly to the ground.
That got me thinking: Isn’t that what happens when we achieve our goals successfully? Often enough, a balance must be struck between holding ourselves accountable in our everyday lives and making sure to aim higher and higher.
Whether it is through future aspirations or setting simple deadlines for yourself, you must make sure to take care of your physical needs that keep you rooted in the world.
This involves not being consumed by constantly thinking about achieving things, making step-by-step plans or doom scrolling for hours on Pinterest, making vision boards that actually get you nowhere in life.
It’s the same as constantly watching TikToks from influencers who give out advice you never end up following. Yes, visualization is important. It helps us find the direction we want to go in, but our visions require action to materialize.
We want to jump ahead of the line and already be masters of our craft. We look at our professors and admire them because they just seem like they’ve got it all figured out. And most of them have, or they haven’t, but the point is that they’re closer to it than us.
But that didn’t happen overnight.
The professor who has several PhDs and walks with an air of wisdom on your college campus has spent years being lost and not knowing what to do with themselves.
But the reason they got to where they were is because they tried, messed up and didn’t get discouraged. Deep inside, they knew that as long as they stayed rooted in not being perfect but still trying their best, they would get somewhere.
It is often in making choices and observing their consequences that we face ourselves. Action fosters development instead of the constant overthinking of trying to plan the next five years.
I cannot begin to describe how many article ideas I get in my head daily, but if I don’t take action, pitch the idea and give myself a firm deadline, the idea will disappear just as quickly as it formed.
While on the topic of worrying and overthinking, I can bet right now that whatever you are stressing over almost always ends up not being the thing that actually happens.
We excel at coming up with scenarios, trying to extract every drop of imagination we have to daydream about a life we are too scared to live.
In turn, we just keep a vision in the back of our minds, thinking that one day it will be reality. Well, as long as you put it off, it will simply remain that — a vision.
This is not a call to action, but simply a reminder to start observing your reactions. Do you see yourself stuck in a loop of an all-or-nothing mindset?
If yes, this connects back to what I mentioned earlier about staying rooted during yoga. In this case, though, we must stay grounded in reality. We should focus less on daydreaming and more on building a stable base for ourselves. While visions take us high, we cannot stay in the clouds all the time.
I am not saying that your dreams won’t become reality. Rather, view this as a sustainable guide to achieving your dreams.
Don’t rush, but plan and execute your goals. Do not expect yourselves to move mountains at this very instant, but begin implementing small, consistent habits that allow you to enjoy being up in the clouds while also having quality earth time.
Purpose is found in not bombarding yourself with whatever you think will get you somewhere, but in making intentional decisions and fostering a backbone over time that you can fall back on even when you face failure.
That endurance I mentioned earlier is a product of the stable base I’ve built myself. I have goals, and I give myself hell trying to pursue them. Still, if they don’t work out, my life is not ripped to shreds because I’ve learned — or am learning — to stay rooted in the present while keeping the future in mind.
So the next time you feel like you are crashing out because of a presumed “flop era,” ask yourself what you can do to re-balance yourself while striving to improve — or as my yoga instructor put it, “to reach as high as you can.”
Till we meet again,
N.