Experiences that shape us
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We all have experiences that shape us. They aren’t always the big conventional milestones that many people think of like turning 18 or getting married. They could be moments where we pay off debt or the moment you travel as a solo traveler. The key point is they are different for everyone but they are vital to your growth personally, professionally, and financially.
From a person standpoint it is very easy to see how transformative different events are in your life. Things like moving out are a big change compared to living with your parents. It makes you learn more about being independent and how you use your time. The lessons we take away from these types of experiences will vary. Typically some kind of struggle is involved. While there are struggles we hope to avoid, many of the personal struggles that come from dealing with challenging situations can be major factors for personal growth. Behind many successful people you will a history a failures and setbacks before they become what they are known for. Personally I have found that the most growth I have sustained personally came from the hardest times in my life. In particular when it came to managing stress in a healthy way. Being unable to handle stress affected me financially and professionally. And to this day many of the lessons of how to manage stress and deal with stressful situations I continue to improve upon. The most important one was just trying to avoid overloading on stress to begin with staying with-in our bandwidth. You can still learn new things and grow, but you don’t need to do every single new thing and old thing all at once. Its very easy for the quality of what you are doing to slip and take you down a negative spiral.
From a professional standpoint we all have areas that transform us. Things such as a bad experience with a supervisor is something most people share. In those cases, feeling comfortable to stand up for yourself is important. It can be uncomfortable and feel challenging, but its important to make sure no one pushes past boundaries where you feel unsafe. Or feeling like you can take the initiative to get the projects you want, being able to speak up is important. But even outside of situations like that the transformation of going from a career you hate to one you love is also transformative. It changes how you feel about your work. The co-workers who you work with…
