My Story: Part II
“Everyone shines, given the right lighting.”
– Susan Cain
If you’ve come back to read the second part of my life journey, I applaud you for being vulnerable in learning more about me, in hopes that I inspire you to be stronger than before. Following my mid-ish life journey that consisted of high school, transitioning to college, and then fully embedding myself in the real world, I was able to grow by leaps and bounds. How did I do it? Keep reading on and you’ll find out!
College was a great time for me to learn about myself, slowly come out of my shell, and meet my future lifetime friends. I had a few close friends in high school, but my shyness held me back from being popular or meeting a large swath of friends. College was so much different and everyone accepted each other for who they were, truly holding back from showing any judgment for who I or anyone else was or wanted to be. I don’t regret any of the five years I spent in college and when I walked away from that experience, I was full of confidence in knowing who I was.
With every life story, I backtracked into my shyness when I entered the professional corporate world. All new people that I didn’t know as well, different expectations, and a major trustfall exercise. When I leaned into my strengths, had a great conversation with others, or sat back to actively listen, I found over time that others accepted me again for who I was. The corporate world can be scary for anyone entering this environment following college and it did still take me a few years to establish my career foundation.
Fast forward to my working world and life today, I’ve been able to extend my shell even further by getting to know people in life both at work and in my after work world. What I’ve leaned on the most has been showing empathy to others and finding ways to meet them where they’re at in life.
The core foundation of what helped me grow in college and even into my professional life today consist of three concepts. If you’ve read this far, I hope you enjoy these concepts as much as I have!
1. Every Day is a Fresh Start! – The true beauty in life is that no matter what happens each day, whether you viewed it as uplifting or energy draining, we start over each day. As I’ve gotten older, there are times where it can be challenging to get out of bed and get started for the day (even being a morning person). What ultimately keeps me motivated each day is that I choose the type of day I have and I can also challenge myself to be humble each day because of the journey I’ve taken in life. What keeps me humble is knowing there are so many others in our world who have started shy, tried to break out of their shell, and then were successful or temporarily successful, and could have jumped back into their shell. My goal each day is to inspire others to greatness, their own motivations, and helping them to be the best version of themselves. These goals start with me and I have to continue to reset my humility each day so I can be empowered to help others grow into their true skills.
2. Silence the Noise Around You – I’ve come to adore and enjoy my AirPods and don’t leave the house without them. I also use them all the time when I’m at home working on tasks, catching up on work, or even to try and relax for the night. This isn’t necessarily the way I’m hoping you silence the noise around you, but it can be one way. The primary way you can silence the noise around you is to avoid listening to others views of you. When I was going through my inner struggles, I felt that others were talking about me and sometimes that was true. What helped me navigate that life challenge was to continue to practice self talk, listen to others less, and even when I heard them saying something about me, blocking it out and ignoring it. I found that strategy to provide me with the benefits of staying true to my values and taking the extra moments to simply enjoy life.
3. Dig Deep on the Hardest Days- I want to be one of the first to tell you that not every day will be easy. I hearken back to another favorite quote of mine from Alice Earle, “Every day may not be good, but there is good in every day”, as the calling card for life’s ups and downs. As I’ve become more social, trustful, and comfortable around others in my life, I’ve been able to found strength in each day, when it was challenging. I will say that some days, that strength was found in the last ounce of energy I had in that day, and it was totally ok. Some days get the best of you and other days cause you to jump for joy and stay content the entire day. You have my genuine permission to feel all the feels each day and remember all of the positive moments that have gotten you to where you’re at today, even when it doesn’t seem like you can make it through your day. Dig deep, remember your why, and you’ll be glad you did!
My challenge to you this week is to stay strong despite the things you may hear from others about you or you may think you’re hearing. Make sure you stay on your own path in life, find ways to break out of your own shell, and know that any positive or negative feelings you have are always temporary. You’ve truly got this and I know you will persevere in life and inspire others like I hope to continue doing through these blog posts.
Keep growing and know that I truly believe in you!
Ryan