Every once in a while we get thrown a curve ball. It shakes our world. Makes us rethink and reconsider how we do or think about certain things. Some people unfortunately never recover from these unexpected events. They become definitive forks in the road where they can’t decide which way to move forward. This could be the loss of a loved one, failing at a business or being fired from the only job they knew how to do.

The only person who can help us get back up is ourselves. Blaming others or the world for treating us badly only digs us deeper into our hole.

I see these events as opportunity to learn more about ourselves. The one thing lacking in the world today is greater self awareness. We hardly get the time to think about who we are and what we hold important. Our days are filled with keeping up appearances based on what society thinks we should be doing and saying. After a while the lines blur and we find ourselves lost. Chasing goals and dreams that were forced upon us rather than the ones we truly want to pursue.

The start of the new year is a perfect time to reflect on our goals and aspirations. Ask ourselves whether we are truly motivated to keep going on the path we have chosen for ourselves. This year will bring with it a new set of opportunities and challenges. The only way for us to stand tall and weather the storms is to know who we are and what we value.

What I am reading and watching this week

Getting ahead vs. doing well Everyone is clamouring to get ahead of the next person. The methods used at times are questionable. In this post Seth Godin masterfully tackles this subject and gives us some much needed perspective.

The Tail End This is an old post which resurfaced on my feed this week. I would take the time to take 15 minutes out of your day and read this post. It talks about the bigger picture and gives us a much needed reality check. If you haven’t put the main rocks in your jar correctly, this will be an uncomfortable read.

Life is Short Paul Graham wrote a post on having children and the perspective it gave him on life. His closing quote sums up this piece “Relentlessly prune bullshit, don’t wait to do things that matter, and savor the time you have. That’s what you do when life is short.”

Wishing everyone a great week ahead!