Recently, I watched a video of Isabelle Daza, a popular model, actress, and vlogger in the Philippines, about the glamorization of being busy.
It’s a never-ending feeling of wanting to be productive all the time. As such, she’d always make sure that every minute counts. While waiting for a doctor, she would read a book while simultaneously filling out an insurance form.
While sitting on a back seat of a car, she’d read. As she works on her laptop, she’d be busy chatting with friends and family. When it’s time to watch TV with her husband, she’d be googling on her phone.
The desire for improvement in different aspects such as her business and personal development was so intense. So much so that she became overwhelmed with overstimulation.
As a consequence, she got exhausted.
Growth mindset gone wrong
Her story probably mirrors the perspective of many of us here who have this appetite for continuous growth. We are led to believe that TIME is a scarce resource we have to make use of, and the moment we take a pause, we feel guilty.
In this season of pandemic wherein, our opportunity to travel, or attend commitments with face to face interaction is limited, the pressure seems to be magnified because we feel like we are missing on something.
Idle moments have become so torturous, we fill them with activity by reading, watching, or listening to something.
Silence
The question is, what if taking a rest what we really need? What if, for us to really create an output, we must take the necessary pauses? Maybe if we take a moment to stay away temporarily from the podcasts, videos, blogs, and even the books that we tirelessly consume, then can we truly process all the information we gathered. What if a moment of silence is what we sometimes need in order to connect the dots?
Among the known legends of the past, many artists, leaders, poets, and other exceptional people have had their enlightenment in their quiet moments. We cannot disregard the importance of silence. Even our heartbeat has a resting phase.
FOMO – Fear Of Missing Out
For a younger person, it’s natural to venture on so many projects and undertakings, but as the years pass by, an individual understands himself a little more.
Growing older, we get a closer look at our inclinations and mood. We then have a clearer glimpse of who we truly are. We discover our gifts. It will then be quite sensible to ask if we really all need this barrage of information after all. Every day, we are presented with a ton of options. The improvement of marketing strategies of products and services has not been really residing in our favor. It’s as if if we do not go online, we miss out on the essential giveaways from successful entrepreneurs, vloggers, mentors!
Because we have this fear of missing out, we try out as many as we can. Our energy gets dispersed into so many directions instead of placing it in one or two attributes that really matter.
Maybe, the secret sauce is to open our minds to a myriad of ideas being thrown at us, but at the same time keeping in account the accomplishments and milestones we have already succeeded in. We miss out on what’s inside because we can be too busy searching outside. We unintentionally mistake distraction for data gathering.
Patience
Patience is a practice that if not deftly considered will most probably lead to one of the conditions below.
- Podcasts won’t seem to be as useful as we hoped for.
- Books would appear to be of lip service.
- Highly successful people on the internet will be viewed with more skepticism.
- Busy hours will become wearisome.
- Hustling would turn out to be ridiculously laborious.
- Our current job would be vexing.
The list goes on.
Why is that so? It’s because we want to see change to happen immeditately.
It’s not to say that we must cease exploring, or searching for things that awaken our curiosity.
When it is overdone though when we carry out so much in our enterprise at the same time, we lose equilibrium between our present reality and our foresighted ambitions, so this mismatch gets more and more vivid each day that passes by.
There is an addiction to getting, wanting, and becoming that when exploits go a little south, we immediately throw in the towel.
There’s pressure. It’s just like a balloon that pops when there’s too much air.
That’s when we wake up to the reality thereby asking, “Did I really accomplish something?“
When we lose sight of what is true and present, we forget that sometimes the best things in life may have to be worked on for years and years to come, and the results we desire might require us to be more patient. Some of the most awaited results just don’t materialize overnight do they?
Let me share with you a powerful quote by Sigmund Freud.
“One day, in retrospect, the years of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful.”
Now the big question is, why do we have to do it right when we want to grow?
It’s because if we are individuals with high aspirations, lofty goals, and purpose-driven existence, then we don’t want to stop dead on our tracks.
As we go along though, we just need to keep in mind that it is not a prerequisite of growth to punched in every minute of every day. Calm moments contribute to our mental well-being. Cherish the pauses, the silence.
Also, when we don’t get dragged by fear of missing out, we are able to focus on the innate abilities among ourselves. From that, we can make clear-cut decisions on what to do, hear, and absorb.
Lastly, if there is one principle that we often overlook, it’s patience. Sometimes the building blocks to success require a long period of waiting, thinking, and doing. Although we are doing the best we can to mold ourselves into the person that we dream of becoming, we just have to let TIME do its magic.
Once a famous poet spoke of this line, “I don’t consider the time I spent hoping as lost time. When I hope, that is the most FOUND time I have.“
Isabelle Daza though, revised it to make it applicable to her (and to us as well).
Nothing is as fulfilling as having the ability to reach the highest possible achievement ever, and that is attained only when one is committed to developing one’s self.
We live in this time where it only takes one click to discover new horizons. Go ahead, learn, explore, read, and know what you want to know.
Just in case one day, you feel that it’s just too much to bear, and you feel stuck somewhere along the cracks, may you be reminded that in this journey of continuous growth, learn to slow down and feel the power of silence, learn to refrain from F.O.M.O., and persevere with enormous patience.
More power!
