Embracing the hills, plateaus and valleys: Its all part of the journey

Peaks to plateaus to valleys to hills and back again- these are how our journeys' unfold, be it in our life as a whole, or specifically in career, sport, family, social life, finances etc. These transitions may be small day to day changes, or longer-lasting periods, which we refer to as “phases of life.”

On a day-to-day basis, our emotions and motivations may change towards the same tasks we do, like work, our training in sport, fitness or gym regimes etc. One day we may have the best day at work or practice, but the very next day might feel quite mundane and uninspired. I have heard athletes express frustration with a drop in their performance even on a single day of practice. Sometimes, it plays on their mind all day long. Similarly, one good day of performance can make them feel like the kings/queens of the world.

The same can be seen with our work, especially for professionals in creative or service based fields where tasks can be highly different from one day to another.

A powerful realisation struck me one day when I met one of my friends while I was working at a local café. He mentioned about his busy day but felt energised to work till late that day. Somehow instead of recommending that he take it easy, as most of us do, I realised how fulfilling it is to experience that inner motivation and joy in work. ?Shouldn’t we ride such busy yet productive days with enthusiasm? Because I have realised that we wont feel motivated to work so hard each day, and that’s okay. So on the days we do feel like pushing ourselves, shouldn’t we? We can enjoy both of these days and all the days in between.

?Growth occurs in seasons, and we can enjoy the ups and downs that come our way. ?It’s a mindset shift, its realising that if something isn’t going well in one area, we are still growing in another area or maybe as a person overall.

Some days your work/sport/business grows,? some days you grow.

From a bird eye view of our life, we all experience challenges in different areas of our lives, it could be on a personal level, family, relationship, career, financial or social level. If we reflect on it, each pillar is growing at different rates.

?The ups and downs build our mental toughness

From my experience as a professional, athletes often get extremely anxious about the downs or plateaus in their performance, and that is of course natural. But what makes those phases negative is our own perspective/ attitude towards them. If we can see those downs as a natural part of the journey while focusing on doing our best, we can prevent extending these period of ‘valleys’ and grow mentally tough and resilient in the process.

In the past, on the days that I felt like?I’m not growing in my career, I used to feel uncomfortable. But now I have learnt to shift my focus on what I am doing well, and realise that I’m growing in my tolerance and emotional intelligence! It’s easier said than done, but having embraced this journey myself, I remind myself to embrace the valleys, peaks and the plateaus and know that it is all happening FOR us!

One resource that comes to mind is John Maxwell's, Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn which I highly recommend! I look forward to hearing your thoughts in the comments!

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