Find Your Direction (Even When It Feels Like You're Stuck)

How high-school students reminded me of the power of possibility.

Hi there 👋

How are you doing this week?

On my side, I’ve been thinking a lot about the importance of nurturing a forward-looking perspective.

So, in this week’s post, I go into what led me to start thinking about this and the impact it’s having on my sense of agency.

I also have a new weekly highlight section where I share three things that might spark your interest.

Enjoy!

The past couple of years have been a period of personal transition.

Back in 2023 and approaching 40, I quit a career in the Tech industry. I was burnt-out and so I spent a year pursuing hobbies like gardening and writing (that, by the way, is when I started this newsletter).

During this period of introspection, I thought a lot about the past: I thought about the people I had met and the relationships I had had; I thought about the places I travelled to and the projects I had been involved in.

It was a bittersweet feeling.

It was a period of self-reflection that I desperately needed but it did have a effect that I struggled with.

I couldn’t see a path forward.

I didn’t have a direction I was going in, nor did I have an image of what I could become. One day bled into the next.

That is until this past couple of weeks. I’ve recently experienced a shift that has turned my gaze to the future.

The limitless possibilities of youth

I’m now a high-school teacher and my oldest students are now a few months from graduating.

Naturally, a lot of my conversations with them center around their plans for the future.

• Do they want to go to university?

• Where do they want to go?

• What do they want to study?

Through these conversations, I started to feel my students’ sense of possibility — to them, anything is still possible.

In a societal moment where everything, from global politics to climate change, feels so threatening, this perspective has been invigorating.

It’s reminded me that beyond the dark clouds, the sun still shines.

Rediscovering what has been lost

The experience has taken me back to that point in my life when I too held that optimism; where I too saw the world as endless possibility.

The feeling is so familiar yet I realise that it’s been a while since I felt it. It’s been like falling back into a groove in the recesses of my being that time had filled in.

And so, inspired by my students’ aspirations, I too have turned my gaze to my future.

For the first time in a long time, I’m starting to ask myself what I want to do next.

What direction do I want to go in?

Who do I want to become?

(I have some ideas, but will keep that for a future post).

Respect your vision for the future

The point is, this shift towards the future, towards opportunity and the unknown, has empowered me with a sense of agency.

Even though I’ve yet to take my first steps, I have a much better sense of what direction I want to go in and what I want to achieve.

Irrespective of the outside world, I can now make decisions based on my compass.

So, my message is this:

Be truthful to your self and trust your intuition. But, above all, treat your vision of your future with respect.

Then allow it imbue your present — your day to day — with a deeper meaning.

📌 Weekly Highlights

3 thought-provoking things I want to share with you this week:

1. Kettlebell exercises

   I’ve been into kettlebell training for a few years now but tended to get bored by doing the same workout over and over again.
   For the past 5 weeks, I’ve been doing workouts from Pat Flynn’s Strong ON! book. There are 100 different routines to pick from in four sections (strength, muscle, conditioning and mobility workouts). Pat also lays out different programs to follow based on your objectives.
   I haven’t gotten bored yet and look forward to swinging now more than ever!
   

2. From the Archives
   Very much linked to today’s topic: On the contradiction between personal agency and learning to let go.
   

   Your Days are Like Rain on the Landscape of Your Life

3. Generalists vs Specialists

   Last week, I asked you if you see yourself more as a generalist or a specialist. Here are the results.
   On Substack:

   

   And on Linkedin:

   

   Interesting results that immediately made me wonder if we tend to downplay our expertise due to the curse of knowledge. If that’s your case, this is a gentle reminder to trust more in your abilities (and I’ll try to do the same).

💬 How about you?

What’s the most interesting thing you came across this week? What’s something you learned?

That’s it for this week.

As you can see, I’m trying out a new format with this email. My goal is to make what I send to you as valuable as I possibly can, so do let me know what you think.

As always, you can also write to me. Simply reply to this email and I’ll make sure to write back.

Till next week, enjoy your weekend! ☔️🌳🚶

Ben

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