Writing Off the Grid

I’ve always been that person who, in everything they do, aims for perfection. It’s an unrealistic goal that often leaves me frustrated with myself. And that frustration with myself has peaked as I’ve struggled, over the past few months, to change some habits and, by extension, change my life. Even when I know what I need to do, change is f*cking hard. [Read more…] about Change is F*cking Hard

I can’t pretend that everything has been hunky-dory lately, because it hasn’t. Officially a year into my current job, the promise that it held has faded. I’m trying to see the good in it, but the poor communication, overbearing office politics, and the lack of respect among colleagues makes that challenging. And when a situation made it difficult for me to remain calm—and leave the negativity at work—I knew I needed to take a moment to breathe. [Read more…] about Take a Moment to Breathe

Every day, I try to be a student of life. I look for the lessons and, as best as I can, try to learn from them. And as I continue along on my change journey, every day is a reminder of just how hard it can be to change your life. That was why, in a recent post, I wrote about the need to change what you can. And from that I want to dive a little deeper into another point: you know what to do. [Read more…] about You Know What to Do

For the past few weeks, I’ve been putting in overtime hours at work. It’s not easy getting through the back-to-back twelve-hours shifts, and initially I declined the offer of overtime work. I wanted to have time to write, run, and do the things that matter to me. Because doing what matters has mattered more to me than money. But then I thought about some of my other goals, one of which includes paying off some debt. I realized overtime was a way to earn some extra cash to put towards that goal. It meant that life would be hard now but easy later. [Read more…] about Hard Now, Easy Later

For most of my adult life I’ve been a perfectionist. It started in university, when I found my academic groove, and wanted to excel at everything. When I didn’t get an A, I was devastated. I competed against myself to always do better on the next assignment or exam. After university, I sought to be the best in whatever role I took on, and that (in hindsight) created some tensions with my coworkers. And since my mid-thirties, I’ve been committed to growing and improving in all areas of my life. It took a long time to understand what I consider the most important ‘truth’ of self-development: change what you can. [Read more…] about Change What You Can