Ever feel like you’ve hit rock bottom? You become someone you don’t even recognize in the mirror, spending nights awake and on the verge of tears, wondering how everything has gone out of control. I feel you; I have been there. Let me tell you, there is nothing worse in the world than that feeling. It pulls you under, and you start to believe you are nothing. I faced that, and I have overcome it. When I had a moment of self-reflection, I found my purpose in life, changed my mindset, and got out of that depressed state. You can as well. You just have to be willing to change for the better.

Self-reflection is the process of introspection and examination of one’s own thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and motivations. It involves looking inward to gain a deeper understanding of oneself, one’s actions, and their impact on one’s life and the lives of others.

We all follow a pattern of going to school, then college, and then working a 9–5 job. This is what we have been taught, and we have seen people around us follow it for years. At school, we are taught in a generalized manner. We learn the basics of every subject, yet school education fails to teach us how to apply this knowledge to everyday activities. The school fails to teach us practicality. Much later in life, the realization dawns that we are not equipped with the much-needed knowledge to survive in the real world.

 

 

The problem is not with school or our parents; we as human beings tend to follow the crowd and think that the behaviors displayed by the crowd are acceptable. Why do we think that the action displayed by the majority is acceptable and our own accounts for nothing?

The answer to that is much simpler than we think. While growing up, we were constantly guided by our parents, teachers, and mentors to act in a certain way, and these behaviors were ingrained in us for a very long time. Unconsciously, we fail to create new habits and behaviors, reverting back to our learned behaviors.

We get so busy in our daily lives, going to work and going home to sleep and eat, that we forget how to live in the real world. We just get through life like a ghost. Just imagine wanting to grow up fast so that you can earn money for yourself. And when we do find jobs and start earning a minimum of 1 lakh per annum, we think we have accomplished so much, when in fact we should be offended by the fact that 16 years of schooling worth thousands and thousands of rupees all boil down to a mere 10k salary every month, a bare minimum to get by.

This is life; this is what has happened to us. We have become slaves to the system, which couldn’t care less about anything than its profit. The reason we are satisfied by earning such an amount is because we feel that’s what we deserve, according to our talents and skills. What happens is that we think we have learned everything there is to learn within the small circle we have enclosed ourselves in, and that there is a much bigger world out there. We have no clue.

I always believed that to be happy is to do things with which you are comfortable, which is a very misleading thing to believe in, according to me. To be successful, resilient, and powerful, you need to do those activities that will take you out of your comfort zone. Do things that scare you; show up to events that you would otherwise. You’re missing out on life when you are not present. Don’t miss out.

 

 

What I am learning as a 24-year-old is that you should never stop learning; the minute you stop, you get left behind in the race. Learn a skill for at least 15 minutes every day, and you will realize how much more you know than when you started. All great men prioritize learning above all else. It doesn’t matter if you are not following the societal norms for growth, you have not completed graduation, or you are still figuring out life; just focus on learning and stay on that course. I guarantee that you will master that skill to an intermediate level after a year.

What I got told as a child and a teenager was that if I needed something done, I had to have motivation. It turns out that might not be completely true. Motivation can get you so far, maybe a day or two, but you hit a curve and you are back to where you were in the first place. What you need is consistency; that’s how you go from mediocrity to greatness. In terms of progress, consistency goes a long way compared to motivation. You show up every day for at least 10 minutes, and that’s a win. You are far ahead of most people in the race.

Some people seek greatness, while others are satisfied with mediocrity. If you are the person who falls into the first category, my advice to you is to never stop learning. Enter any room with the mindset of a learner. Think of yourself as an amateur in every situation, be curious, and ask the big questions. No one has ever suffered a loss by asking questions. When you develop a curious mind, you are gifting yourself a chance at progression.

 

 

When we set out to do something, say you want to get in shape, or you want to write an article, or maybe you want to start taking a walk everyday. The moment that thought comes to our mind, we set out to gather knowledge on that particular topic: “How to get in shape in 90 days.” “The most effective ab workout.” So we read and read, and we think that we are making progress, when in reality we are in the same place as we started. We fear criticism so much that it prevents us from taking actions. The fear of hearing no, or maybe failing, makes us procrastinate and delay our actions. So we are just thinking about doing it and assuming that this thought process is making us progress towards our goal.

So, Stop thinking. Start doing it. Walk for two minutes, at least every day. When you show up and do the work, that automatically puts you 2 steps towards your goal. Stop thinking about making mistakes, be wrong, make mistakes, that’s all part of the process of learning. Say you want to try a new business venture. You jot down all the important details, do the research, and don’t take action. So you will never really know whether you will succeed or not because you have actually gone through the actions. Instead of thinking, showing up, and taking it one day at a time, you will realize how much you have achieved 2 years from now.

All big businessmen have the habit of showing up and being consistent in a particular field. When you do something consistently for over a long time, you become a master in that field. So the lesson we can take away from here is that while motivation does play a role initially, what carries you forward is consistency. Make it a habit. You’ll thank yourself later.

The Japanese have a word called “Kaizen,” meaning when you break down goals into manageable chunks, you will progress a whole lot faster. Now if we apply this to our broad goals, like “I want to get rich” or “I want to be the strongest person,” all these can be classified as broad goals, meaning there is no clarity; you have goals but no clearly defined path to achieving them. So to be a step closer to your goal, break your goal into small chunks, which can be achievable.

So if you want to be rich, learn a skill like media or coding, upskill on that, create a channel through which you can monetize on that, and create a side hustle that will make you money while you sleep. Now all these were achievable steps, you can do it in stages and reach somewhere. So this is what I mean when I say have clarity of your goals and destination. You will easily reach where you want to be and faster instead of being unsure of what you want.

 

 

Lastly, it’s never too late to start. You might be 24, not where you want to be in life, in a job that is mentally taxing, but you can still pick up and choose to have a better life—choose to be better than you were yesterday. Don’t give up; show up; learn a high-paying skill for at least 10 minutes every day; exercise; read books on sales, negotiation, and people. You are already far ahead of where you were yesterday. Keep up the good work