There are times in our lives when coincidences pop up. For instance, one day while my son was at story time in the library, I was perusing the latest fiction books. It was at a point in my life when I had been thinking about what’s next and ultimately wanted to be creative again. I had been thinking about what that would look like in my life now and how I could make that happen. I knew I wanted to pursue something more.
As I was eyeing the titles of the books on the shelf, a red spine caught my eye. The book Girl, Stop Apologizing, popped out and felt like it nearly jumped off the shelf and into my hands. I had never heard of Rachel Hollis or her website, blog, or books. However, for some reason I was drawn to this book and immediately checked it out. Now this isn’t a book review by any means, but there are several chapters and important lessons in this book for women. I made notes in my planner about the key takeaways I do not want to forget and key things to remember as I carve this new road for myself.
Don’t Be Afraid
For one, stop with the excuses! I touch on this in my other post about running, but the main point here is STOP THEM! Stop saying you are tired, stop saying you don’t have time, and just stop making excuses. As Rachel puts it, if you really want something you will find the time.
Another takeaway is, don’t be afraid of failure. There are so many ways to not do something because we are afraid of failing, what others will think if we fail or what our loved ones will think if we fail. It creates a roadblock, where we end up not trying at all. We should instead be turning that around and not be afraid of it. More often than not, we learn from our failures. We learn not to do that again or do it differently, when it doesn’t quite work out the way we wanted in the first place.
Confidence
The final two takeaways are the most important for me. The biggest being have confidence. Something I’ve struggled with my whole life has been confidence and I’ve realized that I’ve wasted a lot of time overthinking things related to my confidence. This makes me angry. Like obsessing over looks. My nose is too up, my scoliosis is making my back hunched, my voice sounds too much like a twelve year old. Stop! I need to have the confidence in my looks and look in the mirror every day and compliment myself. I need to also not be afraid to fail or (like I said) I won’t start something.
Pursue Something More
Lastly, there is one sentence in the book that has become my mantra and I have sticky notes everywhere with this phrase: spend today in the pursuit of something more. You can look at this a hundred different ways. Should I watch the latest Real Housewives or spend time reading this new self-help book? Or should I wake up an hour early to search for a new job or sleep in and go back to a job I hate? Should I spend today staring at my baby or should I push myself to go to that mom group instead? Pursue something more! It can be small or big. For me, that something more is challenging myself creatively. Making the time to push myself to do something I’m passionate about and see where it takes me.
It was a coincidence that I picked up this book at the exact time I needed it and wanted it and I’m grateful for that. If I take these four things away from the book and incorporate them into my life, I know great things will come. What will you do today in pursuit of something more?
