You Can't Fill a Cup That's Already Full
Thoughtful Thursday 112
You Can't Fill a Cup That's Already Full
Thoughtful Thursday 112
For the past 2 ½ years, I've been on a relentless and public personal development journey—reading, listening, and consuming vast amounts of content on growth, coaching, and leadership and trying to share what I learn as I go.
Since January 2022, I've read over 60 non-fiction books, a huge amount of podcasts, articles, and videos, totalling multiple thousands of hours.
I had come to realise that my glass for researching, retaining, and applying these topics had reached its limit.
I try to look at things with a glass half full mentality but looking at my glass it was more than full, and mostly full of one thing, and that needed to change.
I can't keep pouring into a cup that's already full without it overflowing.
The drive to constantly improve started to feel like a burden, which led me to feel burnt out and resentful.
I felt guilt for wanting to slow down, equating it with giving up.
Through reflection and coaching, I understood that it’s okay to step back and pursue other interests.
Cal Newport talks about seasonality in life—there are seasons for growth and seasons for rest.
Taking time to rest and reflect isn't giving up; it's about achieving balance.
To some degree, I had let personal development consume me and found out it could negatively impact other areas of my life.
Life isn't just about continuous improvement—it's about experiencing and growing in diverse ways and I had lost sight of this.
If the goal is development, which it has been for me, there is more than one way to go about that.
For anyone struggling with the push and guilt of development, remember that it’s essential to allow space for application and real-life experiences.
It is not about giving up, it is about investing in more than just one aspect of your life.
It's great to have a specific and ambitious goal, but I have learnt to have goals that also allow for more than just that to exist in my life.
I hope that this can help others not make the same mistakes both in creating and pursuing their goals.