12 Mar Life Lessons from the Strangest Places (Post 3)
For those who might not be aware, I’ve spent almost all my adult life trying to help people live better lives. First as a therapist, then as a coach and consultant, much of my focus has been on helping people clarify and work towards meaningful goals with a specific and actionable plan.
Alongside this, I’ve tried to cope with my own mental ill-health battles by controlling everything I can (which wasn’t always helpful!). Part of this involved controlling what I did and how I did it and when I did it etcetera.
Suffice to say, I’ve spent a lot of time, personally and professionally, trying to be clear and to help others be clear about where they’re going. And there’s no doubt this has a role to play, and has helped me and others a lot at times.
But at the risk of contradicting myself, I’ve recently started to think differently, at least some of the time. Last year (2024) I published another book titled “Lost & Found: how to wander your way to a better life” which in short, summarises a plethora of research and includes a number of personal stories all of which point to the benefits, at least at times, of surrendering control and accepting and embracing failure and confusion and uncertainty and more!
Getting lost, literally and metaphorically, provides opportunities for growth and learning; failure allows us to really understand our strengths and weaknesses and where we can excel and ultimately thrive. Entering the unknown, intentionally or not, leads to new experiences and at times, possibly, new understandings of what we really want, even if we didn’t know we wanted it!
So, what’s the lesson here?
By all means set goals; I’m still an advocate of setting a clear direction in life. But, at the same time, don’t be afraid to try new things and if you’re doing this, know that there’ll be times you don’t know what you’re doing or where you’re going and this is OK. In fact, it’s more than OK. Because it’s in being lost, sometimes, that we really find out who we are and what we’re capable of.
NB: if you’ve found this, or any of my blog posts helpful, please feel free to share with family, friends, colleagues or anyone! I know it might sound a bit trite, but I’m driven to help people, so you sharing this with others will help me achieve my goal : )