6 Life Lessons I Learned Last Year

Danish philosopher and theologian Søren Kierkegaard once wrote, “Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” The beginning of a new year is an appropriate time to look back over the lessons learned from the mistakes and experiences of previous months. In 2018, I wrote two letters of resignation, grieved the ending of two significant relationships, and spent several weeks on a hospital waiting list for severe depression and weight loss. I fumbled, got lost, and confronted demons that I had been running from my entire life. The result is that I came away with a set of invaluable lessons that I take into the new year. Here are six of them. 1. Don’t measure your self-worth by your job performance or title. Once was not enough for me to learn this important lesson. I had to make the same mistake twice to appreciate why you should never measure your self-worth by the status of your occupation. In my first job, I lost myself in the pursuit of approval and acceptance of my co-workers. In placing too much of my self-identity into my work, constructive criticism felt more and more personal. I got turned around and forgot what I loved about the job. Trying to make up for the insecurity I felt at the first job, I arrived at my second job as an overly ambitious employee, setting an unrealistic pace I couldn’t sustain. As soon as I woke up to my limitations as a human being without superpowers, my self-esteem crumbled. Both experiences taught me that yo...
Source: World of Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Communication Depression Health-related Industrial and Workplace Inspiration & Hope Marriage and Divorce Mental Health and Wellness Motivation and Inspiration New Year's Perfectionism Personal Psychotherapy Self-Esteem Self-Help Source Type: blogs