The Great Resignation

I've noticed a lot of motivational and growth-mindset quotes on social media lately that say things like:

"What did you do today to bring you one step closer to your goal?"

"The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do."

"Great achievement always requires great sacrifice."

"Hard work is the formula for success."

There was a time when I would have agreed with these. I may have even printed them out, cut them up, and placed them on my fridge for daily motivation and inspiration.

That time has passed. I am no longer the scissor wielding woman looking for kitchen reminders that I should do better, be more, try harder.

I'm done buying into the ideas that were have been spoon-fed from birth that success should look a certain way and that there is a one-size-fits-all formula for happiness. It's just not true.

Don't get me wrong, I am not anti-success, anti-work or anti-achievement. I just think we need to take the time to figure out our own personal definitions of these words.

Success looked a certain way to me for most of my life. I had career and life goals and milestones to check off. Oddly, each time I checked a box, a new box appeared.

I came to the realization that success does not equal happiness but happiness equals success.

I, like many, had the formula backwards.

The key, I think, is to figure out what makes you happy. Pinpoint what makes you feel alive. Prioritize what is really important. Once you do these things it becomes easier to both find, and say yes to opportunities that align with who you are, not what you were told you should want.

More and more people are waking up to this idea. In November of 2021 a record 4.5 million Americans quit or changed jobs. The media has dubbed this trend "the great resignation.”

I think that's a misnomer.

I think the REAL great resignation was how we lead our lives up until this point. We resigned ourselves to the fact that "great achievement always requires great sacrifice" and "hard work is the formula for success."

Maybe it doesn't have to be about sacrifice, paying our dues and striving for something in the future. Maybe it's about being appreciative of who we are and what we have in the present moment, and designing our lives around that.