I have a personal belief, if we met the greatest people in history we would be shocked.

They would be messy, normal, and in many situations barely tolerable. We’d probably think Aristotle is a bit slow and Einstein is weird and not in a good way.

So what does that have to do with cliché advice?

Most of us have this idea that we need to be and act in a certain way to achieve our ideal life, or at least a better version of our current life.

This, if I may say, is complete bull! Everything may seem out of control and you would still be creating greatness. Nothing in life moves from point A to B in a straight line and neither should you.

Here are my favorite lessons that I’ve learned, forgotten, then relearned several times.

1-There is no overnight success, no one succeeded with one video or one brilliant idea

Every single person you deem successful took years building skills, connections, lessons, and the exact idea that got them to where they are.

One of my absolute favorite examples of that is that of Comedian Julie Nolke. Like her 1+ million subscribers I discovered her through her famous video where she pretended to travel back in time and tell her pre=pandemic self how to prepare. Julie is dubbed an overnight success because to outsiders she stumbled into a winning idea and ran with it. Here’s her Tedx talk explaining how her overnight success took six years.

2-Stop worrying about problems that may happen in the future

I proudly (ehm) have control issues. So, to everyone who needs to avoid risk before it happens, I completely get you. But here’s the thing, you may be falling victim to overthinking, which by itself isn’t the issue here, but trying to mitigate problems or worst-case scenarios in case they happen is significantly clouding your judgment.

If you have the general tools, connections, and skills to handle different problems that keep an eye on things working out and moving forward. You may be limiting your project’s potential worrying about something that’s not going to be an issue.

3-If you can afford the risk, take the damn risk

Here’s a very well-kept secret: You will never regret a risk gone wrong, but you will regret risks not-take.

Walking out of your safe corporate job to start your own business during horrible economic times may be scary, but if it doesn’t work out you won’t regret it. You may, however, regret not reaching your dream.

4-Sometimes going in the wrong direction gets you to your destination faster

Things are rarely linear. It may feel sometimes that you are moving away from your objective, but in reality, you are going to get there faster. And in case you are wondering, yes, it is very difficult to realize the difference.

For example, you may be saving to buy a new house only to end up investing most of your savings in an Executive MBA. At face value, you jumped back several years, but your studies could shift your perspective enough to develop a brilliant idea that will propel you financially forward.

5- Personal growth is not a matter of learning new information but unlearning old limits

There’s a very good chance that you are hampering your own chances by your personal beliefs about yourself.

The above is a quote by Author Alan Cohen that I try to remember every day. Society teaches us to be afraid of putting ourselves out there, to expect failure, to ask ourselves why would I be one of the few who will succeed. Well, someone has to succeed and achieve their ultimate dream, why not you?

One last thought: Few admit this, but everyone around you thinks their personal development journey is a mess. We only vary in degrees of worry and uncertainty.

Before you go, if you are interested in personal posts such as these, please drop me a line and suggest what else you’d like me to write about.