I found myself inspired by an interview with Jay Shetty (of ‘How To Think Like A Monk’ fame) on Deliciously Ella’s podcast this week.  One of the topics being discussed, to paraphrase, was the mistake many of us make of comparing our page 1 to someone else’s page 10.  The myth of the overnight success if you like.

Shetty highlighted the universal experience of self-doubt.  Rather than judging self-doubt as a personality flaw, his perspective is that self-doubt is essential to our growth.  As he pointed out, we are always going to have challenges and opportunities in our lives.  What’s useful to ask ourselves is: do I have the necessary skills to address the current opportunity or challenge?  A sharp distinction to the question many of us ask ourselves: am I enough?

The good news is that we are all enough.  We just may not have the necessary skills for what we are facing right now.  The bad news is: there is no short cut.  We all need to experience the pain and discomfort (or perhaps more realistically, the blood, sweat and tears with a couple of sleepless nights) of learning a new skill.  If we want to go from page 1 to 10, expect growing pains.