Interrupt Your Patterns

You thought this one was going to be called “found” didn’t you? (for the record, so did I)

Our human brains like creating patterns. We love patterns.

But we also like pattern interruptions.

Normally we don’t instantly go from lost to found; this only happens in movies because there’s too much story to tell in 120 minutes or less.

“I was lost…the I was found…then I became a hero”

Not quite.

The space in between; point A to point B, the struggle, is often overlooked.

This whole internet thing barely became mainstream 20 years ago.

This guy named Jeff who nobody knew about was quietly selling books online, next thing you know he’s an overnight success and you visit his website hourly to buy everything.

Struggle.

We need to struggle. It’s part of the process; it’s a non-negotiable constraint of life.

We’re led to believe that this is somehow reserved for children entering adulthood or that it’s a once in a lifetime occurrence. It’s overly romanticized.

Struggle as a kid, grow into an adult, get a job, get married, have a family, and live happily ever after, the end.

“Finding oneself is not a one-time event, but rather an ongoing process of self-discovery and growth. It may take time, but the journey can be rewarding and fulfilling.” - GPT

In these precise struggles, you can find the biggest amount of change:

1. Loss & Grief

2. Job Loss / Career Transition

3. Health Challenges

4. Financial Turbulence

5. Identity Crisis

6. Relationship Breakdowns

The most interesting thing about these struggles is that they are all connected in a cause and effect relationship.

Loss and grief can cause health challenges, which can cause identity crisis, which can cause job loss, which can cause financial turbulence, which can cause relationship breakdowns.

If you are currently experiencing one of these stages in life, there’s hope in your future.

But in time, you will find yourself seeking a way out.

You will seek a path to overcome.

Adapt Faster.

Interrupt your own patterns.

The more patterns you interrupt + the intensity of the interruption = positive growth.

If you want to adapt faster, don’t just EMBRACE change, CREATE change.

Pick something new. Kick something old.

Here’s a personal example of interrupting my patterns:

Kick Something: I stopped drinking with the neighbors.

Pick Something: I started running again.

Intensity: Every single day.

Growth: I ran my 1st marathon.

Key Take Aways:

Interrupt your patterns; pick something, kick something

Struggle is non-negotiable

Create change, don’t embrace change

Midjourney art by Scarlett

Prompt:

/imagine sparkly, red, orange, and yellow triangle pattern in a volcano about to be interrupted with a panda climbing up thinking it’s bamboo --ar 2:1