Happiness Begins with Knowing Your Worth
A few years ago I took the most terrifying leap into the unknown to discover a side of myself & the world I never truly knew.
We always think we know ourselves, but we don’t. Every single day we’re shapeshifting, moving, making, and breaking like the tides. Evolving and devolving, the only point of view we can ever really have is through our own mind’s eye.
I was once a person that relied on others and exterior things for my happiness, somewhere along the lines, in the pits of sadness I learned how to flip the world on it’s head & do whatever I could to live my own truth. I found my bliss with a shift in perspective, not in my profession. I found out that the destination we're all trying to get to doesn't exist - the place is now & that's all that will ever matter.
Start with these questions:
WHAT ARE YOU WORTH?
WHAT IS IT YOU DO?
WHO ARE YOU?
WHAT DO YOU CREATE?
HOW DO YOU SEE YOURSELF VS. HOW ARE YOU PERCEIVED?
HOW ARE YOU DIFFERENT?
HOW ARE YOU THE SAME?
WHAT IS YOUR MISSION?
These aren't professional questions, these are personal questions you have to ask yourself. Before you can tell the world what you're worth, you best know in your soul that you are worth it.
You have to be ready to believe in your work, in your value, in your talent, in your purpose before you can face the world - because rejection, judgment, and failure are absolute.
At the end of the day, it's simple - you have to discover yourself by yourself. The process of self-discovery is endless & evolutionary, there is no regression, even when it feels like it. Start with your roots & realize that every decision you ever made brought you to this moment, right here, right now. Look at your life and see the things you love, that drive you, that inspire you. None of this was an accident, it happened by design. Do more, be more, and surround yourself with those things. Eventually, as you make time & space for what's important to you, your life becomes full, your work becomes worth it, and that "value" will begin to speak for itself.
Sometimes we have to do, go, and be different things to challenge yourself & develop a new relationship of trust. For me, it's taking myself places I've never been before, the feeling of being lost & making myself and surroundings feel found & familiar. It's about rhythm, timing, and harmony - maybe paddling out into a break I've surfed a hundred times but still have to pay attention the patterns, the ever-changing and shifting moments, to trust myself & know that, I can do this. And to humble myself, through embracing human moments of fear, failure, vanity, jealousy, and loss - knowing that this is all a part of a patient process far bigger than me.