Stress & the pressure to succeed.

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Recently, I came to the realisation that most of my peers have the same worries. We all worry about our futures and how our present actions will affect them. Many of us worry about getting into university. Then once we are here we stress about university assignments, finding work experience, stalk social media accounts of ‘seemingly’ successful people and then worry about everything else all over again. Nevertheless, we all share the same fears.

I personally, always feel an overwhelming sense of pressure to be doing more than what I am doing. ‘More’ might be referring to the fact that although I am already doing significant things, I feel the need to be moving on to bigger projects. For most of us, the end goal is so far away that all the mini milestones and acheivements we make along the way are easily forgotten or overlooked.

It may seem like the only option we have but it’s also important to remind ourselves that (brace yourself for corny quote) “life is a marathon and not a race”. In order for us to have the success that we are striving for, we have to be willing to put in the time and effort to master the things which we are currently working on. Half-hearted projects may result in immediate results but are unlikely to have amazing rewards in the future. I have to ensure that I put my heart and my mind into the things I am doing in order to feel accomplished later on. Successful people tend to work extremely hard to get to where they want in life. Successful people also tend to spend a lot of time becoming really good at one or two things (See ‘Focussing’ post). All of our present efforts will become tangible in the future.

I am trying to maintain the mindset that despite the fact the world around us encourages us to think we need everything immediately, it is ok to not have everything you feel you need right now. Whenever I think of all the things I used to want growing up and never got until much later, I am always glad I got those things now. This is because I appreciate them so much more and probably wouldn’t have made any good use of them at the time anyway. Being in a hard place allows us to have something to compare the good times to. Life is full of growth, after all, and I am even more grateful for the things I have yet to achieve. And while it may be very easy for me to type this, it’s still difficult to actually put these things into practice with so many distractions so I have attempted to limit these (Again see ‘Focussing’ post).

Ultimately, you have to remember that whatever success you are trying to achieve is for yourself. Being successful is not about pleasing others and living up to anybody’s expectations. So don’t feel rushed and try to be patient. Don’t let the fear of being judged stop you going after something. Don’t allow other people to tell you that your goals are ‘too big’ because only you can be fully aware of your capabilities. Most importantly, do not fear failure because it is better to try than to question what if.