Upon reflecting my story so far, and the distinct chapters I’ve lived, I begin to see a clear pattern.
The things I’ve done all have had exciting periods of explosive growth. Of creation. Then things plateau, which is not terrible either. Often that’s the period of seeing some return on the sacrifice I made during the growth period.
Eventually, however, the plateau turns into something else. There’s a saying that if you aren’t moving forwards you are falling backwards. I think that would describe these periods for me.
Typically I wait, hoping that something will change, that I can fall back into the growth phase again. This waiting period can often take years.
What happens next is usually I’m confronted with an untenable situation and I’m forced to start contemplating “What’s Next?”
What is a common characteristic is how unsatisfied I am with the status quo. Doing nothing and hoping something might change isn’t good enough anymore. It’s time to make a more drastic change.
Until recently, that was also fed by the reality that if I did nothing I would go broke. I had to take on something new to create a new path to income. I was forced into change or risk catastrophe. That worked out reasonably well during those times.
More recently I’m in the enviable position of not needing to do anything. I can just coast. So I’ve been coasting, taking advantage of this time for renewal, self-growth, and personal projects like my memoir.
And now I can sense I have the personal reserves to take on “What’s Next” again. But this time not because I have to. This time it’s because I want to and feel ready to do so. I’m also going into this with the knowledge that the exciting growth phase lays ahead, and I’m thrilled that that is waiting for me.
