CRY AND NAP: THAT’S SELF-GROWTH TOO

Wake up at 5:00 a.m., write three things in your gratitude journal, drink lukewarm lemon water, run 10 km, lift weights, meditate for 20 minutes, read a chapter of a self-help book, prep a healthy protein-packed breakfast, work on your million-dollar side hustle… and then start your actual workday.

Oh, you didn’t? Then clearly, you’re not “investing in your personal growth.” Fakin luser.

And I wonder 🤔: what kind of person —the kind we’d like to look up to— can do all that consistently without breaking? With the exhaustion of late September, this week’s entry is a list of obvious yet uncomfortable truths: personal growth is not a perfect checklist. And definitely not a ritual designed for robots with infinite battery life.

TOXIC MYTHS OF PERSONAL GROWTH

We live in an era where crypto-bros and ex-adult-content-creators turned “holistic coaches” have packaged “growing and improving” into subscription models. And along the way, they’ve sold us some myths worth tearing down:

YOU ARE WHAT YOU PRODUCE. Welcome to the “capitalization of time”: every hour must count, every minute must be optimized, every rest is a wasted investment. The result? Identities turned into Excel spreadsheets.

CHANGE ALWAYS FEELS GOOD. Wrong. Change stings, the path hurts, improvement itches and exhausts. Sometimes it means being uncomfortable and lost for months. Not a serotonin high, but more like emotional puberty.

GROWTH = READING, MEDITATING, RUNNING MARATHONS, MAKING MONEY. If you’re not stacking bills, miles, and one-night stands, it “doesn’t count.” Welcome to real-life Monopoly.

SUCCESS IS LINEAR AND ALWAYS ASCENDING. In reality, it’s more like rush-hour subway traffic: you go up, down, feel dizzy… and sometimes you get off at the wrong stop and trip over someone’s foot on the curved platform.

THE KEY IS CONSISTENCY, NO COMPLAINTS. Cue toxic masculinity and emotional time-bombs. Just shut up, grind, and don’t show feelings. Until, of course, you explode and no one knows why.

IN SHORT: they’ve sold us an unattainable (and dangerous) model of self-improvement. And of course, compared to that, we always feel behind.

WHAT PERSONAL GROWTH REALLY LOOKS LIKE

Spoiler: we have no f**ing clue*. If we did, we’d already be preaching it from rooftops. NOBODY knows. We all just do our best… until we know better. But here are some ingredients that deserve to be part of the recipe:

MOMENTS OF CATHARSIS. Crying yourself to sleep, screaming in the car with the music blasting, or letting out what you’ve been holding in for weeks (sometimes with a dash of self-destructive behavior). Emptying out is often the only way to make space for the new.

THE POWER OF LAZINESS. Time that’s not productive, but simply being. Soaking in the bath, oversleeping, hanging out with people for no reason, without needing it to “add value” or expecting a return.

BARE-MINIMUM RITUALS. On the days you can’t even get out of bed, managing to put two drops of moisturizer on your face is an act of infinite power.

STOPS AND PAUSES. Ignoring WhatsApps, switching to airplane mode, saying “not today” without explanations.

MORE ACTION AND EMOTION THAN OVERTHINKING. Sure, reflection and spiritual glitter is useful… but there comes a time when you need to train the muscle. Fear, anger, sadness deserve as many reps as joy. They’re basically “leg day” for your emotional week.

PERSONAL GROWTH WITHOUT FILTERS

Sometimes personal growth looks less like an Instagram before/after (minus 25 kilos, plus abs) and more like: “I survived Monday.”

The hard part isn’t yoga at sunrise, it’s stopping without guilt. The revolutionary thing isn’t a perfect agenda, it’s calmly admitting: today I can’t do it all. And the valuable part isn’t always what shines on the outside, but what holds you together inside.

Personal growth is messy, everyday, and above all… human.

P.S.: This week’s post is brought to you by Wowyoung. Because maybe today you didn’t change the world, but putting on our anti-aging serum is still a small reminder: you did something that mattered. You took care of yourself.

CRY AND NAP: THAT’S SELF-GROWTH TOO

Oh, you didn’t? Then clearly, you’re not “investing in your personal growth.” Fakin luser.

TOXIC MYTHS OF PERSONAL GROWTH

YOU ARE WHAT YOU PRODUCE. Welcome to the “capitalization of time”: every hour must count, every minute must be optimized, every rest is a wasted investment. The result? Identities turned into Excel spreadsheets.

CHANGE ALWAYS FEELS GOOD. Wrong. Change stings, the path hurts, improvement itches and exhausts. Sometimes it means being uncomfortable and lost for months. Not a serotonin high, but more like emotional puberty.

GROWTH = READING, MEDITATING, RUNNING MARATHONS, MAKING MONEY. If you’re not stacking bills, miles, and one-night stands, it “doesn’t count.” Welcome to real-life Monopoly.

SUCCESS IS LINEAR AND ALWAYS ASCENDING. In reality, it’s more like rush-hour subway traffic: you go up, down, feel dizzy… and sometimes you get off at the wrong stop and trip over someone’s foot on the curved platform.

THE KEY IS CONSISTENCY, NO COMPLAINTS. Cue toxic masculinity and emotional time-bombs. Just shut up, grind, and don’t show feelings. Until, of course, you explode and no one knows why.

IN SHORT: they’ve sold us an unattainable (and dangerous) model of self-improvement. And of course, compared to that, we always feel behind.

WHAT PERSONAL GROWTH REALLY LOOKS LIKE

Spoiler: we have no f**ing clue*. If we did, we’d already be preaching it from rooftops. NOBODY knows. We all just do our best… until we know better. But here are some ingredients that deserve to be part of the recipe:

MOMENTS OF CATHARSIS. Crying yourself to sleep, screaming in the car with the music blasting, or letting out what you’ve been holding in for weeks (sometimes with a dash of self-destructive behavior). Emptying out is often the only way to make space for the new.

THE POWER OF LAZINESS. Time that’s not productive, but simply being. Soaking in the bath, oversleeping, hanging out with people for no reason, without needing it to “add value” or expecting a return.

BARE-MINIMUM RITUALS. On the days you can’t even get out of bed, managing to put two drops of moisturizer on your face is an act of infinite power.

STOPS AND PAUSES. Ignoring WhatsApps, switching to airplane mode, saying “not today” without explanations.

MORE ACTION AND EMOTION THAN OVERTHINKING. Sure, reflection and spiritual glitter is useful… but there comes a time when you need to train the muscle. Fear, anger, sadness deserve as many reps as joy. They’re basically “leg day” for your emotional week.

PERSONAL GROWTH WITHOUT FILTERS

Sometimes personal growth looks less like an Instagram before/after (minus 25 kilos, plus abs) and more like: “I survived Monday.”

Personal growth is messy, everyday, and above all… human.

P.S: This week's post is brought to you by Wowyoung. Because maybe today you didn’t change the world, but putting on our anti-aging serum is still a small reminder: you did something that mattered. You took care of yourself.

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