One Bad Week Doesn’t Define You

Fabiola: Hi. There is something I've been paying attention to lately. We spend a lot of time preparing ourselves to start. We deal with the fear, we finally make the decision, we stop overthinking, recreate the plan, and then something happened that wasn't part of the plan. Unexpected news. The family situation. Something at work. A problem you thought was already handled. And suddenly the question is no longer whether you can start. The question becomes, what happens to everything you started when life interrupts you? I'm Fabiola, and this is waiting, isn't working. We're getting very close to the end of this season, and I think this is an important conversation to have before we close it. Because this season has been largely about action, making decisions, following through, doing the thing instead of spending another six months thinking about it. But action gets much complicated when circumstances change. And I don't think the answer is always just keep going. Sometimes you shouldn't. Sometimes something happens that actually deserves your attention. Sometimes you need to stop. Sometimes you need to rearrange things. Sometimes the plan you made three weeks ago simply does not fit the reality you're dealing with today. That isn't necessarily procrastination. That's life. but here's where I think we have to pay attention. When something unexpected happens, what else? Do you allow it to decide for you? Because one problem can very quickly start making decisions that have nothing to do with the problem. You get difficult news and suddenly you're questioning the project. One part of life becomes unstable and suddenly everything gets reopened for negotiation. Sounds familiar? So maybe the issue isn't only interruption. Maybe it is what interruption activates in us. For some people Pressure makes them shut down. For others, it makes them abandon anything that doesn't feel immediately necessary. Some people become extremely productive because staying busy gives them a sense of control. Some people start questioning every decision they made before the problem happened. And some of us return very quickly to an old habit. I'll deal with that later. that is the part I want you to notice. Not judge, notice what happens to you when the condition change. Because knowing that about yourself matters. When I first started this podcast, I overthought almost everything. My voice was a little shaky. I thought about how I sounded. whether was saying things correctly, whether people would listen, but over time recording became easier. Not necessarily because every doubt disappeared. I just stop treating every doubt, like new information. And there's a difference. A difficult day can happen without requiring you to reconsider your entire direction. That's something I wish we talked about more. Because when you under pressure, everything can feel significant. A bad week can suddenly become evidence that your whole plan is wrong. And maybe it is. Plans should be questioned sometimes. But I think we should be careful about when we question them. If you made a thoughtful decision when you were calm, informed, and clear about what you wanted, should one terrible Tuesday automatically get the same voting power? Maybe not. and this is where I think we need something between blindly pushing forward and completely walking away. Adjustment, adjustment. not the motivational kind of adjustment where we say just do five minutes I mean actually looking at your current capacity and deciding what makes sense now maybe something needs to be paused Okay, for how long? Maybe you can give something the same amount of attention. Okay, what changes? Maybe the deadline needs to move. Move it. But makes those decisions deliberately. Because there's a big difference between I'm putting this down for two weeks because I need to deal with something important. And I haven't touched it in two months because life got complicated. The first one is a decision. The second one usually just happened. And waiting is at working podcast has always been interested in that space. The things that just happened, because we never actually decided what to do. That's how waiting comes back into our lives. Not always through fear. Sometimes through disruption. So here's what I want you to consider this week. Think about something you have committed to recently. Now imagine your circumstances change. What happens to it? Do you pause it? Reduce it? Move the deadline? Ask someone for help? Continue exactly as planned? There isn't one correct answer. I think the important thing is that you have an answer. Because otherwise, the loudest thing happening in your life gets to make the decision for you. And as we get closer to the end of this season, I'm thinking more about that. When I sit down to record now, I have somebody in mind. You. I don't know you personally, but I know you've given me some of your time this season. And that time feels more expensive to me now. Because I don't want to simply give you something that sounds good for 10 minutes. I want you to notice something about the way you operate. And this week, maybe it's this. When life interrupts your plan, Pay attention to what you allow the interruption to change. Some things may need to change. Others may not. Know the difference. I'll talk to you soon.