Now,
How often do you —
Catch yourself worrying about things that, in hindsight, didn’t deserve a fraction of the energy you gave them?
Trust me, it’s a habit for a lot of us.
And If not you,
It’s a habit I’ve worked really hard to break.
Remember, letting go of the unimportant frees up space for what truly matters.
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I’ll give you some examples:
When I was in college, a lot of people chose similar electives not because they loved it, but because they thought, how could they take a subject that their friends won’t take. Won’t they think they are out there trying to impress others and betraying their friends? Luckily, I wasn’t that guy.
But then, I had my own set of issues.
There was a phase where I said yes to everything — weekend trips, late-night hangouts, or even random hobby classes — just because I didn’t want to miss out.
One weekend, I went on a road trip with friends even though I was exhausted from work. I spent the entire trip irritable and on edge, wondering why I hadn’t just stayed home.
Imagine — I was actually saying no to my own well-being :(
Now, I only commit to things that feel meaningful to me, and I’m comfortable missing out on the rest.
Turns out, the world doesn’t end when you skip a party.
Let me get you another example.
Scrolling through LinkedIn and seeing someone your age get promoted to a role you could only dream of? Felt bad?
Oh yes! We all have. Immediately, you’d have felt like you weren’t doing enough. Atleast I felt that.
And for hours, I spiralled into thoughts about how I was falling behind in life.
Now, I have just started focusing on my own goals. I keep a journal where I track my progress, no matter how small. Slowly, I have learned to celebrate my own wins instead of comparing them to someone else’s highlight reel.
Another example?
During a presentation at work in my first company, I fumbled over my words and forgot a key point.
I felt humiliated and replayed that moment in my mind over and over.
One mistake haunted me for years.
But here’s what I wanna say: no one else remembers it.
People are far too focused on their own lives to dwell on your mistakes.
Once I accepted that, I started seeing my missteps as lessons instead of failures. Now, when I make a mistake, I ask myself, What can I learn from this? — and then I move on :)
So, next time you find yourself worrying about approval, FOMO, comparisons, mistakes, or the future, ask yourself: Does this deserve my energy? You might be surprised how often the answer is no.
In case we are meeting for the first time, come over here, it’ll be worth the roller coaster of articles that are gonna come up in the next few weeks.
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