Consider me happily influenced… my algorithm recently surfaced exactly the nuggets of wisdom I need to hear at this stage of life:
Embrace happiness as a primary goal. The instinct to be “good” often takes the shape of overreaching, overthinking, or making effort in performative ways. Lately, I’ve found it more useful to calibrate for calm: making decisions that protect my energy, redirecting my attention inward, and letting things be without demanding an explanation. Doing what is sustainable has more return than what looks admirable.
A day doesn’t need a headline to be important. Small rituals - taking the time to get ready in the morning, arriving prepared, showing up with intention - have disproportionate impact. Both internal and external presentation can shift how the world receives me and how I receive it. There’s power in treating ordinary days with significance, if only to remind myself that presence doesn’t require occasion. Wear the new dress on a Wednesday. Eat the otoro when it comes and fully savor it; I don’t have to save it for the end.
Before you manifest, audit. There’s nothing wrong with the language of manifestation, but it functions better when preceded by subtraction. Space doesn’t make itself. Auditing what no longer serves me - wasted time, bad habits, stuck relationships - creates the conditions for new ideas and priorities to take shape. Desire alone is not enough when the surrounding structure can’t support it. Clearing space allows new opportunities to emerge with less resistance; make vision boards and make room.
Busy-ness is not a badge of honor, and effort isn’t the same as value. Staying late, saying yes too often, and being constantly available aren’t marks of effectiveness; they’re signs of boundary erosion. Whether in work or relationships, being indispensable through execution can make it easy to be overlooked as a thinker. Strategy requires space. So does self-respect. If the goal is to be seen clearly, sometimes the most powerful choice is to step back rather than step up. Note to self: save being online past 6pm as an exception, not a rule.
Scale requires trust, not control. Holding onto every task out of convenience or perfectionism limits everyone involved. The better question isn’t “Can I do this?” but “Should I be the one doing this?” Delegation isn’t just about reducing workload; it’s an act of belief in others, and a signal that my own time is worth protecting. Often, I can do it myself more quickly but in the long term, this serves no one. Mentorship takes time, and the next best time to start is now. If something can be done by someone else, that’s a form of progress.
“Love that for him/her, want that for me.” This phrase reframes desire as celebration and aspiration, not lack. Though envy and I parted ways years ago, having a go-to-mantra for these situations is a helpful reinforcement mechanism.