I’m back at home after a whirlwind few weeks in BC and Alberta - traveling between a few of my happiest places, Fernie B.C. and Canmore/Banff/Calgary, Alberta. This is a bit of a winter pilgrimage for me - we do some version of this trip every year, and each year I can categorize if I am:

#1) VERY STRESSED OUT

or

#2) Somehow, not very stressed out.

Mostly, it’s determining if I’m in a headspace to move all my meetings to another day and go skiing, or if the mere thought of being away from my desk gives me crippling anxiety.

This year was quite happily a not that stressful - I did lots of work but took advantage of the bluebird days when they arrived, got a powder day or two, and overall, balanced my workload. Additionally, I did the Sulphur Mountain hike with my cousin and managed to take fewer breaks on the 5Km almost straight up climb (yay for cross training!)

As much as I love this trip each year, I also appreciate that it gives me a window to reflect on how I was feeling at the exact same time the previous year - what was I worried about a year ago? Am I still worried about the same things? What feels easier today than it did previously?

Which brings me to a poignant quote I’ve been thinking about lately -

And I think about this a lot, because one of the strangest parts of being an adult is how hard it is to recognize when you’ve actually reached a milestone or a new level in your life. You don’t get an email saying, Congratulations, you now feel more confident than you did three years ago.
No one throws you a party because you handle stress better than you used to (although I think we should.)

Most of the time, you only realize you’ve crossed a threshold when you look backwards and reflect on how something that used to be hard, is now much easier.

So, if you feel like you’re stuck or that you haven’t achieved anything monumental in a while, try a few tips to make you realize you are progressing.

One of the easiest ways I’ve found to notice growth is to spend time with people who are younger than me.

Not children! Children are extremely humbling unless you know a surprising amount about dinosaurs or can hold your own in Mario Kart. Hang out with kids for fun, and to learn even more about everything you don’t know.

For this exercise, we are looking for people who are 5-10 years earlier than you professionally, especially in similar industries or parallel roles. Once you start listening to the problems and challenges they are wrestling with, it will remind you of similar situations you have already survived and potentially, already solved.

Things that once felt enormous and overwhelming now feel manageable, or even routine.

The reverse is also true.

Spending time with people who are further along than you can be incredibly reassuring, because they normalize things you thought were just your problems.

They’ll say things like:

“Oh yes, I remember that, it was awful.”
“I went through the exact same thing at your age”
“That part never really goes away, but you can try doing x y or z to make it easier.”

Now, you have validation, advice, and someone who believes you’re going to be able to navigate this chapter of your life.

If you’ve been feeling like you’re not making progress lately, a few things that help me:

If all that fails, sign yourself up for something with a defined milestone - preferably something hard, that’s going to take a bit of work, but you will know when you’re finished. For me, wheezing my way over to the very top of Sulphur in a flop sweat was just the ticket.