If You Aren’t in Over Your Head…

“If you aren’t in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?” ― T.S. Eliot

TS Eliot was likely referencing the saying, “If you’re not in over your head, you’re not doing anything interesting.” which means that if you’re not challenging yourself, you’re not growing. So by being in over your head, you are constantly pushing yourself to new limits and learning more about who you are.

I know particularly as women, we get stuck in our roles. The role of wife, mother, caretaker, or homemaker. We don’t always challenge ourselves to become more.

I was talking to a friend the other day. She had been in the same job all of her adult life. Very rarely did she venture out of her comfort zone. She never pushed herself to be better. She realized she wasn’t living up to her potential and knew she had to make a change or get permanently trapped.

What did she do?

She started taking risks, pursuing every new opportunity presented to her, and pushing herself outside of her comfort zone. By doing so she began to grow and learn more about herself than she ever thought possible. By challenging herself, she realized her true potential and became the person she was meant to be.

The moral of the story, of course, is that when you feel stuck in a rut you need to find something that will challenge you. It doesn’t even have to be something as drastic as a new job, or starting or ending a relationship – it could be as quick and easy as preparing a meal from a new culture, striking up a conversation with a random stranger, or learning something new.

In order to grow and learn more about who you are, you have to embrace change – even if it’s just a teeny tiny one. If we stay in our comfort zones, we’ll never reach our full potential.

Change is important because it helps us grow and learn. If we stayed in the same place all the time, we would never get better or learn new things. Change can be scary, but it’s also exciting because it means we’re moving forward.

What change do you want to create?

My challenge to you is to take the idea that just popped into your head and run with it. Ask yourself what is the first step I need to take to make that change.

Break it down into tiny steps. That way making the first step is easier. Once you take that first step the next one comes naturally, and soon you are halfway to making the change you desire.

When you start to build momentum, that’s when real change can happen.

TS Eliot would be proud of you for getting in over your head and finding out how tall you are.

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Read another inspiring quote about embracing change when things seem like they might be falling apart.