The flip side of accomplishment
coping with the post-success void
A deep reverence, a great earnestness, and at the same time a secret fear of the moment when this high, unique experience would be over. Goldmund stood and contemplated his work, there his work was, the beautiful disciple would remain, his delicate flowering would never end.
But he, the maker, would have to part with his work; tomorrow it would no longer be his, would no longer be waiting for his hands, would grow and unfold under them no longer, was no longer a refuge to him, a consolation, a purpose in his life. He remained behind, empty.
- Herman Hesse, Narcissus and Goldmund
I’m one of those people who enjoy applying different strategies to be productive. I do this because the feeling of accomplishment after completing my checklist for the day keeps me sane or at least in peace with myself. These feeling not only allow me to“get things done” but most importantly is what enables me to actually relax and to enjoy leisure time. Lately I’ve been practicing a “10x productivity” strategy that consists in setting small goals. The whole idea goes around setting a goal whose accomplishment short period of time, so one is able to see results much faster. To put this strategy into practice led me to learn new skills, knowledge and self-improvement. However, after my most recent project, I went through an emotional downside of this method.
For 4 months I challenged myself to find the time to train for my very first half marathon. In my previous post I share the positive impact that trying something that I didn’t use to like before aspects had in my life. Like other people I was inspired by articles, podcasts and videos from people who have already challenged themselves and shared their stories. Thus, being aware of this or not, I was expecting only wonders. Yet, few days after the marathon was over, I found myself in an abyss, contemplating the emptiness left behind. The feeling of no-purpose that stroked after it was over. After one puts so much energy, effort and caring in one single goal or activity, as this one is over and the emotion fades away like mist, It felt as if one is left alone with no tools on a big abysm right under our feet.
After much reflection, I realized that it’s okay that we care much about each of our goals. What I had to work on, however, was in accepting the fact that they’re temporary. Not only the goal itself, but the feeling of success. I would have to be prepared for the resting time, where no stimulating feeling would arouse me, accept it and then keep moving.
We are emotional humans and not over optimized machines. Remember why you started these challenges from at the very beginning. The merit of doing all of this and the key to find peace and happiness in the process is to be satisfied after your achievements. Feel, think, accept and then after this is that you move on to the next challenge. Give yourself time to rest and relax, ideas will come again if you’re patient.
Forcing yourself to overdo will just drain all of your energy. Instead, preserve that energy for then use to create more tools, commit to new challenges and to find yourself a new goal. Motivation will come, so as your reason to smile. Remember that if not today or tomorrow, the day after, the world would seem wonderful again.
