An Open Letter to a College Graduate
Dear College Graduate,
Congratulations on this moment.
You had worked tirelessly to get here, pulled all-nighters, cried into late-night study sessions, and are a different person than you were when you began this journey. Remember this small advice as you move forward on the next chapter of your life. Now that you have accomplished your degree, this does not mean you have to have everything figured out.
Welcome the mistakes. Welcome the journey.
You have the rest of your life ahead of you. Meaning plenty of time and opportunity to get things right and wrong. You will make not so great so decisions, and that is ok. Things may not always work out as you had hoped for. You won't know this at that moment, but that's the best thing you could have asked for.
See, the thing is, the path to success is a bumpy one. So remember this second simple piece of advice, Fail fast and fail forward. Not everything in life will go as planned, especially when you're in business or a career. You are going to have moments of failure, regret, and happiness. You're probably wondering why a therapist is telling you to be open to these moments. Maybe you are even feeling slightly irritated as you're reading this. So hang on with me.
Welcome the failure, mistakes, and setbacks. These are all signs you're one step closer to getting it right.
No story of success ever began with “I got it right on my first try”. Normalize the hiccups, and obstacles, and learn to cope with them.
Instead, normalize the hiccups and obstacles, and learn to cope with them. Try new experiences. Consider going to therapy at least once in the next couple of years when things go horribly off course. Transform challenges into an opportunity to learn how to cope with feelings of insecurity & other moments that didn't go as planned. When something does not work, take a different approach. Ask for help, seek support, and make an appointment with your therapist to check in again. Be cautious of denial or avoidance. They will hold you back if you allow them to stop you. Life is full of consultation, teamwork, and messy moments. Therapy is no stranger to that, except it is a space to grow, heal and evolve.
You do not have to go through these moments alone.
Life is full of moments. Let those moments be opportunities to create resilience and move forward. In our most difficult moments, we experience the most growth. Suppose you are listing reasons in your mind why you wouldn't go to therapy or don't have enough reasons. Allow that fear to be the motivation to begin the best investment you will ever make in your life. Invest in you, invest in therapy.
