Lesson #2: Changing Your Mind Is Growing Up

Somewhere along the way, we decided we're supposed to pick an opinion and hold onto it forever. One idea. One way of doing things. And there's always someone — family, a friend, someone from way back — ready to remind you: “You don't like that.” “But you said…” “You used to think…” “You always did it this way.”

They mean well. They're remembering who you were. But it leaves out something big: we're all changing, all the time.

Honestly, it gets to me when people insist on parts of my life that probably aren't true anymore. Because I'm not that person.

It happens most when I go home. I left to study about five years ago, and every visit feels like they're expecting the same version of me who walked out the door. But it's been five years. My ideas changed. My priorities, my taste, the way I look at things — and most of all, the way I see myself.

There's something strange about realizing that even you don't fully recognize the person you were a few years back.

I think we have to learn to let ourselves change our minds. To accept that something you loved can stop appealing to you. That an idea you defended can stop speaking for you. That a way of living that once made you happy might just not work anymore.

And it's not only the big stuff. It shows up in small, ordinary things too.

Lately, for instance, I've been wanting a real routine again. I want to get better at keeping the promises I make to myself. If I say I'm going to the gym from seven to nine, I want to actually get up, go, and let it become part of my life.

Routines have been hard for me lately. I struggle to hold them, and at the same time I know I'm happier and calmer with some structure in my days. So I'm working on getting that rhythm back — fixing my sleep, building habits that suit the person I am now, not the one I was a few years ago.

Because maybe that's part of growing up too: letting go of the version of you everyone else remembers, and getting to know the one you're building.

Changing your mind, your habits, even your dreams — none of that makes you inconsistent. It means you're giving yourself permission to evolve.

So — what's an idea, a habit, a routine you've changed about yourself? Is there something you swore you'd never do that's part of your life now? Or something you've been wanting to start?

I'd really like to read what comes up for you in the comments. Let's build something here.

See you around. 😊