Finding Your Mojo

Last week I had the pleasure of bringing my mom back from Nebraska after closing out the last details of my dad’s life.  We had a great road trip and over the 12 hours had plenty of time to talk about all kinds of things.  I had the opportunity to ask questions of my mom—is there anything you would have done differently? Any regrets? What does the future look like now? How are you handling this life transition after being married for 58 years and now that identity is disrupted?  We talked and talked and talked.  It was awesome.

Out of all the road hours my mom said the most profound thing to me as we discussed struggling to find our mojo.  I had told her I was struggling to “get back to myself” and she responded, “maybe, like me, you shouldn’t be looking to who you were before but to who you are becoming and move toward that.” 

Mic drop. 

She’s right.  It’s easy to ruminate about wishing we could get back to some version of ourselves when life was less painful and messy—but that version of us is gone and pining for a past self diverts energy from our becoming.  Our personal growth requires us to walk through the muck and step into our new selves.

I delivered my mom to the airport on Monday, hugged her and wished her a safe journey.  Her words are still echoing in my brain which is why I wanted to share them with you today.  I’m challenging myself to come face to face with who I am becoming and set up the new systems to develop the habits that support this next stage in my journey.  I have a lot of habits to switch up so starting small.  Back to basics—make the bed first thing; wake up on the first alarm; set out work clothes the night before to remove decision making challenges; food prep in advance; etc.

Consider challenging yourself as you move through life to clearly define who you want to become.  What are the key characteristics of future you and what systems do you need to put in place to support good habits to help you become this new best version of yourself. 

Each of us can find our mojo and a brighter kind of better.