Are you creating your own suffering?

March 12, 2024 by Kyira Wackett in Values-Driven Learning

Have you ever caught yourself saying something like":

“I have to do…”
“She made me…”
“No matter what I do…”
“No one else will…”

It’s easy to make other people the problem. It’s easy to write a story that absolves you of any power or control. You’re stuck. Life is hard and there is nothing you can do.

There’s convenience in this. If everyone else is the problem, you have no control, sure, but also no responsibility. Your life is a product of uncontrollable circumstances and all you can do is ride the ride. It’s not worth trying to make things better or different — they just are the way they are.

But are you ready for a painful yet super exciting reality? You actually can control a lot more than you think. Sure, you can’t stop someone from making an ask, having an expectation or projecting some feeling or thought onto you. You can’t control what you or anyone else has done in the past. And there’s no true way to control or predict the future.

But you can control how you respond. You can control how much of someone else’s story you take on. You can decide what defines you and from what mindset and emotional root you lead your life.

There is always a choice. Don’t create a story of perpetual suffering. Dare to walk bravely into a story you get to be the lead in.

What are you waiting for?

February 27, 2024 by Kyira Wackett in Values-Driven Learning

One of the best pieces of advice I have ever been given was:

“Start before you’re ready.”

Ready is subjective.

Sure there are some objective components to readiness — some universal standards — but when it comes to whatever that thing is you have been longing, wishing, wanting and hoping to do, you’re ready.

There will never be a day you wake up and feel like it’s the perfect time to start.

So just start now.

Let it be imperfect and all over the place. Learn as you go. Just stop wasting your time waiting for the right moment.

The WHAT is significantly less important than the WHY behind it

February 20, 2024 by Kyira Wackett in Values-Driven Learning

“WHY WE DO THE THINGS WE DO IS OFTENTIMES MORE IMPORTANT THAN WHAT WE ACTUALLY DO.”

Throughout our lives, we inherit scripts from those around us — how to act, what to fear, who we are supposed to be…the list goes on. The stories we’re told when we’re young shape us throughout our lives and become the foundation for our emerging who, what and why.

But what is the impact this has? And how can we begin to dismantle it?

What Matters More: Your WHAT or WHY?

January 30, 2024 by Kyira Wackett in Values-Driven Learning

Throughout our lives, we inherit scripts from those around us — how to act, what to fear, who we are supposed to be…the list goes on.

The stories we are told when we are young shape us throughout our lives and become the foundation for our emerging who, what and why.

But this is not universally positive. Even in the above points, there is a ton of gray area through which unhelpful scripts can enter the picture. For example, most of us struggle with communication. That is not a genetic problem. We are not predetermined to be problem communicators. That is something modeled and learned over time and unfortunately, can have long term consequences both personally and professionally.

It’s Quality over Quantity — not the other way around.

January 09, 2024 by Kyira Wackett in Values-Driven Learning

A few weeks ago I received an email from someone inviting me to be a part of an event they are putting together addressing burnout and identity overwhelm.

In the email, they listed a few requirements for speaker participants. Most were standard — helping spread the word about the event, being present for your session and a Q&A, etc. But there was one specification that really bothered me.