Paul Hopkins Online

Now and then, part of my role involves debriefing people. It is important for people to stop, reflect, grow and move on. This is a healthy process. Part of that process is often dealing with the hard things, things that may have led us to feel discouraged.

Discouragement is a powerful force that can paralyse, demotivate and cause is to limit who we can be. Ever had it hit you? You would not be human if you had not! What makes you feel at the end of the day that maybe you need to do something else. How is it that our buttons are pushed so that we feel that we need a new career, need to give up on working on a difficult relationship or are just in need of being somewhere that values you more. And anyway, how do you know that you are not merely being discouraged but it truly is time to change? You could be simply banging your head against a brick wall and it is time to admit that you need to move on.

If we are in what we are doing for what we can get out of it. If we have a hidden urge to earn approval. If success is what gives us self-worth, it’s very difficult to distinguish between discouragement and the the voice of wisdom telling us to move on.

‘But’, you may ask ‘How do I get to the place when these hidden drives are not clouding my view? Well it may not be easy, but I have become convinced that the way is straight forward, even if I do not always follow it myself! It primarily involves two uncomfortable thoughts, thoughts that I find are best explored with others that you can trust to be both loving and honest with you. They are the humility to see where I have