It gets worse before it gets better: growth through setbacks
Hello friend, just a little note for you today 😊
A week ago, we stayed at my sister-in-law’s place near the Pyrenees. She has a sweet baby – my niece – who’s about 6 months old. During our stay, the baby started crying more and sleeping worse, and her usual sleep-wake routine was thrown off, which was quite challenging for her parents. On one of those tough days, my sister-in-law said something that really stuck with me: “Maybe she’s having worse days and nights because she’s going through an ‘update.’” And sure enough, just a few days later, the baby started crawling on her knees for the first time!
That turbulent period was like a precursor to the next big leap in her development.
It made me think about our own insomnia recovery journey – how each big speedbump often comes right before a new “update,” a moment of growth or new understanding. Think about your previous “setbacks” – what kind of experience followed them once they were over? Or recall any past aha-moments – weren’t they often a by-product of some turbulence?
What if we looked at our setbacks as a precursor to our “updates“? Instead of thinking, “I’ve massively regressed!” we could say, “Hm, something is in the making here. Some new insight or breakthrough is on the way. I don’t know exactly what it is or when it will happen, but I’m going to go with the flow and see where it leads me.”
This is a really short letter as I am still on the road trip, but just wanted to say hello 👋
And here’s another postcard for you – this time from the Basque Country!
Cheers!
Ali
Wonderful analogy Alina (and also very true). Enjoy the rest of your holiday.
Thank you dear coach,
Happy to have you and enjoy your holidays.