Summary: <br> There’s a moment in our lives when we face the biggest invitation to just coast, go through the motions, call it in, and give less than our best. A moment when we wake up without direction and no real excitement to find it. When is that? Surprisingly it’s not after disappointment. The most volatile time for our motivation and determination is after success. After the goal is achieved, the finish line is crossed, the fear has been conquered … then we celebrate? No, then we struggle.<br> It seems no one prepares you for what comes after success. When you should be feeling so overwhelmingly full of happiness, you’re instead met with an emptiness of ‘well, now what’?<br> You worked for YEARS for that degree … and now what? Oh yeah, you have to actually find a job. That’s a bummer.<br> You trained for 6 months for that race, race day came and went … and now what? Why go out there and run, you’ve already crossed your finish line.<br> You work your butt off, like literally, to reach your goal weight and zip up them jeans … and now what? Now you still don’t get to eat pizza? Still now ooewey gooey brownies? Oh come on man!<br> I’m just assuming, but I bet the percentage of newlywed couples who fight on their honeymoon is overwhelming. Why? Because the big celebration has come and gone, the day is done, and now what? Now I wake up to your bad breath. Now I’m left with forever with a flawed human being who leaves clothes on the floor, doesn’t close the bathroom door, and oh my gosh … he snores.<br> Let’s talk about AFTER success.<br> No one prepares you for this stuff. The emptiness of not knowing what to do next. The aching for the days of knowing what you were working for with clear direction. Here you are with the degree, the ring, the promotion, the medal, the house, the baby … you have what you wanted and you feel so dang guilty for it not being enough. Shouldn’t you be on cloud 9, energized by the experience, and 100% confident of your next move? But instead you feel a little empty, a little lost, and disappointed, regardless of how amazing it was.<br> I’m here to tell you that’s completely NORMAL.<br> It’s also normal to go into a dark hole of sadness after success. Yeah, no one tells you about that now do they?<br> It’s normal, but it’s also optional. It’s normal, but it’s not mandatory. It may happen a lot, and it may have happened to you in the past … but it doesn’t have to happen to you now.<br> I believe this shocking feeling of emptiness after success is nothing more than PROOF. Proof you were created for more. You are capable of more. You are worthy of more. There’s still more for you and more in you. This isn’t where you’re supposed to set up your camp and stay forever. This success, this breakthrough, this next level accomplishment was awesome … yes, celebrate the heck out of it … but it’s just the next step on your climb up to the life you were really created for.<br> I have a dear friend named Cassie. She’s one of those people everyone loves. She’s a magnet, an energizer, a ball of pure joy. For years she hid a struggle with infertility behind her bigger than life smile and laugh. But I knew. I knew her struggle. I knew her emptiness. Countless ups and downs and hundreds of negative pregnancy tests through the years. Then it finally happened … she was pregnant. It was the longest pregnancy ever … I believe this woman was pregnant for like 17 months, or so it seemed as we awaited the birth of this longed for, prayed for child. And then it happened … baby Sarah was born. Cassie was now a mom. And life went on. Cassie went back to work on a few hours of sleep, exhausted and slightly overwhelmed.<br> That’s reality.
