233. grow into your new shell

We live in a shell. It’s walls represent the boundaries of our potential.

As we grow within our shell, by overcoming obstacles and taking on new opportunities, our potential for growth gets smaller and smaller until we eventually hit its walls.

We can understand our arrival at these limits as fulfilling our potential — like a bodybuilder standing in admiration of how he fills out his small shirt — or we can see this as a new, and perhaps the most significant, challenge on our journey toward continual improvement by seeking a larger shell.

Shedding one identity for the possibility for another will never come easy, but the space it provides is necessary for growth. 

The transition to a new shell will feel foreign. You’ll feel out of place. You’ll feel like an imposter. You’ll wonder why you left until you realize how much more room you have to grow within your new shell.