Not My Typical Email

I’m currently home in ohio for a bit and I’ve been seeing a lot of old friends from growing up

many of them recently graduated, got their first job, or are getting close to graduating

the transition from college to the real world is brutal

you go from with your best buddies 24/7, no responsibilities really, and having a ton of fun

to getting an 8-5, many of your friends moving away, and having bills to pay and adult things to do…

and well the transition was never too hard for me because I’ve been “adulting” since I was 20 and I got more of a college experience once I moved to Miami than I ever did in college

I live close by to all my friends that do similar things and push me, I moved with one of my good friends, and even though I have responsibilities I have a lot of fun

and many of my friends here have been telling me they’re sad, or stressed, or anxious, and that this post grad life is hard

and it is hard and I empathize

but they’re making one crucial mistake

they’re labeling these emotions with a negative connotation

“I’m sad”

“I’m anxious”

here’s what they’re missing and maybe you are too

emotions are a gift

you can’t feel happy all the time and you shouldn’t want to

every emotion is supposed to teach you a lesson

if you are anxious - what are you putting off that you know you should be doing that you’re not?

are you slacking at work?

are you slacking on your health?

are you slacking on the goals and dreams you told yourself you’d chase this year?

if you’re sad - what is it in your life that’s making you sad?

is it the people you’re surrounding yourself with?

are you not eating clean food?

are you over consuming alcohol?

does your work drain your energy?

and similarly - if you’re happy - what is it that’s making you happy? do more of that

surround yourself with those people more

do those activities more

you see emotions are here to teach you lessons, but you need to learn to be introspective enough to pay attention to figure out what the lesson is

and then more importantly, make the change

because guess what? if your job is draining your energy and you just go “oh I’m sad” and expect things to get better

that is the definition of insanity, doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results

now the second step is to get rid of the “I’ll be happy WHEN’

I’ll be happy..

WHEN I get the promotion

WHEN I move into a new apartment

WHEN I get in a relationship

WHEN I replace my jobs income with a side hustle

stop the self sabotage and coping

you have the power to decide for yourself to make the changes you need to make TODAY

it hurts me to see many of my friends struggling, but I will also never be the person to say “oh it’s okay it gets better”

it gets better…. if you make it better

if you learn the lesson each emotion is supposed to teach you

and the same way I try to help any of my friends, I’m here to help any of you

if you need to talk about something, or want my advice, or just want to chat, you can just reply to this email and I will get back to you

and the last thing that really helps is having a community to support you

you have a community of 3,300 go getters waiting to welcome you here

best,

alex