I like to learn from the lives of others, and one of the things I’ve learned is that life consists of seasons. You don’t always live the same way. You don’t always do the same things. Instead, there are seasons in your life. Your ability to make the most of these seasons is essential to living your life to the fullest.
A new season for you could be a new job, a new place to live, or a new mindset. The important thing is that it makes a significant change in the way you live.
The life of Theodore Roosevelt (TR) is a good example. There were clear seasons in his life, such as when he was a cowboy, a soldier, and a president. He handled the seasons well. In fact, I believe that a big reason for his success was his ability to make the most of his seasons.
If you don’t make the most of the seasons in your life, there is a big danger: you could end up living far below your potential. In this scenario, there would be many things you could have achieved but didn’t.
That, of course, is something we want to avoid. So let’s learn from how TR did it. Here are three lessons we can learn from him:
1. Do your best in your current season.
Whichever season he was in, TR always did his best. He didn’t just give half effort. He gave his all. For instance, when he was a soldier, he led a heroic attack that eventually earned him the Medal of Honor. He could have died doing it, but he did it anyways.
Do your best in your current season. Your situation might not be ideal (for instance, you might be in a job you don’t like), but do your best anyway. You never know what opportunities might come to you because of it.
2. Know when to move to a new season.
Once, when he was a police commissioner, TR felt that there was nothing more he could do in that position. He knew that the time had come for him to do something new.
Similarly, there will be a time for you to move to a new season. You should recognize this so that you can take the right actions.
A good sign of such a time is when your growth potential in your current place has become limited. You need something new to keep growing. When that happened to you, the time may have come for you to move to a new season.
3. Be willing to leave the comfort of the old season.
When the time came to move to a new season, TR was willing to leave his comfort zone. For instance, he once left his comfortable life in New York to become a cowboy. On another occasion, he left a comfortable position in the Navy to become a front-line soldier.
Moving to a new season often means leaving your comfort zone. You might need to go to a new place, meet new people, or do new things. These are things that could make you uncomfortable.
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These lessons are simple, but applying them isn’t. If you apply them, though, you will be on your way to living your life to the fullest.
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Photo by Masakazu Matsumoto
