In most circumstances, the sooner you get to solution-mode, the fewer the possibilities you will have considered.
When you do that with other people’s problems, you are preventing them from finding a way that fits with their lives and with which they are comfortable.
Keep options open, for as long as you can.
When you do something praiseworthy, you will get approval.
The feedback you get is going to make you feel good, and possibly you will set out to do some other things that will be worth the praise of your peers and audience.
Are you in it for the doing or for the approval?
That is a silly question to ask, because most likely you have mixed motives.
The question to ask, instead, is: would you do it anyway if there was no approval?
That’s how you define passion.
It’s ok to be quite.
There is no rule that tells you should be taking your turn in meetings, dumping words in an email threads, using a stopwatch to measure how long has been since you have said something.
Relevance is not measured by how loud or vocal you are.
It’s ok to be quite, and it’s ok to take a break from the constant hustle of demonstrating you know.
Try any of the following to better direct your effort.
Is there anything in particular you would like my input on?
I am not familiar with the issue, so I feel I can’t contribute much.
This is a topic I would like to discuss separately.
I agree with what was discussed so far.
Silence can be valuable, once you take ownership of it.
Languishing is very real. And the best place you can start from is to acknowledge it is.
You might not yet be able to get out of this state, this weird absence of mental health, but self-awareness is always the first step towards something better.
Doing (without interruption) and connecting (with the intent to share) are great second steps, whenever you are ready.
Do something because you want to try.
Because you want to start a new habit, because it is a thing you might like, because you know that somebody will feel better. Do something because you are running out of time or because you have too much time on your hands. Do it because it makes sense, because it is the right thing to do, because you know you can handle it. Or perhaps to test yourself, to stretch your skills and build new muscles. Do something when you have nothing to do, when you have too much to do, when you feel down, and when you feel energetic.
But never do because you expect someone to do something in return.
That’s just not how it works.
You've got this 