From anxiety to autonomy

Photo is of me as a teen in Africa where planes land on grass with no pavement

Many of us suffer from anxiety, and it’s hard to figure out why, 

but now I don’t suffer from anxiety anymore. 

This is how I slowly overcame it. 

In 2016 when I was in the depth of my pain in not knowing how to transition, 

I was overwhelmed with the paradox of choice. 

- Should I continue along the path I already set out for myself, 

- Should I retire, 

- Should I do something completely different? 

“One of the most ironic paradoxes of our time is this great availability of leisure that somehow fails to be translated into enjoyment.” Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

After one terrible sleepless and anxiety-filled night, 

I drove to Dallas from Houston looking for answers by attending a conference, 

Invest in Woman, sponsored by FA magazine (Financial Advisor). 

Everyone there was a Certified Financial Planner™, 

- I felt these women had their stuff together, 

- They were dressed nicely and well put together.

- They were at the conference to learn and improve their practice 

while I was there looking for answers. 

I was exhausted but envious. 

But with my ego still in check, 

- I sized them up.

- I knew I had made more money than they had, as a portfolio manager in New York City, 

but I was also humble enough to realize  these women had a lot of runway in front of them, and I did not. 

What was missing in my life and what I desperately wanted was more autonomy and more control. 

This is what these women had. 

Feeling defeated and not really inspired after the conference, one afternoon out of frustration, 

I wrote down on a piece of paper what I wanted. 

First time I had done this in years.

I learned about neuroplasticity on Tuesday after attending the Harvard Business School Women's Association event with Grace Ueng.

This simple act of writing down what I wanted helped me grow in a new direction. 

This is the brain's ability to change and adapt throughout life, 

reorganize, grow, and create new connections and pathways.

My brain started to focus on developing my path to develop my own runway. 

This lead me to make a huge decision that cut off all of the other options 

I was considering at the time. 

It took a while, with many twists and turns on my journey, 

But I started to feel and sleep better and also feel hashtag#financiallyconfident 

What is the runway you are running away from or already on? 

Thank you for reading!

Tiffany Kent

Your Friendly Wealth Engagement Guide

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