Slow Your Scroll

“A man without a goal is like a ship without a rudder.” -Thomas Carlyle

When you slow your scroll, you become intentionally aware of the memes and posts in your feed. Between the images of puppies and summer sunsets are messages of positivity, quotes about intention, pauses to promote purpose.

It was back in 2010, a few months before Instagram’s official launch, that I stumbled upon this article in The Harvard Business Review.

The author spoke of intentionality and how his single, most useful lesson learned at Harvard was to apply one’s knowledge to the purpose of one’s life. Every. Single. Day. Without that discovery and the clarity, there is the risk of sailing off without a rudder–trapped in the rough seas of life. 

And here we are, more than a decade later and these words still resonate with me. As an HR Recruiter and Career Coach, I’m often reminded that so many of us (typically at a young age) launch careers with very little deliberate direction. Then, later in life, we wonder why we are feeling unfulfilled.  

Since our collective careers can be a defining part of who we are, I genuinely believe that if you know how and why and where you’re going, the journey can be so much more rewarding. 

If you’re feeling a bit lost at sea, I encourage you to invest in yourself and spend time reflecting on what it is you want. It’s never too late (or too soon) to gain clarity on your life’s purpose. Schedule some time each day or each week for personal reflection. Understanding your purpose will help better align each career decision and make crossroads easier to navigate. 

And while I enjoy the recipe reels and friends’ photos, I can’t help but pause with purpose when I see captions encouraging us to Be Intentional and Trust the joy of the journey. In our fast-paced world of scrolling and swiping, we must do our best to slow down and ease up.

So, go ahead–take a moment to reflect on your archived dreams, the very same way I revisited this article from over a decade ago.

And remember, you are the captain of your own ship. So put some wind in your sails and don’t leave the shore without your rudder.