Insights on Growth, from Anne Hathaway
Powerful insights on growth, from Anne Hathaway.
Anne Hathaway is an actress who has won numerous awards, including an Academy Award, Golden Globe, and Primetime Emmy. Her films have grossed over $6.8 billion worldwide.
In a recent interview with The New York Times magazine, she spoke about her personal growth and evolution after achieving success, including celebrating over five years of sobriety.
Her insights on self-criticism, gratitude, and stress, struck a chord with me:
On self-criticism and not being grateful: “I was just stuck in this feeling. It’s that thing about, I want to achieve things, I want to grow, and you think, mistakenly, that the way you do that is to be really hard on yourself. You drive yourself by self-criticism. I won’t go into the specifics, but there was a moment in which I realized that in order to keep that narrative alive, I was going to have to deny so much. I just said: You’re just going to have to accept that if nothing else happens to you, you’ve had a really great life. You have been given gifts and opportunities. And for you to continue to walk on this path, not being grateful, I don’t think that’s really who you are. It felt like a light went on.”
On stress: “As a formerly chronically stressed young woman, I just remember thinking one day: You are taking this for granted. You are taking your life for granted. You have no idea. Something could fall through the sky, and that would be lights out. So when I find the old instincts rising, I just tell myself, You are not going to die stressed.”
Her words are a good reminder to pause and take note of our lives. You may have achieved a lot, and may continue achieving, growing, and learning.
But, you do not have to drive yourself with self-criticism, or die stressed. You’re just going to have to accept that if nothing else happens to you, you’ve had a really great life.
