Hello friends!

"When I achieve my biggest goals... I just feel relieved."

This is a recurring theme in conversations I've had since starting up Emotional Explorations. People who want to feel more from their goals... but their past goals just left them feeling empty.

And so first thing's first... it's completely normal.

I've felt it myself!

In my journal entries after the biggest wins in my life, the word "relief" always popped up. I couldn't understand why back then, but now I do.

That's what this week's exploration is about.

This week's theme:

Why some goals feel empty

If your goals were so important, you'd think that you'd be feeling joy or excitement when you achieved them.

So why do you only feel 'relief' or 'emptiness' instead?

To understand that, we need to understand what those feelings are.

The feeling of relief
​This is what we feel when we successfully avoid danger.

The feeling of emptiness​
This is what we feel when we find an environment free of danger.

What's the implication of these feelings?
​Well if achieving your biggest goals leaves you feeling relieved or empty... then that means your goals were driven out of survival, not truth.

What were you trying to survive?​
Probably your fears.

When I won a fully paid university scholarship, I was running away from my fear that I was a nobody.
When I got a job offer from McKinsey, I was running away from my fear that I was unworthy.

And the result?
Achieving these goals left me feeling 'relieved' and 'empty'.

If you'd like to explore this more...

In this week's video, I explore this topic deeper. Additionally, I share three questions that I now ask my coaching clients when they're feeling unsure about whether their goals are genuine or fear-driven:

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That's it for this week's issue of Emotional Explorations! I hope it brought you clarity and I look forward to writing to you again soon.

Best,
Eric