#self-growth

Lessons from The Lion King Last Call for Saturday June 13, 2026 The Call to Your Authentic Self Imagination Is Hijacked by Shame The Substack Post! This week in Step into Story, we have been playing with the story of The Lion King. It is easy to attach to little Simba. He is cute, curious, and adored, which provides him with the perfect childhood in which to flourish. Even though he could…

During one of my speaking engagements on how to develop one’s passion at National Tsinghua University in Taiwan, a student raised his hand and asked a question that caught me completely off guard. He asked, “What is the difference between a passion and a hobby?” It sounded like a simple question. After all, I had actually written about this idea before in many of my articles. Yet, standing…

Growth sounds good… until it changes how you show up.

You speak more directly. You stop over-explaining. You stop carrying what isn’t yours.

And suddenly… something shifts.

Not always in you. In the people around you.

“You’ve changed.”

It’s rarely said as a compliment. But here’s the truth: You didn’t become difficult. You stopped being convenient.

And that change can feel like loss to people who were used to the version of you that made things easier.

So they pull back. Get irritated. Or question who you’ve become. Not always out of malice. Sometimes out of discomfort. Because growth disrupts patterns. And not everyone is willing to adjust when those patterns break.

The hardest part isn’t growing. It’s staying there, even when it costs you ease, approval, or familiarity. Because not every relationship survives your honesty.

And that’s not always failure. Sometimes, it’s clarity.