Letting Go of the Timeline

By Kate Mulcahy, Events Coordinator

Timelines took over my mind. They measured my achievements and, at some point, began to control how I felt about myself.

There is always noise around me. Who got what internship, what club role someone landed, who already knows exactly what they want to do. Without realizing it, I stopped measuring my progress against the person I wanted to become and started measuring it against everyone around me. The more I thought about it, the more I realized the timeline I had created for myself was not actually mine. It was not even one other person’s. It was everyone’s. Comparing yourself to one person is one thing, but comparing yourself to an entire student body is something completely different. No one person can keep up with that, and it took me a while to understand that.

At first, the competition honestly motivated me. Stress pushed me to work harder and get results. But after a while, the pressure started to wear me down. My timeline started to feel stuck, and my mindset slowly turned into a lot of “I will be happy when.” I will be happy when I get the internship. I will be happy when recruiting is over. I will be happy when things finally slow down.

The problem was that every milestone immediately turned into the next goal. As soon as I achieved one thing, my focus shifted to the next. Instead of appreciating the moment, I was already thinking about what came after it. It became a cycle where nothing ever felt like enough.

Eventually, I realized I needed to change how I was approaching things. I had to stop focusing so much on a timeline and start focusing more on myself. My expectations slowly shifted toward what I was actually capable of and what I genuinely wanted, rather than chasing whatever goal looked most impressive on paper.

It still feels good to accomplish things you have worked hard for. That has not changed. But those moments should not be the only ones that make life feel good. Life is not something that suddenly begins once the next milestone is reached. It is happening right now. Not when recruiting is over, not when everything feels sorted out. The more I stop measuring myself against some timeline, the more I realize there is no real deadline for figuring things out. And honestly, that has been a huge relief.