Hey Reader,
You ever notice how you can be busy all day, get a lot done, and still feel… off?
Not tired or burnt out.
Just strangely numb.
Most people assume that feeling means something is wrong.
Today, I want to show you how the feeling of perceived underperformance is not your enemy but a call to something greater.
💭 “I had everything I wanted… and still felt empty.”
Let’s talk about Tiger Woods.
There was a season in his career where it looked like he had it all.
He actually did. He had the wins, fame, money, and a respected reputation.
But years later, in interviews, he admitted that he lost his connection to the love of the game during parts of his career.
He has also acknowledged that fame, expectations, and identity weighed heavily on him, and it changed how he experienced the game.
Golf had slowly shifted from a craft he loved into an image he had to protect.
After injuries, personal collapse, and time away, he talked about having to rebuild his relationship with golf, not just his performance.
And that pressure didn’t make him sharper.
It hollowed him out.
So he returned to fundamentals, process, discipline, and why he played in the first place.
He worked on falling back in love with the work, the discipline, and the process.
That shift restored the joy in his career.
And made him feel alive again.
🧠 Where it all went wrong…
Most high performers think feeling stuck means they’ve lost their drive, motivation, or edge.
It could mean that. Or not.
Moments like this can force us to overthink, overanalyze, and optimize our activities.
But the real trigger is that somewhere in the pursuit of success, we started obsessing over how we’re seen.
How we’re perceived.
Whether we’re still impressive enough.
And gradually, life became about us.
The status, relevance, accolades, reputation, fame, etc.
That much focus on the self creates anxiety and pressure to keep up.
And because we’ve lost touch with why we fell in love with our craft in the first place, then comes the inner dissatisfaction, feeling of perceived underperformance, and stagnation over time.
It doesn’t necessarily mean you lost your edge.
You just subconsciously lost the true meaning tied to your craft.
So everything got way harder.
Because the more self-focused success becomes, the less alive it feels.
And the more numb you get.
❤️ The bright side of feeling stuck
The feeling of underperformance is a call to reset and reconnect with your purpose again.
That numb, stuck feeling isn’t asking you to look harder at yourself.
It’s asking you to look beyond yourself.
There’s a whole relief that comes from getting out of your own head.
When you give your attention to something bigger than you, you become so absorbed in the true and deep meaning of your work.
Meaning gives drive, fuels your passion, and keeps you on the move in the right direction.
It reconnects you to the impact of what you do, not the image, validation, or outcome.
It keeps you away from distractions that keep you stuck over time.
You’re too busy creating a legacy and contributing to mankind in your unique way.
The excitement of working towards a cause that lights you up makes you fall in love with the work again.
The admiration, fame, reputation, accolades, and wins all come back to you in the end.
But you’re not centered on yourself anymore.
You are focused on the impact of doing something that matters beyond yourself.
You become more resilient, confident, and happy in your path.
And that quiet, grounded sense of fulfillment begins to return naturally.
🤲 Stay out of your head
I experienced years of feeling stuck.
And I finally learned that the greatest path to fulfillment is living in the service of others.
These are some of the things I did to get out of my head and reconnect with my purpose again for the greater good. (It will help you too):
- Explore a new hobby. You can deliberately choose something you’re bad at (haha). Being a beginner humbles the ego and wakes your inner curiosity again.
- Find your way back to your why. Reflect on why you chose this path to success in the first place. Why it mattered beyond you, and why you’d choose to do it a thousand times if you were given other options. Your why gets you back on track with purpose and meaning in your work.
- Serve others. For a week or a month, do something useful for someone without needing credit. Service pulls your attention off yourself and puts it on the impact your action leaves.
- Mentor, or volunteer. Reach out to someone who has shown interest in any form of mentorship from you, and help within a timeframe that works for you. You’ll remember how far you’ve come without needing external validation.
- Make genuine connections. Invest time with people who engage you as a person, not solely what your position represents. Those conversations tend to be more authentic and meaningful. Don’t be afraid to be vulnerable. That’s how valuable connections are built.
- Get absorbed in good books. Get books that put you back in contact with how you want to think and work. Books written by people who took their craft seriously. It has a way of making you care deeply again, for your craft, not your image.
- Hang out with friends. Especially the ones who don’t treat you like your title. Time with them brings you back to being yourself. In that authentic atmosphere, you realize why you love what you love and why you do what you do beyond yourself.
🎯 Move to the bright side
What area of your personal or professional life do you feel stuck?
Where do you feel something is wrong, or you’ve lost your edge?
What if the numbness is pointing you back to people, meaning, purpose, and presence?
As Viktor Frankl said, “Life is never made unbearable by circumstances, but only by lack of meaning and purpose.”
So find your way back to what truly matters.
And you’ll feel alive again.
You’ve got this.
With appreciation,
Huw
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Huw Edwards
Founder & CEO, h3.xyz
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