🆕 Full Stop: Life Updates Edition
🌞 Welcome to Full Stop. Sharing my brain so you can dive deeper into yours.
🎄It’s officially the final month of 2024. Wow.
Hey Full Stop, it’s been a minute since I last published. Here’s a series of excuses (life updates) that have taken over my life for the past month and a half:
I got a JOB! 85+ calls and a few rejections later… I finally landed my first post-grad position. I’ll be joining GRAIL, a biotech company focused on early cancer detection, as part of their sales and marketing team. I’m excited to swap my pure science hat for something a little more customer-facing.
I’m officially moving to San Francisco, which, for those who know me, has always been more of a pipe dream than a reality—until now.
I achieved a childhood dream: My picture is in a magazine! (When you grow up idolizing Hannah Montana, your aspirations tend to reflect it.) Check out the November/December edition of Psychology Today. ⬇️
🔝Top of the Pyramid Illusions
While these life highlights sound shiny, they don’t represent the full struggle—or let’s be real, the shit show—of getting here. Full Stop is about full disclosure, after all.
The past two months of networking, interviewing, moving, and planning this next chapter have been filled with self-doubt, discomfort, and oh-my-god-this-is-actually-happening moments of fear.
In these moments, the importance of internal dialogue becomes incredibly real. Here’s what’s been helping me:
Labeling what I’m feeling. As strange as it is to write, “I am uncomfortable,” physically seeing it on paper beats letting it silently occupy all the mental real estate in my brain.
Intentionally revising self-talk. When you catch yourself journaling or thinking in a stream of negativity (e.g., "I’m not [X]," or "I’m terrible at [Y]"), pause and take a moment to reframe those thoughts. Literally grab a red pen—or a different color if you’re typing—and rewrite the sentence with a growth-oriented mindset. For example:
Instead of “I’m not good enough,” try: “I may not feel like I’m there yet, but I’m making daily progress toward becoming someone I’m proud of.”
Instead of “I’m terrible at this,” try: “I’m learning, and every attempt gets me closer to mastery.”
It might feel awkward or forced at first—kind of like being your own life coach—but the act of revising your thoughts trains your brain to adopt a more constructive, self-compassionate dialogue. Over time, it reshapes how you view challenges and setbacks.
🙊Clearing the Sinuses & Self Talk
Of course, life had one more curveball for me: a sinus infection. Perfect timing, right? What better time to lose your sense of taste and smell than during feasting season?
For about eight days, I had zero energy to exercise, cook, or even hold a conversation. For anyone who knows me—especially on the exercise front—that meant just about every ounce of pleasure was ripped out of my life.
What was I left with? A very persistent, nagging mind. The only companion I had the energy to sit with and face.
And wow, what a beast that internal companion can be.
If this week of sickness taught me anything (besides how much I love my olfactory and gustatory systems), it’s this: our relationship with ourselves is critical. And sometimes, it’s brutally uncomfortable to confront.
👀 Looking Ahead
With the last glimpse of 2024 upon us, let’s do an inventory of our self-talk:
How has it been?
How do we want it to change?
What steps will we take to make those changes?
What stories are you telling yourself that no longer deserve a seat at your table?
How are you treating your body—through exercise and nutrition—to fuel your mental readiness?
Among my first benefits elections at my new job, I signed up for coaching to get back to this important mental work. Corporate is cool, for more reasons than one, as I’m quickly learning.
⚠️ The Messy Middle
Growth means discomfort. It means giving yourself permission to achieve your goals, even when it doesn’t feel like it in the thick of it—the messy middle where you’re getting your ass kicked.
If there’s one reframing exercise for December that might serve you, let it be this:
If you’re uncomfortable, good. You’re growing. You’re becoming someone you’ve never been before. And it’s supposed to feel weird.
🥂Cheers to December, cheers to 2024, and to squeezing every last drop out of it.
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Hi friends, I’m Natalie, a recent Brown University graduate with a degree in neuroscience. Through 🌞Full Stop, I aim to ignite mindfulness in myself and others by sharing thoughts, questions, and intriguing science. Thank you for reading and being part of this journey.