Welcome to The Quiet Rich, your weekly email for a quiet mind + a rich life.
CONTEXT
There's a Japanese proverb that says: "If you feel like you're losing everything, remember that trees lose their leaves every year, yet they still stand tall and wait for better days to come."
We live in a culture obsessed with constant growth and forward momentum. But what happens when life forces you into reverse? When the job doesn't work out, the relationship ends, or the opportunity disappears?
Most of us worry. We think we're falling behind, failing, or fundamentally broken.
But what if those moments aren't setbacks at all? What if they're actually preparing you for something better?
I learned this firsthand. Looking back at all my relationships that didn't work out over the years, I used to think there was something wrong with me. Each breakup felt like a failure. But now I’m so grateful for those endings, because they made space for the incredible man I’m with now.
Every "wrong" relationship was teaching me what I wanted in a life partner. And when I eventually found him? I was ready for the strongest and healthiest relationship of my life. The silver lining was hiding in plain sight—I just had to shift my perspective to see it.
I don't know who needs to hear this but... the tallest trees went through the most seasons of loss.
5 reminders when everything feels like it's falling apart: 👇
METHOD
Step 1: Accept the shedding season
The job that didn't work out? It wasn't your job. The relationship that ended? It wasn't your person. The opportunity that closed? It wasn't your door.
You're not behind. You're in transition.
Trees don't panic when their leaves fall—they trust the process. Some things need to end for new things to begin. It's not failure, it's making space for something better.
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Step 2: Anchor to your roots
Don't focus on the noise. Focus on what's unchanging about you:
- your values
- your capacity for growth
- your closest friends and family.
These are your roots; they keep you grounded when everything else shifts. Write them down. Remind yourself daily what remains solid when everything else feels unstable.
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Step 3: Use the bare season for growth
Without leaves, trees put all their energy into getting stronger. Without your old life consuming your time, you can now invest in your future self.
Read the books you've been meaning to read. Learn new skills. Take that course. (Congrats to all the Archimedes members who joined last week!) Make plans for what's next. This isn't downtime—this is when the most important growth happens.
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Step 4: Trust the timing
Trees don't force their leaves to grow back in winter. They wait. They trust the process.
Your new life is already growing beneath the surface. You can't see it yet, but you're getting closer to your breakthrough.
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Step 5: Keep showing up
Sleep 8 hours. Move your body. Call people who matter. Take the next right step. Repeat.
Some seasons are for planting; others for harvesting. Right now, you're planting.
This isn't just survival—this is how comeback stories are built. One small, consistent choice at a time.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
The phrase "silver lining" comes from a 1634 poem by John Milton, where he wrote about how even the darkest storm clouds are illuminated around the edges by sunlight. Four hundred years later, that metaphor still holds true.
No matter how dark your current cloud feels—whether it's a career setback, a relationship ending, a loss, a health scare, or any other storm you're weathering—there is a little light touching the edges.
Sometimes you just have to wait for your eyes to adjust to see it.
Much love,
Jade
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