🐢 Still Standing

Failure, Rejection, Burnout & Resolve

🃏 THE FIVE OF CUPS

A few months ago, a friend and mentor gave me a tarot reading. One of the cards she pulled was the Five of Cups.

It’s a picture of a person grieving three knocked-over cups while two are still standing behind them.

She said, "You have to grieve what’s been lost. But don’t forget what’s still here."

And I haven’t stopped thinking about that.

The two standing cups for me are:

• My family

• This community and the content we create

There’s a lot I’ve had to let go of. But those two things? They’re still here. They’re still standing. And they’re worth everything.

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🧵 WHAT'S STILL STANDING

Sometimes we have to name what’s no longer in front of us.

There’s a lot of grief in that. Missed opportunities. Paths that looked promising but didn’t lead anywhere.

Earlier this year, I applied for different jobs and contracts. I tried to offer my services as a content creator and social media consultant to organizations that seemed to need it. None of it worked out. I spent the better part of this year locked in on those leads—maybe even longer. I sent out proposals. I followed up. I waited.

Nothing landed.

That was hard. Not just because I was hopeful. But because my family makes a lot of sacrifices so I can do this. The time. The energy. The belief. When things don’t work out, it doesn’t just feel like I failed myself. It feels like I failed them, too.

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💔 GRIEVING THE WORK THAT DIDN'T WORK

What this most recent stretch has shown me is a lesson I’ve had to learn over and over again: sometimes I look for value externally—through contracts, gigs, validation—instead of tending to what’s already here.e.

I get caught up thinking:

• This new opportunity will fix things.

• This brand or deal will create the stability we need.

• This will finally be the one that changes everything.

But over time, I’ve learned:

• Most of what matters is already here.

• The things that last are the ones I’ve built slowly.

• The people who stay—the audience, the community, my family—have been consistent.

Even when something feels aligned and it still doesn’t work out, it reinforces a deeper truth: I need to keep cultivating what’s already here.

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⚖️ THE BALANCE I’M STILL LEARNING TO HOLD

Trying to make this — the content, the writing, the community — sustainable has stretched me thin.

Some days, it feels like I’m juggling everything and still dropping balls. I get caught up in the day-to-day stress of trying to make it work. And when something doesn’t land — a partnership, an idea, a plan — I can spiral into thinking nothing’s working.

But when I zoom out, it looks different.

That’s something my wife reminds me of often:
“It’s not that everything’s not working — it’s just that some things didn’t work out.”

And when I look at the full track record, it’s true:

• I’m still in a loving marriage

• Our kids (more or less) love us

• We’ve created so much meaningful content

• I’ve built real connections with people — through coaching, comments, conversations, or just shared reflection

That’s worth something. That’s fruit.

And when I get tunnel vision — when I focus too much on what isn’t working — I have to pause and come back to what is.
Because while the day-to-day feels chaotic, zooming out over a week, a month, or even a year… I see that everything’s being taken care of.
Maybe not in the way I imagined. But in the way it needs to be.🎭 FAILURES THAT AREN’T PRIVATE

The hardest part of all this is how visible failure is.

My family sees it. My kids see it. My audience sees it.

And that’s tough. It’s not just about messing up. It’s about being seen not succeeding, over and over again.

But I’ve realized I’d rather fail in public than succeed in silence doing something that doesn’t matter.

I want to be honest about this journey—not to overshare, but to show people what it really looks like to try and build something slow, human, and meaningful.

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🧵 PICKING UP THE THREAD AGAIN

One pattern I’ve started to notice — especially when I zoom out — is how predictable the cycle can be:

• I juggle too much

• I burn out

• I get anxious, or slip into a depressive state

• I lose momentum

• Then eventually, I start picking things back up again

• I get into a flow

• I get excited

• And then… I overextend

• Chase something new

• Lose focus

• And the cycle repeats

It’s happened enough times now that I can almost feel it coming.
I used to crash hard in those seasons — the burnout would turn into full depressive episodes, or constant anxiety. But lately, the difference is this: I see it happening. And because I see it, I can pivot earlier.

This time around, I’m not crashing. I’m just… slowing down.
Pivoting.
Refocusing before things fall apart.

And what I’ve realized is:

It’s a lot easier to pull gently on the last thread you were holding than to go chasing five new ones.

Sometimes we pull on a thread that leads nowhere. And that can trigger a spiral — the overthinking, the discouragement, the feeling like I must be failing again. But more often than not, it’s not about failure. It’s just a signal to go back to what was working.

Pick up the last thread.
Return to the work that still gives you life.
Focus on what’s already in motion, even if it’s slow.

Just because one thread hit a dead end doesn’t mean the last one did.
And it definitely doesn’t mean there’s not another one waiting.

Sometimes it’s just about reaching for what’s already in your hands.

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❤️ CLOSING THOUGHTS

I hope that by sharing a more vulnerable part of my journey, it serves as some kind of mirror or encouragement for those of you going through something similar.

Maybe your situation isn’t exactly like mine — maybe it’s not content or business or burnout — but I know we all hit seasons where things don’t work out.
Or they don’t work out the way we thought they would.
And that can leave us wondering: Where do I go from here? What do I pick back up?

If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s this:

Not everything is going to work out. But not everything is lost, either.

There’s always something still standing.
There’s someone still in your corner.
And even if everything outside feels scattered, there’s still something in you worth holding onto — something that’s going to help carry you through.

And the more we chase answers out there — in the next job, the next fix, the next thread — the easier it is to forget what’s already here. What’s already working. What’s already enough.

So thank you. For being here. For reading. For reflecting with me.

And if you’re in one of those uncertain seasons… maybe the most powerful thing you can do right now is pause, and just take stock of what’s still standing.

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✍️ JOURNALING PROMPTS

• What parts of your life feel like they’ve “failed” lately — and are they really failures?

• What is still standing? What’s still available to you right now?

• What threads have you been holding that might be worth picking back up?

• Where do you find your grounding when everything external feels chaotic?

• Who or what in your life reminds you that you’re still held, even in transition?

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☕️ MEMBER SECTION

🎯 Coaching Reminder
If you're a new member — even if you were gifted a free trial — you can book a free 1:1 coaching session here:
👉 https://calendly.com/tylergyant/new-meeting

Don’t wait. Whether or not you continue with the membership afterward, I want you to use it. This helps me make the space more useful for everyone. Feedback is welcome — and appreciated.

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📬 Custom Content Requests (Members Skip the Line)
As a member, you also get priority access to content requests.

That means:

• If there's something you’re going through and want me to reflect on it

• If you have a question you'd like me to answer

• If there's a topic you wish someone would just talk about clearly...

Send it my way. I’ll either send you a voice note, record a video, write something here in the newsletter — or all three. Members go to the top of the list.

Here are two examples of member-submitted topics I’m working on right now:

• A woman who’s a first-generation immigrant navigating deep insecurities while still feeling called to something big — she’s carrying the identity of the “little girl who had to do everything” while trying to step into her power

• Someone who’s overwhelmed trying to live up to their “next version” — stuck between knowing they can be better and not knowing how to hold compassion for who they are right now

If you’re a member and want to send your own — whether by message, email, or voice note — you’ll get a direct reply. Some of this content gets shared publicly, but not always. If it's something personal, I’ll send it directly to you and keep it unlisted.

Thanks again for being here — truly. Whether you’ve been following for a while or just joined, I’m grateful for the space we get to share.

I’ll see you in the next one.

— Tyler