Putting my ass where my heart wants to be.
According to Steven Pressfield, we often have the life we live and the life living inside of us.
A chapter from “Turning Pro” on Shadow Careers resonated with me. I manage field marketing teams for various brands. I love the flexible nature of the job, the people I interact with, and being in the wellness industry. Frankly, I’m great at it, but it’s not what I really want to do. I’m not living the life that is living inside me, the one which often screams at me to be lived. I’m not being true to myself. The disconnect or space between the two lives is known as Resistance.
Resistance is….
running away from our calling.
taking two weeks to write a weekly blog post.
dust collecting on your workout shoes.
alcohol and drug addictions.
an escape or distraction mechanism. (Ahem, Instagram!)
the force of nature that keeps us doing anything else.
His solution is to recognize Resistance is a force and devise a method to overcome it.
My advice?
Ask Yourself Questions & Reconnect To Ambition.
Who am I? What do I want? What do I long to do? What steps can I take to get closer?
Be Honest With Your Answers.
And I didn’t even really have to dive deep. I knew what I want and what I needed to do. So, I need to not do a million other things (constrict my time) which forces myself to not getting around to doing the thing I want to do.
Don’t Let The Inspiration Search Inhibit Action.
It’s easy to throw myself into a rabbit hole of inspiration quotes, self help books, and videos.
Recognize Resistance & Face The Fear.
Recognizing Resistance won’t make it go away. But, we’ll know we’ll be okay facing it. Today, I put my ass where my heart wants to be and met with a local acting teacher. Because, as much as I love telling stories, I also feel (somewhat) comfortable writing behind the scenes. I feel vulnerable and alive performing in front of people. I recognized my need for accountability and made a conscious decision to get active and work on the craft.
Implement discipline.
My biggest challenge is staying disciplined. But, I also believe it’s one of the most valuable tools in success. And I want success.
Pressfield also mentions our time spent before turning pro is our hero’s journey.
“Here’s to blackouts and divorces, to lost jobs and lost cash and lost self-respect. Here’s to years we can’t remember. Here’s to bad friends and cheating spouses – and to us, too, for being guilty of both.”
Basically, don’t beat yourself up over the past. I look at the time period as now having a variety of experiences to tap into and having a better understanding of what I want and don’t want. My life choices brought me to where I needed to be to make the decision to turn pro. We have to take action in the present moment to be able to move forward, to experience the change we want, and to live the life inside of us.