Hey everyone! First of all, thank you so much for the positive responses on my last post. It meant a lot to get so many comments and shares 🙂 While I do consider my blog a tool to write down what’s on my mind, I also consider it a way to help others. So when you like, share, and comment, it makes writing these all the more special!
Today, I want to expand upon my last post, specifically the last question I asked…’”Why aren’t you doing more of what you love and less of what you hate?” I gave a few reasons for this last week, but I came across another great point in my morning reading. It caught my eye because it’s not something we usually think about. In all honesty, I think it’s applicable to most of our lives…we are scared of our true selves and to do what we really love.
When you think about it, how often do we really ponder what we want from life? How often do we think about the value each of us have? We don’t. The only time I really did this was in high school. I don’t know if it was the hormones or the fact that I was about to start college, but something was in me that made me wonder, “What’s my purpose?”
Before you know it, college has passed, and the only thing on your mind is making ends meet. There’s no time or energy to take a step back and ask yourself if the life you’re living is one you created or the one society created. Heck, you probably didn’t even get the chance to do this in college. So many students are pursuing careers chosen by their parents or advisors. They’re majoring in things just because they’re good at them, not because they’re interested in it. Why? Because it’s easier to go through the motions and let someone else make the decisions than it is for us to stop and be honest with ourselves.
Not only that, but our society isn’t built for us to do this. There’s a separation between work and pleasure. Two-thirds of employees report that they feel no connection to their work1. Why is this statistic so high? Because we’re scared to do what we love and fail in the process, since the only thing that gets rewarded in this culture is success. We don’t reward people for falling and getting back up or learning from mistakes, but 99% of the time you can’t be successful without having failed in some way.
We need to start embracing failure. Trial and error was how Apple started. That’s how the light bulb was invented. I bet they failed more times than they can count, but they built upon that failure and tried again.
We need to embrace who we are and what we love. We need to change the way we look at life and ourselves. We need to go chase our passions before it’s too late. Most importantly, we need to help each other do so.
Remember, you are the captain of your ship. You control your destiny, but only if you take charge of your life.
I want to leave you all with my do and don’ts for overcoming fear and embracing your true self…
Do:
- Do be the pilot of your life, not the passenger.
- Do define success only as the achievement of one large goal rather than the small accomplishments along the way.
- Do make time for yourself.
- Do come to terms with previous failure and change your outlook on what failure is.
- Do recognize life is a journey. It won’t always be perfect.
Don’t:
- Don’t be afraid to venture off and find who you are. It’s never too late.
- Don’t distract yourself by taking on more obligations…ME!
- Don’t avoid by going out with friends or turning to food and alcohol.
- Don’t make excuses.
- Don’t just celebrate progress. Celebrate failure.
“Most people change only when the pain of not changing becomes greater than the pain required to change.” ~ Matthew Kelly.
Thank you all for reading and don’t forget to comment and share! Also, I’m still looking for new blog names so fire away! So far, my favorite is Unchained Lifestyle. Thoughts? 🙂
References:
Taking Back Today 