Aha Moment Monday
What are you waiting for?
What is consuming your time – keeping you busy – that is distracting you from you work?
I don’t mean your “job”, I mean your “work” – the stuff that flames are made of.
Maybe it’s a social media profile that you’re dying to reinvent, or the blog sharing your unique insights that’s currently all bottled up, the painting class that is yet to receive your registration, the small business plan waiting to be brought into focus from all those notes or the conference that keeps getting postponed.
I’m not for a minute suggesting that you need to jump ship from your current position to ignite the flame; in fact your “work” may very well be more fully revealed by voluntarily stretching the boundaries of your position.
Is there some deep-seeded fear that keeps surfacing in excuses sounding like, “I tried once before and it didn’t work.”, “I just don’t know how to do it.” , “They won’t listen to me because I’m not in that business.”, “It might mean more work for me.”, “I don’t know the right person.”, “I haven’t perfected it yet.” or everyone’s favourite, “I don’t have time.”?
Is “resistance” building creative, little white lies that fill your time and keep you from delivering more of YOU?
Aha – mind your mind more than your excuses
It’s a common saying that our biggest fear is public speaking when, in fact, our biggest fear is looking stupid. We’ll often resist looking stupid at all cost. Seth Godin, successful entrepreneur and author of more than a dozen life-changing books says in Linchpin, “The resistance gets its next excuse ready in advance.” It’s like waves of active excuses ready to support why you can’t do something at any given time. You tell yourself the excuses are real but your soul knows otherwise.
Picture a footbridge that crosses the Creek of Fear. On one side of the bridge is “safety” – where routine lives – and on the other side, “freedom”. There’s not much to the bridge – in fact it swings above a creek that splashes up waves of excuses continuously. Crossing the bridge the first time from the side of safety is a little unnerving, especially if you focus on the waves. And even when you put one foot carefully in front of the other, there is still no guarantee you will land perfectly on the other side. But each attempt is an experience and each experience is a gift in freeing another valuable piece of you.
Seth says that if you want to make a difference you must first make a firm commitment to your idea then set a hard-and-fast date … carved in stone … non-negotiable. Create a plan, rally a team who can provide quality input within your timelines, then go for it, pull the trigger, take the leap, or as Seth says, “JUST SHIP IT”!! It doesn’t matter whether or not it’s perfect or someone doesn’t like it or get it the first time. Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn. Seth’s ongoing success comes from shipping ON TIME and it’s the “on time” that pushes your buttons and challenges your limits (like these Aha’s that land in your inbox every Monday morning without fail). It’s when you allow passion and conviction to drive you to that deadline, that you make a difference.
…97, 98, 99, 100! Ready or not, here I come!!
For more of Seth’s brilliance, check out his blog http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/
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