Our arts, our occupations, our marriages, our religion, we have not chosen, but society has chosen for us. We are parlour soldiers. We shun the rugged battle of fate, where strength is born. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
My Writing Assignment today comes from Matt Chevreau. Follow him on twitter here
Next to Resistance, rational thought is the artist or entrepreneurs worst enemy. Bad things happen when we employ rational thought, because rational thought comes from the ego. Instead, we want to work from the Self, that is, from instinct and intuition, from the unconscious.
A child has no trouble believing the unbelievable, nor does the genius or the madman. Its only you and I, with our big brains and our tiny hearts, who doubt and overthink and hesitate.” - Steven Pressfield, Do the Work
The idea of “being realistic” holds all of us back. From starting a business or quitting a job to dating someone who may not be our type or moving to a new place – getting “real” often means putting your dreams on hold.
Today, let’s take a step away from rational thought and dare to be bold. What’s one thing you’ve always wanted to accomplish but have been afraid to pursue?
I am certainly prepared to accept that being “rational” holds us back. I think it is one of the many things we do when we are playing small. The irony is why would I want to play small? Be fearful, doubtful, be a blamer, be critical of others and their ideas, and overall just slug through my life and business with the thought that I have no control over what is happening to me. I think we rationalize these behaviours with some form of “I am being Rational”, or “I am being safe”, “I am comfortable, why would I need to change anything?
This is easy for me I think. When I am playing BIG, and moving toward a worthy vision and living my life on purpose, I think I have actually less risk in my life. I understand that we are naturally wired to be “comfortable” I wrote a post about this a while back. I have learned that in order to be fulfilled, happy, and SECURE I need to be uncomfortable. Embrace fear and excitement and yet move ahead anyway, shifting small.
In my experience as a coach I see people everyday getting in their own way. Settling for “I’ll keep doing things the way I have been because I am comfortable” I always wonder what will they do when things outside their control change the game, and I think this ALWAYS happens (recessions, rule changes, new entrants, better competitors, pricing model changes, buyers preferences shift, of course this list is endless). In business this is simple, I am always looking ahead and Playing BIG in creating new ideas and strategies “just in Case” the game changes on me. I am harder to hit I think when I am moving.
To complete this challenge I don’t really have to do much I think. I already PLAY BIG all the time and as such I am daring to be bold all the time. What I do have in front of me right now is no shortage of BIG ideas that I am bringing to market in the coming 90 days or so, and the most critical part is ensuring I execute brilliantly. I am scared shitless about this. Hmmmm, I must be on the right track then.
Related articles
- #Trust30: Dare To Be Bold (gpangie12.wordpress.com)
- #Trust30 Day Six: Dare to Be Bold (pinkjuniormints.wordpress.com)
- Ralph Waldo Emerson: Self Reliance Prompt #6 (miriamgomberg.wordpress.com)
- Post-it Question – My Biggest Challenge #Trust30 Project (gregwilliamson.ca)
- One Strong Belief. #Trust30 Writing Challenge (gregwilliamson.ca)
- Do the Work! Overcome resistance and get out of your own way. Steven Pressfield. (regnordman.com)
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