Recently I’ve been talking with my friend about the process of doing what we love to do.
We didn’t share any secrets that haven’t already been shared before. Like people say, there’s nothing new under the sun. Something we made a point of though was that ‘talk’ points you down one direction and ‘action’ points you down another.
We talked about both, and I felt like sharing my synopsis with some added thoughts on the back end of course.
I feel like I should say too, that my friend and I are not all this and that. He’s a commercial and wedding photographer and I design stuff. We try to push past our own fears in order to see the end goal in clear sight.
So yeah, this first part is about fear…
It’s not rocket science, but there seems to be this innate fear gene we develop over time. And its that very thing that caves us in to not living. It really does. Fear takes our dreams and ideas and turns them against us.
Whether silly or world changing, when we let fear or resistance keep us from pursuing those ideas, it cripples our creativity and pursuit of what we love.
Resistance
The book War of Art talks a lot about our battle with Resistance. It talks about how resistance is in all of us and how it is fueled by fear.
Now we all know fear is not a good thing, but the author, Steven Pressfield, also flips the script and says that fear can actually be a good indicator of what we should be doing, if it’s associated with a work or calling.
Many times we dream about doing what we would love to do, but we learn to just settle.
We let resistance have it’s way with us. Or we allow it to subject us to quick satisfaction.
You Know The Kind…
That book you read on making things happen, or the one on starting something that matters. Maybe you read how love does but eh, it kinda does through others and not us.
Maybe you like to live vicariously through other people, whether that be someone in your family; typically a somewhat famous cousin (in our eyes) or our offspring or through celebrities. Pick your medium: the tabloids, actors, actresses, sports figures, cartoon characters, etc. We see them living out their dreams and we tend to live through them.
Or maybe you strictly live in a dream world and can’t seem to get out of it. Like Inception, you keep going deeper into the thought of it, literally dissecting everything and actually making it happen in your mind.
I’ve Been There
Only to realize that the more and more you think and dream, the less likely that it could happen, because x, y, and z may happen and eh, it’s not worth the effort.
Now, you know yourself better than anyone and you know what your fear is. For me, when I write I typically write for myself, hoping to inspire and encourage myself, while simultaneously doing the same for others.
So the above fears…they’re mostly mine. But I’d wager we probably struggle with similar fears.
Ship Your Dreams
Resistance/fear is a part of life. The biggest thing is to recognize it and continue pursuing your calling and work. Don’t settle for knock off happiness.
Take your one step a day towards your dream. And by all means, don’t compare your beginning to someone else’s middle.
For your dreams sake, ship them. Don’t let them just be dreams. Otherwise you’ll start getting dirty looks in your dreams, and who wants that?
That’s enough motivation for me, how about you?
What’s stopping you from pursuing what you love? What do you fear?
Speak your mind...