A large part of what I believe to be my purpose in life is to live with authenticity. To be genuine and real, both for myself and for the people I work with. I find that too often we know our true desires and want to pursue them, but something gets in the way. Whether its fear of judgement, an inability to believe in ourselves, or a fear of change, this thing that holds us back from living our best possible life is real!
Following our incredible farm/European adventure, I am back in NYC and working on growing my practice and developing the life I desire. A large part of me has wanted to share more, put myself out there in ways that feel scary and vulnerable. I made a list of all the things that could happen in 2017 that would be both scary and amazing. I could have easily sat back and let the list become a list of dreams and hopes than an actual plan for my year.
Last Monday, for no reason other than knowing I needed to do it already, I took that list and made it into a 2017 Blueprint. I created actionable steps that would be necessary for me to reach my goals and outlined, month by month, the things that would be so scary that they would be amazing if I could pull them off.
The first of which was submitting a writing piece to a larger publication. This has been on my to-do list for about a year and has been so terrifying, I had decided to avoid it. Last Monday I decided not to wait anymore. I sat down and wrote to Elephant Journal, scared shitless that I was making a big mistake. Rejection was a real possibility and I hated the idea of feeling like it might not work out.
I reminded myself that I did not let fear decide for me when we decided to journey to Italy to live and work on a farm, something that I had never done before. I harnessed that strength and hit "send." As I waited, I recalled the advice I often give my clients: "You can't live your best, fullest life without taking risks" "Fear and excitement are two sides of the same coin. Chances are if you're scared about it, it's right!" and "Sometimes we have to take big risks to get big rewards."
I waited one full day before getting a response that they would like me to make some small edits but overall liked my piece and were interested in publishing it. Cue secondary fear! "Is this really happening?" "What if it actually works out?" "What if I get what I asked for?"
The scariest thing for me was the idea of actually getting what I wanted. Crazy, right? But I know I am not alone in this. Often times the fear of success is that can prevent us from even beginning something. I channeled Elizabeth Gilbert's inspiring words "done is better than perfect" as I edited, re-edited, and re-re-edited my piece.
Today, my article was published and I am so happy to share it with you all. Whether you realize it or not, you have helped me get here. Thank you!
Click on the image below or view the article on here on Elephant Journal
