You started out highly inspired to make a difference. And then, somewhere along the way of making it real, things slowed down or even stopped moving forward towards your calling. What happened?
It’s the job of your ego to keep you safe, alive and in a state of well-being. The ego naturally tries to maintain the comfort of the status quo and avoid the risk of too much change. Unfortunately, this fear of change can also block the change required to live the truth of your calling.
The ego shows its resistance to living your calling in many ways. One of its most common strategies can be summed up as over preparing. As you work to increase your influence, the influx of information and offerings can be very tempting. You may be in the middle of a block of time you’ve dedicated to growing your business or accelerating your career, when suddenly yet another newsletter and a new training in your inbox become very compelling. Maybe this one more thing will get you fully prepared!
In times like these it’s very important to stop, take a breath, and evaluate your situation. How many tools do you already have in your tool chest? How many new ideas have you read about and how many trainings have you already taken compared to how much of that information you’ve actually integrated and embodied?
Once my co-teacher and I had an applicant for the True Purpose® Coach Training who had collected two certifications, and she had yet to start working with clients. This brought up a red flag for us. With a bit of inquiry she was relieved to see she could start using the tools she had already gathered, so she withdrew her application for the training.
I’m not saying that it’s never time to add to your repertoire or change your course. What I am saying is that in times like these when things feel a bit stuck, ask yourself the reason you are looking at new approaches. Is there a gap in your skillset that you need to fill before taking the next step, or do you actually have a backlog of underutilized information?
Most of the time you are likely to discover that what’s needed is to start putting what you’ve already learned into practice. Go deeper rather than broader. Review all the information you’ve gathered, and decide which ideas to toss and which to execute as you update your strategy for moving forward. You might even schedule a series of checkpoints to assess and re-evaluate your level of information embodiment.
Have fun with this and let us know how it goes!