“You achieve much once you stop telling yourself you can’t do things.” — Elizabeth Kadetsky
I was just thinking that it’s been one of those weeks (months?) where I realize that if you truly commit to your big dream, it takes sacrifice. No, not sacrifice…I hate that word. It implies a loss or lack of something. More like intense focus. Giving in to flow.
But it’s not always easy to reconcile that with what everyone else is doing around you. Right now, my mom is on vacation having fun in Florida with my uncle and cousins while I’m having yet another working weekend. Right now, several of my friends from high school are meeting up at our old stomping grounds in Honolulu. (Did I tell you I went to high school in Hawaii? Yeah. My mom married a Navy guy when I was 9. We lived on Pearl Harbor.) So, I’m hatin’. Just a little. Okay, a lot.
What am I doing? I’m building the business that I said I wanted for myself. I’m being careful with my money so I can pay for my first coach training later this month and attend a few professional conferences in October. I’m prepping for a big speaking gig in Denver next week. (There’s supposed to be 200 people there. No pressure!)
I am taking my purpose seriously.
Have you ever read personal stories of successful people? Listened to interviews with people you admire? Usually there were years of intense work before the big reward/payoff. We so often only see people when they’re already accomplished, but we rarely see or know the struggle. How could we? The path to fulfilling your true purpose is so personal, which is why it’s always a gift when people do share those stories with us.
Lately though, I’ve been thinking that maybe the work itself is the reward. You learn so much about yourself, whether you’re building a business or a new life. You grow. You get the opportunity to share your unique, God-given gifts with the world. This, I think, is the bliss we all seek. But it requires a huge commitment. If you are an artist, you drop everything and give in to the inspiration. If you’re a coach, you submit yourself fully to the needs of your client. If you’re a writer, you stay up with the muse until 3am. You feel the words coming through you and you ride it out.
It’s not easy. It’s not even free.
It’s a heavy thing to finally be able to admit to yourself that you know exactly what you were put on earth to do and that you intend to do it. But here’s what happens when you do. When you finally take your purpose seriously and start doing the work that only YOU can do to serve the world, doors begin to open up.
And you begin to have the courage to start walking through them.
Rosetta Thurman is a nationally-recognized author, speaker, mentor and coach dedicated to helping women create their ideal lives.
Hey I know this is off topic but I was wondering if you knew of any widgets I could add to my blog that automatically tweet my newest
twitter updates. I’ve been looking for a plug-in like this
for quite some time and was hoping maybe you would have some experience with something
like this. Please let me know if you run into anything.
I truly enjoy reading your blog and I look forward
to your new updates.
This is a FAB post!! This is so where I am right now. This reminds me of the reason I had to start my personal intervention… http://nicoledeggins.wordpress.com/2011/07/30/do-you-need-an-intervention/ a few weeks ago. I had to take my purpose seriously and as you do everything beging to unfold. Thanks for sharing. Love what you are doing! :D
I’m still trying to figure out “what I wanna be when I grow up”, because I didn’t protect my first dream and I allowed people to take me for granted. I think I am at a new crossroads that I think might be the answer. But I’m comfortable with being uncomfortable for my dream. I’ve wasted enough time.
Love that alias :) I really like what you said about being “comfortable with being uncomfortable” for your dream. Many people think it’s just supposed to happen easy, but it rarely works that way. The payoff is priceless, but it takes some struggle to get wherever you want to go. So happy to hear that you’re done wasting time!
Thanks for your post, Rosetta. In this society we are told to do what feels good or what is relaxing for the moment. But being goal-oriented means having to delay some thing that seem fun in favor of bigger things.
We all need to take time to relax and enjoy ourselves on our journey — but do so without getting sidelined.
Keep looking up,
Denise
I’ve always heard that when you are working on your own business, it can be stressful, but its not the same type of stress when you are doing something you aren’t meant to do…its like a good stress. Is that true for you all?
I love this post.
I think the most frustrating thing for me is when people assume that I’m not enjoying life or that I don’t take time to relax just because I’m focused on a goal.
Opting out of the annual girls trip or choosing not to stay out until 2am on a Friday night does not mean that I’m not living a balanced life.
Right now, I have a different type of focus that requires a different type of release.
Thank you for helping me find the words to describe this to people, ‘I’m taking my purpose seriously!’
-Shannon
Thanks for stopping by, Shannon. And I get that all the time, too – why I don’t go out like I used to. I do have my fun a few times a month, but that’s about it. And it’s a different type of fun – I’m spending a lot more time with family than I was before. For right now, you said it best:
“I have a different type of focus that requires a different type of release.”