I can't help reflecting on all the times I have had to make the hard choice in life.
To forgo the easy path and take the tough one.
It's mind boggling and reassuring at the same time.
At least I know with hindsight that it always works out.
It really is about letting go.
The easy thing is usually the thing that's most comfortable, so we hang onto it.
But that keeps us exactly where we are.
It's what we know, even if it's not what we want.
For that reason it's often frustrating.
Because deep down we want something else, we just don't have the courage or strength to go for it.
Just ask anyone who knows they should eat healthier, exercise more, or lose weight.
They know it's in their best interest if they want to live a long, healthy life.
But it's difficult.
It's easier to keep doing what they've always done, even if they don't like the results.
While I don't face this particular battle, I do face a similar one in my business life.
In the past year or so it's become painfully clear that it's time to move in a different direction.
There are too many things about the industry I've been working in that don't feel good to me.
Yet, as has been the case every time I've made a career transition, letting go and moving on is incredibly scary.
And yet every time I let go and move through the fear, the fear ends up being unwarranted.
For example, last month, after being frustrated with Facebook for a very long time, I made the decision to deactivate my account.
It took me the better part of a year to overcome my fear of leaving Facebook.
How could I have a business and a book without being on Facebook? What would people think? I work in marketing...
how can you be a marketer and not be on Facebook? Wouldn't I be out of the loop? What would I be missing out on? Yet a month after leaving, none of my fears have been realized.
Last month I also decided to take down my websites.
Talk about manifesting crazy fear in my head! What would people think? At the same time, my old sites didn't fit me anymore.
I needed to clear a path for where I am headed.
By releasing them I immediately became much more open to all the possibilities for the future.
Who knows, I may end up back where I was.
Or, I may end up with a completely different business.
At this point I don't know.
I just know that I needed space to figure it out.
And hanging onto the old was clogging up that space.
And you know what, the world didn't end when I took down my sites and put up temporary holding pages.
Once again, the fear was magnified in my head and didn't manifest in the real world.
Going forward my goal is to remember the after feeling whenever I'm faced with a hard choice.
That after feeling usually feels something like That wasn't so bad...
why didn't you do that sooner!? My goal is to honor the right choice my heart is leading me to, and to do my best to ignore my ego and the fear.
To be brave enough to step out of the comfort zone that's lulling me into non-action.
I'm going to remember that my heart never lies, and that trusting it is best.
Even when it feels like my head is dragging along kicking and screaming.
I know this year will bring its share of hard choices.
It will continue to be a year of transition and change for me-I can see that clearly.
That means a lot of letting go and trusting.
It means getting out of my own way and being open to the path that continues to open up in front of me when I allow it to.
It means taking one step at a time and understanding that the more open I am to the journey of life, the more wonderful adventures await me, and the more fully I will accomplish my mission here on this planet.
Even if I don't see that mission fully at this point in time.
What about you? Are you holding onto the status quo when you know you should let go? Are you putting off decisions that your heart is screaming at you to make, because of fear or because it's hard or requires change? I challenge you to make this the year you set all of that aside, and instead practice letting go and trusting.