Getting a New Story

Are You Making Excuses Instead of Pursuing Your Dream?
Source:  The Art Of Sensitive Living Blog

I‘ve been hearing an awful lot of excuses lately.

• “It’s always been this way for me, so I can’t do it any differently.”
• “I don’t know how.”
• “I’m not qualified to do that” or it’s slightly better version, “I’m not qualified to do that yet.”
• “I can’t do it where I live.”
• “I don’t have enough time.”
• “I have to support my family, so I can’t take the risk of starting a new business."
• “No one will want what I have to offer.”
  

In the deliciously parallel way the world operates, I can relate, because as I’m exploring new directions for my own life and work, some VERY interesting excuses are coming up. I know it’s just my fearful ego-mind and my gremlins saying, “No, no! Run away! Change is not safe! What are you thinking?!”

The problem is that we allow these excuses to stop us dead in our tracks from pursuing our dreams. Sure, these naysayer messages will come up. But it’s our choice to decide whether we listen or not.

Remember, these excuses are like a code — if we pay attention, they point us to what’s really going on. We are afraid, and usually that we “aren’t good enough.” We’ve been trained to think that way by our less-than-supportive cultural model that programs for conformity.

Here are five tips to help you get your thinking-cap on straight:

1. The first step is awareness. Notice what you’re saying to yourself and other people about why you can’t do something. Is it REALLY true? Or is it just an excuse in disguise?
2. Appreciate your true brilliance. Learn to see how valuable, special, and important you really are. You have a unique take or approach to what it is you do, and there’s no one else like you.
3. Get a new story. It’s time to let go of all your limiting thinking and get a new story to tell. Aren’t you tired of listening to yourself saying the same things over and over again? Start telling a new story about how you are inspired to create the life you want, and even if you don’t know how yet, you’re determined to find the way to get there.
4. Find your courage. When I saw my teacher Sonia Choquette recently, she shared a story about the courageous heart of a mother lion, leading her cubs to an oasis,  looking neither left nor right at all the safari paparazzi around her, but focusing straight-ahead on her goal. Let your courageous heart guide you, let nothing deter you. Use your courage to focus only on where you want to go.
5. Wonder instead of making excuses. Any time you find yourself tempted to use an excuse, wonder instead. “Ask your intuition to run wild and free” (as astrologist Rob Brezney said recently) to help you discover your path. Say, “I WONDER how I can learn what I need to know,” and “I WONDER how I can create my dream successfully.”
   

Give up making excuses, and give yourself the chance to pursue your dreams.

Find a new way, find out how, get training, open your eyes to the possibilities, start small, but start now, plan, research, learn, transition, and find your true audience. (Want help claiming your dream? Join me for 30-minute “Dream Illumination” session. Click here to claim yours right now. Only 10 available.)

Pursue your dream. Remember: the world needs you, and all your brilliance, right now.