Be careful what you wish for – you just may get it!

It can be discouraging and frustrating to sit back in life and realize that you are not living up to your full potential. 

But what if you have overcome such obstacles and set out a very clear positive intention for your life (such as starting your own business) and actually plow ahead and make it happen?  You may find yourself in the unusual position of panicking at your own good fortune and success.  This may lead to:

• Procrastinating important tasks that you not only need but WANT to get done because they will make your life better;
• Moments of insecurity and doubt when you are wary of your own success and fear that someone will expose you for the fraud you really are;
• An urgent desire to regress to the undesirable situation that you were in before all the good stuff started to happen to you.

Don’t worry, this is a very common situation that affects all kinds of other rational people just like you.  To deal with it,

• Revisit your intention.  Get in touch with what your goal is and particularly how it will make you feel when you accomplish it. 
• Review your past accomplishments.  Reflect on the success that you have had so far in your life to remind yourself that you deserve every bit of recognition you are getting.  If you are truly moving in a direction that is more in harmony with your right life, you ain’t a fraud!
• Don’t take yourself so seriously.  You may be building up a huge expectation that you must be perfect in your new endeavor or you will forever be banished to boring and unfulfilling work.  This is hogwash.  Life, and work, is about experimenting.  Don’t try to be perfect, just aim to get something done.  If one of your new endeavors involves writing, read Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, particularly the chapter entitled "Shitty First Drafts."
• Clean out, clean up and get back to work.  Tidy up around your desk area, clear out your bulging email box, and give yourself a shower.  Come back smelling sweet and get something done.  Your environment is a reflection of your mind, so if you are surrounded by piles of clutter, you will not be able to think clearly.  But for all you obsessive-compulsive people like me, don’t let your cleaning take three days!  That is another excuse and a distraction.

I am always encouraged by the words of Marianne Williamson:

"It is our Light, not our Darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you NOT to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightening about shrinking so that other people won’t feel unsure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. As we let our own Light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

Image by Shane Grundy