Do you crave a sense of peace, a sense of calm?
I know that for many years all I wanted was peace of mind. I just wanted to be able to experience enjoyment in what I was doing and be at peace with where I was. But I couldn’t reconcile that with my drive to reach my goals, the drive to become more. Surely, I thought to myself, if I rested too long in this space of peace, I would simply become complacent. Then I would not have peace of mind or achieve my goals at all!
But, what I was doing wasn’t really working that well. I was super focused on my goals, a bit too attached shall we say. I always felt that I couldn’t get comfortable or relax too much. I was constantly pushing myself and yes, there were some results, but nothing extraordinary. And, I just didn’t feel like I was able to just do me.
Can you relate?
It was as if there were two opposing forces at work. At least, that’s what it felt like to me. I would power on with my disciplined actions and goals, but this other part of me just really wanted a rest. It just wanted time to be, to relax, to allow things as they are.
I think this is a challenge that many of us face, particularly those of us inclined to take our own work out into the world and create a business. We experience that need to do more, create more but become aware at some point(perhaps acutely) of the need to not drive so hard.
It’s taken me many years and much study from various thought leaders, to get to a place of real understanding of this common situation that many of us find ourselves in. And contrary to my first initial thoughts, it is not actually two opposing forces at work!We do not need to choose peace or achievement.
We just need to choose how we travel towards our goals and truly accept that how we travel is the only fulfillment we will get.
Much of the pushing to achieve goals can come from the expected result delivering unto us a sense of achievement. We expect that we will feel satisfied and allow ourselves then to relax, to believe that we are truly enough and therefore are allowed to enjoy the moment.
But, guess what happens when you achieve your goals?
You get excited for a bit and then you jump onto the next thing. Does that seem like long term fulfillment or peace of mind to you? No, because it’s not. The small fleeting moment you experience does not bring the peace of mind that you crave. So, the achievement of our goals does not ultimately bring long term peace of mind.
How we travel as we move towards fulfilling our goals is the only space where peace of mind can be created.
You can’t arrive at the peace of mind after years of pushing.You must create the peace of mind as you take one step at a time on your big journey.
How can you enjoy the step you are on right now?
How can you enjoy what you’re working on today?
What could make this process more enjoyable?
These are the questions to start with in order to shift your thinking towards peace of mind. It’s not about resting, avoiding your goals, deleting your goals or anything your mind conjures up as being the opposite to your path of success. It is the path of success. It is being present with the step you are walking right now, learning to fully embody it and enjoy it.
After all, you either will get to the achievement of your goal or you won’t. Most of your time is taken up in the journey to get there and the result will not actually make you feel much better for very long. So even from a logical perspective, cultivating the enjoyment of the journey makes sense.
Why not start today?
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