Are you afraid of your potential?
This may sound like a ridiculous question but feel into it a bit deeper. I am not asking if you could be better at your job or if you could achieve more of something by pushing harder.
Do you hold yourself back from what you desire because you are...
-Feel confused about your desire or that things are “good enough”
-Afraid you can’t have it or be it
-Don’t feel like you know how to get there
If you answered yes or even “maybe”, then fear may be holding you back from what I like to call your genius self.
In my own journey and working with many different clients over the years, I find that 90% of people don’t realize their dreams simply because they don’t try. They settle for “good enough” or “better than the alternative”. But what if those statements are simply not true? What if deep down you don’t feel life is “good enough” because you desire more? What if there are other, better alternatives to the one you are comparing to (which is normally a sub par example)? You can’t achieve what you don’t attempt. That doesn’t mean we can’t live great lives where we stand but what if greater fulfillment, joy and ease were on the table, would you walk away?
Fear is a dream killer and it hides in many thought streams. Streams like “I don’t know” or “I’m confused” thinking loops. I find that often when we say we are confused we are actually scared to tell the truth. This is the fear of knowing. Because once you know you truly cannot “unknow” which means that you are faced with the prospect of change. A part of you always knows when you are misaligned or when you know life is inviting you to expand and receive more. How do you know? Well, your emotions tell you. You may feel depressed, unmotivated, like life is harder than you would like or just a general sense of dis-ease or inner angst that doesn’t go away. Pause for a moment and check in. Trust that you do know, as scary as it may be to face.
If you tune in and realize that you have a desire for more (in whatever area it may be work, personal) then you may find that immediately that a new fear arises. The fear of failure. The belief that going for it and not receiving what you desire or losing face, or all the other worst case scenarios playing out... may seem more painful than holding on to the status quo. But, may I invite you to slow down the process a bit before you make that determination? Reaching outside our comfort zone is not a polarized pass-fail attempt. Rarely, do we ever walk away from failure empty handed even if our worst fears actualize. If we stay in the comfortable familiar zone when we know the truth of our desires, there is always the fear of regret that will be more than happy to accompany us. We can’t evade our fears so before you determine that you are doomed before you begin know that a desire would not be presenting itself if it were not a part of you just as much as your fear seems to be. Desires are the most natural and primal call to action that we have and knowing them allows you to know yourself more intimately. Genius living requires this deep relating with ourselves.
What about the fear of not knowing? That is a deep one that subscribes to the belief that we should already know all about and how to create the very thing we are creating. Think about that for a moment. How could we really know how? If we knew how wouldn’t it already be? It is actually when we are in the “unknowing” that we are most open to learn and grow and absorb new things-even ideas. Reaching your potential will ask that you stay fresh and adaptive as you are continually evolving. Not knowing is actually a sign that you are in creator mode and here there are a vast range of possibilities to tap into when we are not limited by what we know.
We have a choice when we sense this fear working within ourselves. We can lean in, or we can continue to play mental games with ourselves in circular loops of “desire blocking” rumination. Telling the truth is the first part, the most important part of stepping into your potential. When we tell ourselves the truth there is a sense of freedom and clarity that can ensue if we allow it. The freedom to name and integrate the evolving self that wants to be known and the clarity of choice. To choose to go with it or the choice to move from it. We don’t have to know the “how” we simply must know that the desire exists. Start with step one, answer the question. What do you really desire? Be honest. Go there. There is only the risk of never knowing what you could have created.
If you want support in digging into what you desire and giving yourself that deep truth reach out to me for a discovery call.