You're a writer... Whether You Like It or Not.
Did you know you’re a writer?
You are writing (and living) the chapters of your story every day, and it’s happening whether you realize it or not. Your priorities are written in the text of your schedule, and your passions are penned with every minute and dollar spent.
Looking at your life, would you say you are in the driver’s seat or sitting shotgun in this story? In other words, are you in control of telling your story or is chance? There is a choice here: direct your life with intention or live passively as “life” orders your path. I’ve found that the majority of people who are living in the passenger’s seat have simply avoided addressing their fears about what it would take to jump in the driver’s seat, or write their own Life Story. Today we can choose to face these fears head-on so we can live our lives with purpose!
However, if we want to take the reins of our life, we need to address why we haven’t already done it in the first place. So, when you think about going after the life you truly want, what pops into your head? What excuses surface? Is it a lack of knowledge, fear of falling short, or maybe you just don’t believe you have what it takes. I want you to take a minute to think about this and write it down.
For the sake of this post, I’m going to categorize every reason that you have just written down as some form of fear. With that in mind, I’d like you to consider doing a quick mental exercise. Think about what you would tell a friend who came to you with the same fears, but with one twist. I want you to imagine you knew the future and in the future this friend would accomplish that “thing” they are afraid of but only if you were able to convince them to try. What would you say knowing the person on the other end depended on you to make their dream a reality. Most likely you would respond with something along the lines of, “I get that it can be scary, but you can do this. You have everything you need and all you have to do is try. If the worst thing you can do is fail and fall flat on your face … well, then you get back up and go at it again from another angle, right? No matter what, you have to do this. You were meant to do this.”
Listen, you are that person on the other end of your voice. You are the one who can do it, but you have to choose to take control of your life. It starts with a simple decision made over and over again each day. Yes, all great accomplishments in life come with some level of risk, but by not taking the leap, we are risking the very thing we’d hope to preserve.
Take an honest look at the fears and hang-ups that are keeping you from diving into writing the story you want for your life. Write them down. Now write down on a separate piece of paper what you’re risking by allowing those fears to stop you. Then throw that first piece of paper away and take control of your life. You’re a writer whether you like it or not, and today you take control of the keyboard.
PS. If this is your first time reading my blog, I have created a tool that breaks this process down into manageable, simple steps. If you need additional help getting back in the driver’s seat of your life, please check out this resource.