Questions for Clarity

It’s Organization Sunday again, and for me, it was a rather reflective Sunday. I scribbled down a few questions for reflection and journaling, and I thought I would share them with you:

In case you can’t read my scrawl, here are the questions in digital ink:

• If I were able to spend my time doing only what I love to do, what would I be doing?
• What would it look like to go all in on what I’m doing now?
• If I don’t want to go all in, what could I change about what I’m doing now to make it something I would go all in on?
• If I can’t see myself going all in on what I’m doing now, even if I make changes to it, what else would I be doing?

Theme #1: What do You Love to do?

This is the first theme of this week’s refection.

Personally, I thought about areas I’ve developed a lot of skill and gained experience in – visual art, graphic design, web design, songwriting, guitar, bass, vocals, music production, writing, podcasting, narration, voice acting, video, social media, marketing, and so on.

Then I also thought about things I’ve either held as hobbies, activities I’ve tried in the past, or things I like to explore in my spare time – food, travel, bass fishing, skateboarding, politics, and the like.

I also thought about the results I wanted in life. As I drove by farms in the flats, I saw they had the homes and cars I wanted. But I reminded myself that farming was hard work all year long (my grandparents were farmers, so I know a little bit about that). I looked up into the hills and saw the homes of doctors and lawyers and affirmed that this also is not what I wanted for my life.

So, even with all the uncertainty of continually carving out my own path, I still found it preferable to possibilities I was considering based on the lifestyle I want for myself.

Theme #2: Going All in

This would be the second, and perhaps most predominant theme of the week.

If you are hesitant to go all in on something, why is that?

What past experiences or memories are holding you back from taking the leap (inevitably, it is always past experiences and memories that are holding us back, and because they are in the past, they are not here, and that means the concerns about the past aren’t real).

Inevitably, it is always past experiences and memories that are holding us back. Click To Tweet

For me, I saw that going all in on something without assurance of success is what has been holding me back. And that is with the full awareness that nothing is guaranteed. So, why the stall? Better to try and to fail than to live in the purgatory of dress rehearsal the rest of my life.

Theme #3: What Else?

And the final theme for this week’s reflection is “what else?”

Absolute clarity in this area is essential. If you’re not doing what you love to do, if you’ve been struggling to go all in, if results aren’t forthcoming, or any combination thereof, what could you imagine yourself doing instead?

In this reflection, what I discovered for myself is that while there are some niches, I could see myself getting into – spirituality, personal development, entrepreneurship, self-publishing – the transition struck me as challenging and difficult.

Without going through the transition, though, the pain and challenge of transitioning is only imagined and not fully realized. And from that stance, there is nothing to fear. You’ve dealt with everything that’s come up to this point. What makes you think you can’t deal with whatever comes next?

You’ve dealt with everything that’s come up to this point. What makes you think you can’t deal with whatever comes next? Click To Tweet

What if you transition and find yourself in a better space than where you started? What if you finally found your niche?

And if not, could you pivot quickly out of the new niche and into another one until you found something that made you come alive?

Sunk cost can get the best of you, but don’t let it dictate your decisions. You have a new opportunity to choose with every new day you’re alive!

You have a new opportunity to choose with every new day you’re alive! Click To Tweet

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