Jump and the net will appear: 7 minute read
I had an entirely different plan for this week’s blog post, but that was before I took a very kismet call on my way to the grocery store this morning.
I had been mulling over a business related question, so I texted a business mentor of mine asking if he had a moment to chat.
When he called me, I was expecting that we would talk numbers, strategy, and next-steps. Instead, for the next 30-minutes I listened to him speak, knowing in my heart that it was the exact message I had been asking the universe for weeks to deliver.
He is a bit older than myself, and far further along in his career - he is about to IPO his current company for multi-millions of dollars type of further along. So, when he talks - I listen.
Early in his career, he launched a start-up and was also simultaneously working for a major brand within the sports industry. He told me how burnt out this made him feel, and as a result his relationship and mental health began to deteriorate.
Soon, he found himself sifting through the wreckage of two breakups. One with his long-term girlfriend and the second with his business partner at the time. Looking himself in the mirror, he found a man who was defeated financially and mentally. Worse - he was left utterly uninspired about life.
He knew a change needed to occur.
He was able to sell his start-up. He took time to dive into himself through therapy. He sat with himself within his brokenness and his singleness and soon…
He had an epiphany - one in which he realized he had had it all wrong…that his priorities were not actually aligned with who he really was.
Spending so much time spinning his wheels at work led to the neglect of himself and his home life.
He decided to make a change that started within his mind - a shift to gratitude.
He righted his wrongs with his longtime girlfriend, who is now his wife. From our talk, it was so evident that when he started to practice devotion and gratitude towards her it multiplied across all areas of his life.
As he began to nurture and water the elements of life that were actually important to him, everything around him began to blossom.
Today, he is living what feels like a dream life, with the woman he loves, doing what he loves. And it all started by tuning out what is conventionally considered "success" and instead tuning into what is most true and authentic for himself.
The universe is constantly evolving. We are all here to grow into the truest and most expansive versions of ourselves. Not only for us but for all of humanity.
You cannot halt your spirit's will to grow. If you go to battle with nature, you will lose.
In our life, we all come to a crossroads where we know in our heart that how we are living just no longer feels right. Whether it is a relationship, a job, or a particular chapter of life - if there is no longer expansion within it - it is dead.
It takes every ounce of courage we have to admit that to ourselves.
And even more courage to take the leap from the comfortable confines of what is familiar into the vast unknown.
It is raw. It is real. And it hurts.
It is a death. That former version of yourself no longer exists.
But dear, beautiful things blossom from decay. You won’t know exactly when, or how, or what flowers are budding underneath the surface, but you can be sure that as you water them and give them sunlight - they will make themselves known to you in divine time.
If you only work with what you know, you rather massively limit your growth potential.
So listen to that voice within. That inner nudge. And leap. Step. Or crawl. Whatever you’ve got in you, but move.
A good way to begin that movement is to take time to define what is important to you. What three (or more) key aspects feel authentic for you within your life?
These attributes will act as both an anchor and a compass for your life.
For example...these are my core attributes: feelings of accomplishment, pleasure, and expansion...
When new opportunities or people come into my life, I'm able to check in with these three core attributes and ask myself if this person or opportunity brings with it the feelings of accomplishment, pleasure, and expansion.
In time, you will be walking a path of a life that feels more 'you'.
“The Journey of a Thousand Miles begins with one step” - Lao Tzu
Until next week…
Danielle Lee, Owner/Founder of D. LEE