A lot of people I know pride themselves on their successful friendships, jobs and relationships – consistently feeling lucky and grateful for the people in their lives who have inspired them and with whom they share their life experiences. But no matter how many other people are in your life, there is no comfort or well-spring of insight that can replace the need for a sincere, open and devoted relationship with yourself. Why? A big part of how much you are loving your life, your job, your dog etc is directly linked with how much you love who you are.
I’m not urging you to become a new-age narcissist, but if finding your true zest for life, and tapping into your gutsiest desires is something you are into, you have to be intimately invested in your own inspirational thoughts and inclinations. Often times, while busy just trying to keeping up with modern conveniences and meeting our commitments to others, we are the first to blow off the commitments we have made to ourselves.
How fully you show up for yourself — or not — has a direct link with how much you feel your life is really showing up for you. What happens when you make a practice of owning your own wants and desires? It changes your perspective on your choices and those choices shape your life, one action at a time. It is the internal relationship and dialogue that gives you the motivation to discover what it is that you want, to believe that the choices you make are in your best interest and to live your life as a creative leader.
We all have the job thing on the front of our minds a lot, so let’s look at how that plays out with regard to being one of your own BFF’s. Often new clients tell me that they don’t think they can have a job they love and make a living at it. Why not? It turns out that is what they are telling themselves, and unfortunately they have made a career out of believing it. But that’s not an honest relationship. Can they really not create that job? Only if they opt not to explore the not so friendly beliefs they are holding onto and what they continue to cost them in terms of getting them to a more resonant place in their career. The secret we all know, but never tire of being reminding of? Until you change your investment in yourself, nothing else will change.
I have SVP’s, CEO’s, male and female clients who don’t “have” to work ever again and you know what my take away is? The ones who LOVE the pulse of their lives are not the ones who got the promotion, the title, or inherited a chunk of change from mama; they are the ones who knew what type of life they wanted first and then went about creating and building it with the people that inspired them the most.
Creative leadership is never a one shot/done kind of deal. We all fall out of alignment and wake up bitching about something somedays. How do you change that? Creativity. Not mine, yours! And it starts by noticing that you are out of sorts and then unearthing what the hell it is that is off. That honesty, in fact, is creative thinking. Get it? Own it and use it again and again and it will guide you to what it is you want. Leadership is when you start taking the steps towards creating that for yourself. Fastest way to do that? Asking yourself what is it that you want. Sadly, many of us blow off that answer by saying I don’t know and that lack of creativity keeps us weighed down in pretty uninspiring relationships with our lives.
You DO know you. We all do, just like we are all creative. And between us friends, taking the time to listen to yourself is the only real secret there is.
What are some of the ways you prioritize your well-being? Be a friend and share your latest insights with CLC!