WHAT are you choosing? And why?
Because in this time/space reality, in a physical body you have a certain amount of time and energy. It varies person to person, and by age and health. And I do think we’re all programmed to believe we have less of all of it than we actually do. Be that as it may, we live within certain parameters. And that means you can’t do everything! Try and desire as much as you might, it is simply not possible. You have to choose.
And that means letting some things go. And if it’s something you love, that means sacrifice.
So the question is: are you letting go of something of a lower nature to get something of a higher nature?
When I first heard that from Bob Proctor I wasn’t sure what it meant. I had an idea, but it wasn’t until I had experienced it that I really knew.
Experience is like that, isn’t it? It’s when you get it in your bones. All the way down in and it’s a knowing, no longer just a concept.
When I was teaching at Columbia I realized I was sacrificing my freedom and creativity out of desire to achieve, to be respected, to contribute to my field, to make a name for myself. I loved my work, I loved my students, I did. But I was still sacrificing way too much. I didn’t even know what—until later—but I was. My left brain was getting WAY over developed, while my intuitive, creative side was languishing. And at a certain point, my soul said: Enough!
Have you ever done that? Gotten good at something and then the next thing you know you’re in too deep, and you’re not sure you can get out. So you keep going, even though there’s a price?
I had to let that job go in order to make space for something else to come in, even though I had no frigging idea what that would be at the time. No idea. Then I met Proctor, and he put words to this. Still, it was when I actually resigned and turned my back on the career I had been building my entire adult life that I knew what it meant.
And when you’re building a business, you will have to sacrifice some of the things you love in order to do it. It takes your single-pointed focus, at least for periods of time. I’ve been reading Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profit, Passion and Purpose, by Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos. He tells the incredible story of what it took to create this multi-billion dollar internet giant—including risking millions of dollars that he had made in a previous business bankrolling Zappos for years before it became profitable! But he was focused—he knew the risks and creating the business—the adventure and challenge of it—was the main thing. He could always make more money.
I know in these last few years, my world has become my business, and my family. Other things come in and out as I have time and energy for them. I dance, do yoga, see friends. Building my business has taken priority because I have a mission, a passion and a purpose.
I learned how to do that when I went to graduate school and had to have single pointed focus then as well. And the benefits are huge of that kind of concentration. Impact, growth, prosperity.
What are you choosing? And why?
What are you willing to let go of in order to create and experience a deeper sense of why you are here, what you came to contribute, what you can receive, what your Soul is longing for?
What are you willing to allow into your life, that you thought wasn’t possible, wasn’t for you, was for other people?
Are you willing to develop single-pointed focus so that you can maximize the impact of your efforts?
What do you want to leave behind you when you leave this body—and what are you willing to sacrifice in order to accomplish that?