We’re busy navigating and trying to make the best of our lives, so we often forget to check in with our inner voice to see where we’re at and where we’re headed. Most importantly, we neglect to ask ourselves if we still want to continue in the direction we’re going. Let’s be honest. You don’t always know where you’re headed because you’re just following a desire without a clear road map.
And that’s fine. You don’t have to figure out all the details or have proof that you’ll get where you want to beforehand. In fact, the imagined destination of your desire is really just a carrot in front of your cart to keep you going, because the ultimate purpose of any venture is to experience the journey and make changes and adjustments as you learn and grow. This is why when you reach a goal you often feel the drive to set a new one.
Yet you do have an emotional compass that tells you if you’re going in the right direction or not. It shows you whether you are investing your time and energy on the right purpose. Everything carries energy, and habits of thought and action accumulate energy over time to create the momentum that moves you forward. The thing is, sometimes those habits no longer serve the goals you’ve set and need to be replaced, either because you have new goals or because the old ones didn’t bring you the fulfillment you expected.
Like a useless set of car tires, some of the things you do make you feel that you’re spinning your wheels without getting any traction. It may be time for a change, but how can you be certain that the desire to move in a new direction is not just an excuse to deviate from what you really want or deeply need? This is not easy, because you cannot see what you cannot see, and one of the things we all have a hard time perceiving is our own resistance.
You must be radically honest with yourself to pierce through the illusions of the mind. This is where your emotional compass is instrumental; it can help you feel what your ego-mind doesn’t want you to see: old patterns of self-sabotage; lack of discipline and determination; your good old compliance and sense of obligation; unresolved fears and emotions that stop and drag you down; and a deeply buried desire to create something that resonates with you on a soul level.
Are Your Desires Moving You Forward or Holding You Back?
New or rediscovered dreams require much energy, time, and commitment, for they go against the momentum of old habits and mental patterns. If you’ve ever learned something one way and then tried to change it, you’ll know what I mean. We all get stuck in our ways and believe that how we do something is the best way to do it—simply because we’re used to believing that. As the saying goes, “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks,” right?
Well, of course you can and you should, but it takes an emotional effort to create new habits. It also requires clarity about how something makes you feel. Are you anxious about doing it or excited with the idea? Is the process joyful or dull or is it stressing you out? Does it help you move away from something (or someone) or is it directing you toward something new? Are you doing it because you think you should or because it organically arose from your self-exploration?
Trust me when I say that if you’re motivated by a sense of obligation, which is really the need to be useful or responsible for others, you’re being played by the ego. Likewise, if you’re trying to hide or run away from a current situation, you’ll simply recreate it with a new disguise, as if playing the same movie with new actors. And if everything feels ok and you’re comfortable with what you’re doing, then you’re probably not leaving much room to grow beyond your comfort zone.
Decisions and changes create turmoil; they stir up the unconscious muck that you’re supposed to look at. If you’re not making waves there, the ego-mind is directing your life’s play to make you feel “safe.” Even the most seasoned performer gets stomach butterflies before going on stage. It’s both the emotional translation of their creative power getting ready to be expressed and the fear arising from their human resistance.
What makes a great actor or musician is the ability to distinguish which is which and to take charge of their present moment by investing in what brings them closer to their goal while disregarding what distracts them. So if you’re ready to recognize these differences in your particular situation and learn to manage your time and energy to create a life or business you LOVE, contact me today and get started on a wondrous path of self-discovery and self-empowerment.
© 2014 Yol Swan. All rights reserved.
