We live in a world that is full of unknowns, many of us think that is a good reason to simply protect and guard what we have instead of taking action and fighting for something different.
There is a cost involved in making change, wanting to improve ourselves and the situation we are in. No doubt about it.
This is nature of the world, there is a give and take for everything. But it is short sighted to think that staying the same has no cost attached to it. Sometimes we need to start stepping across the stones in the river to see what is on the other side.
What I used to be afraid of when it came to change was the idea that I wouldn’t be able to think of myself the way that I did before the change. I would run from change, because I wanted to protect my identity.
I was afraid that things could actually get better and won’t know what to do with my identity if things actually changed. Maybe you can relate to this? I was sabotaging myself by saying things like “This is just who I am”, or “I am just going to live this way, others can take it or leave it.”
For me, I wasn’t sure if putting in the work to change without knowing if the change will be something I liked or not was an exercise I wasn’t willing to do.
But it cost me. It cost me a lot of emotional hurt. I hurt others in the process. Not taking action to move closer to my authentic self cost me more than I can measure over the years.
But then something changed. It took me losing almost everything. About 8 or so years ago, I lost two of my dogs, I lost the investment property I owned, I filed bankruptcy and eventually ended my first marriage.
I learned something through that time. Without taking risk to invest in ourselves and constantly look to improve upon ourselves we forfeit the opportunity to really discover our authentic selves and step into who we are supposed to be.
I am not sure if I missed out on opportunities to create the new businesses that I had ideas for or to get the promotion that I always knew was on my path. I was too caught up in protecting myself and trying to be right.
But things have changed now for me. I have learned to look inwardly, to find my inner harmony, to foster and nurture my ikigai so that I can become the man I am supposed to be.
Never again will I be stuck being the person I am today and always moving toward knowing myself better and fulfilling the professional pursuit that I have set.
I have found the pathway to build more inner harmony and find the connection points to my ikigai and my overall well-being. Things look much different for me now. If you want to know more about how I did this, send me a message, I would love to talk to you.
#ikigai #authenticself #innerharmony #worklifeharmony
Steve Beauchamp 