How’s your current work pattern going? And by pattern I mean the one you’ve been on that actually isn’t working. After all, who the hell wants to spend every day “efforting” and offering in exchange for the pleasure of paying bills and occasionally moving about the earth by way of an overpriced piece of paper (read: airline ticket), and a seat next to an unbelievably obnoxious human who insists that you will speak to them for the entire fah-reaking flight?
So, how about you trade out your Work, dun-dun-duuuun! feeling for the business of turning your love of [fill in awesome thing here] into your method of self and family sustainability?
Okay, now that we’ve established how absurd the idea of renting out your brain for mere dollars on a long-term scale would be, let’s lean in on 3 (out of the 77 bazillion) routes to removing yourself from the RACE and placing you on the path of your unique WALK.
1. Pay attention to your natural grain.
Ask yourself what makes you tick, what rocks your core in an infectious way, then commit to receiving (notice I didn’t say “going out to get”) the resources you need to transition from WANTING that life, to BEING the woman who LIVES that life. In other words, ASK for the resources, and by that I mean both the spiritual Ask and the literal asking of the people in the lane you admire, plus utilizing old trusty here (the Web), to find out more about that thing.
2. Trim the fat in your life.
Case in point: I had been saying for years that I want to be a professional writer, a speaker, and use that platform to ‘help women with stuff‘. That was pretty much my daily focus, and I did have some success with it, but not at the level that left me feeling that I could claim the titles of author, speaker, and coach. In other words, I was not making nearly enough money to contribute significantly to the sustainability of my family. So, I held on to branches (selling real estate, property management, and totally boring writing jobs) that did not align me with the goals I was saying I wanted to meet. Eventually, my hands got tired, and I let go of all the branches. All that was left was ME AND MY GRAIN in what felt like a free fall, but turned out to be my opportunity to fly. Now, I do speak, I do write for myself and for clients in a way that I thoroughly enjoy, and I do contribute significantly to the sustainability of my family. And the best part is that I’m nowhere near my full potential. Dude, is that not the best news EVER?
So, if you’re willing to prioritize your ideal life experience over your need to address a bill, or an expectation of your level of success, and let go in free fall with just you and your grain, then you will find (because that experience was not Akilah-specific, it’s more so faith-specific) that it is in that space that your wings will appear.
Wait, I though she said she wasn’t spittin’ that woo-woo stuff? I’m SO not; please hear me out. I liken my village—my support team of family and friends—to a spaceship. See, they are deliberately placed mirrors of my best self who by their own life examples, illustrate to me the REALITY that is living one’s ideal life design. Hell, some of the folks that comprise my spaceship probably don’t even know I exist! Maya Angelou, for example, is all up and through my spaceship, because in my eyes, she embodies love, forgiveness, and a reverence for words. My mother, with her “drop me anywhere and watch me thrive” spirit is another guest on my ship. And there are many others, some of whom I’ve held hands with and hugged, and others who spoke to me through their books, blogs, and other forms of expression. Essentially, I create an environment that insists on nothing less than my highest, most actualized self, and I am left with little choice but to SHINE.
Does your village embrace your shine?
Does your current daily environment lend itself to your personal and professional best?
If it doesn’t… in the words of the late Arnold Jackson, What you goin’ do now, Willis?