A lot of you want to experience life at a whole new, different, bigger, more enlightened level.
Beautiful.
Yes.
What an experience.
But here’s what most people don’t know until they uplevel their life:
You have to give up some good things to live at the next level.
Since you are already filling your 24-hour day in some way, you have to set some things down to make room for this new version of your life.
Things you like.
And while that sounds sad, it’s something we experience throughout our lives when we are forced to grow.
It’s like graduating from high school.
You might have to leave behind friendships you have had since kindergarten.
You may leave behind having your parents and teachers make decisions for you… life was simpler.
You may stop getting free room and board and become responsible for supporting yourself financially.
Those are pretty amazing things you leave behind on your journey.
But you won’t have the life of a fully realized adult if you don’t let go of some of the good things in life to make room for the growth.
So now, later in life, you get to CHOOSE to grow your life.
That’s where some people get stuck.
They only want to get rid of the crappy parts of life and exchange them for awesomeness.
But it doesn’t work that way.
You lose a bit of the good parts in order to gain in big luscious areas that give your life meaning.
The great news is who you become because of the struggle on your journey is totally worth it.
I am getting ready to call my mother-in-law and tell her that we’re not coming for the annual 4th of July celebration.
I don’t really want to tell her why.
It will just worry her for no good reason.
And there’s truly nothing to worry about.
But when setting boundaries, I don’t owe other people a reason.
I can just decline.
Or I can even have fun with it.
It delights me to think of telling her, “I must decline for secret reasons.”
For just a moment it makes me feel like a secret operative.
So I may try that and see what she says.
I’ll keep you posted.
You are losing integrity with yourself.
Here is what most women I know are doing …
You tell yourself you are going to do something for yourself.
And then you don’t do it.
You say you are going to put yourself first.
And then you put someone else’s need before yours.
You say you are going to lose weight.
And then you eat the pie because your neighbor made it specially for you.
You say you are going to start saving 10% of your income to invest in your retirement.
And then the surprise dental bill comes up and you don’t put anything in savings.
Sure, sometimes you have to make a tough call and not follow through.
But there are hidden consequences.
When you don’t follow through on a promise you make to yourself, you lose integrity with yourself.
You won’t fully believe yourself the next time you tell yourself you are going to do something.
Then that spirals.
You make more promises to yourself, and you are not fully committed because you know you might not have your own back.
There’s only one antidote.
Make a commitment to take action.
Then take the action.
Especially with yourself.
You won’t have to work to believe you can achieve something if you know you will take action. That’s rock solid confidence.
Believe in your integrity to keep promises to yourself
and believe that you are worth it.
That is what propels you forward.