Over the last three weeks I’ve been busting through the three major myths that keep us stuck. They are not-so-sweet lies we tell ourselves to keep us from moving forward. The stories that make us pretend that we don’t deserve to be happy, to live the life that we daydream about, or to think that something could be different. In case you missed it, you can find joy tips on myth #1, I don’t have enough HERE and myth #2 - I’m not worth it HERE.
Now onto myth #3, a big fat juicy lie that I know many of us fall into the loving embrace of despite feeling super yucky about it:
Myth #3 - It’s not my time.
For a very long time, I believed it was not my time for most things in my life. Not my time to become a spiritual teacher. Not my time to publish my writings. Not my time to be seen as an expert. Not my time to share my unique spirituality and own my perspective. Not my time to have a romantic partnership my soul desired. Not my time to do purposeful work I did on the side...full time. Not my time to follow my heart to launch my first online course. Not my time to fill in the blank. The list is long and weighty. The number of things I carried on this list feels like it could fill eons because I’m a woman with big ambitions, luscious dreams, and yet still I saw this as day dreaming. Imagination. Something far off in the distance. All of them were on the “maybe one day list” and never on the “do this right now list.”
You know what was on my “do this right now list?” That’s easy. It looked like this:
DO THE SAME THING.
DO THE SAME THING.
DO THE SAME THING.
THINK ABOUT DOING SOMETHING DIFFERENT.
TALK MYSELF OUT OF IT BECAUSE IT’S NOT MY TIME AND IT’S TOO HARD ANYWAYS...
GO BACK TO DOING THE SAME THING.
DO THE SAME THING.
….
Look familiar? Raise your hand if you’ve told the “one day when” story. Or if you have a list of “maybe’s.” Or if you get a big bright idea and chock it to the “day dream bucket.” Or when you get brave enough to even talk about it, laugh it off. Is this you?
Today I give you a permission slip to stop it. Just absolutely stop this right now because it’s killing you and most of all, it’s killing your intuition. You are stifling the brightness inside of you that knows your potential for the small ideas that occupy your head.
You know what happens to maybe, daydream, one day when, and laughter lists? They remain lists and that’s where they stop. Unless you decide to do something differently.
Remember last week when I shared that the only difference between me and people doing what I wanted to do like being on Oprah (my dream, hey Universe are you listening? *wink), was that they were doing it! When I learned about their stories I realized that they made it their time. They decided it was their time. They didn’t sit in the corner waiting for someone to tap them into the game of life. They were playing before anyone asked.
Think about the people you love in your life and what makes them feel happy, fulfilled, joyful. If they told you that it wasn’t their time, why they had to keep putting something off, why they had to wait to be happy or live their dreams, what would you tell them? Would you agree, oh sure, yes, keep waiting another 1-3 years? No! You’d say, get out there and do this! And how can I help? I know you, I know us, and I know that we are the kind of friends and family members that cheer others on. Now it’s our time to be cheerleaders for ourselves.
The interesting thing about feeling stuck is that we are actually less scared of failure and more scared of success. Sit with that for a moment. It’s true right? Whether it’s moving a project forward, taking a career leap, getting clarity on your life’s purpose, or embodying yourself in a more authentic way, what can feel scary is the question...what if I am successful? Then what? Will I wish I could rewind the tape of life? Maybe. But the truth is you won’t know until you try something different.
This week’s Joy Tip Wednesday is about getting super real about realizing it IS your time. Here’s how:
Own that you have been telling yourself it is not your time. Acknowledging what you are currently doing is the first step to freeing yourself from self-made prisons. Booyah, lock and key is in your hand the second you decide to own that you have been making maybe, some day when, day dream, laughable lists.
Choose a new mantra: It IS my time. Say this to yourself every time you find yourself believing something else. When that inner critic comes out of the shadows to visit, smile, and like a small 5 year old child proudly wearing a cape say “It IS my time.” Yes. I want you to channel that part of you. The 5 year old that just didn’t give a damn about what others thought. The part of you that only absolutely knew how to do one thing...you. And you did it well.
Choose one thing on your “maybe list” and decide to do it. Maybe you even write your maybes, some day when, silly daydream, laughable ideas down on paper in a list. Then choose one of those things on your list and decide to do it.
Tell the world. Announce it on Facebook to your friends. Turn to your partner at dinner and say “guess what? I finally decided to…(fill in the blank).” Call up your best friend giddy and delighted to share that you’re no longer laughing at your dream.
Then go do it. What? I can hear you...hold up Marci...how? Don’t worry about the how. The how unfolds when you start moving your first foot into your first step. Trust me. Intuition is amazing. How many times did you do something that when you look back at you realize it somehow unfolded even though you didn’t know what you were doing. I mean parenting, adulting, partnering, friending, are all things that you figure out the how to as you go along and those are pretty hard! So you can absolutely do this. When we have a strong pull, we are asked to trust that it’s not coincidental and that something greater is at work scheming up these dreams that feel so good to think about. Choose one thing to do today after you decide and tell the world that you will honor your new mantra “It IS my time.”
Finally, tell me in the comments below how you decided to make it your time. Tell me what moved off the maybe list to the “doing it” list. Tell the world by announcing it on this blog and sharing the post with your friends and family to inspire them to do the same.
Let’s start a revolution of people finally honoring themselves.
There’s only one job we are really meant to do in this world and that is to be our truest selves. In that place of existence where resistance fades away, we connect to our joy, and we automatically feel inspired to love more, to give more, and to extend kindness and compassion to others. In this world, we honor each other’s paths, we cheer each other on, and we see the beauty in diversity of being as the Universe produces a kaleidoscope of art, business, writing, parents, partners, friends, and so much more through each of us. Let your light shine, because it IS your time.
Much love,
Marci
PS. Are you loving this series about getting unstuck? I’m launching my first online course The Unstuck Method soon and I’ll be sharing all the empowering practices that help you release these myths and put the doing into practice to start creating a new reality. You can learn more HERE.