Author: Anne

This author has written 789 articles

The REAL Enemy

Our enemy is not lack of preparation; it’s not the difficulty of the project or the state of the marketplace or the emptiness of our bank account.

The enemy is our chattering brain, which, if we give it so much as a nanosecond, will start producing excuses, alibis, transparent self-justifications, and a million reasons why we can’t/shouldn’t/won’t do what we know we need to do.

The enemy is resistance!

FROM:  DO THE WORK by Steven Pressfield

Steven Pressfield was an advertising copywriter, schoolteacher, tractor-trailer driver, bartender, oilfield roustabout, attendant in a mental hospital, fruit-picker in Washington state, and screenwriter. His struggled to make a living as an author, including the period when he was homeless and living out of the back of his car.  His first book, THE LEGEND OF BAGGER VANCE was published in 1995 and turned into a movie in 2000.

 

REFLECTION:

  • Is there something you know you should do but have excuses?
  • Examine your resistance.
  • How can you lower the volume (or change the tune) on the chattering brain and take a step to do what you know you must to face into your resistance?

YOUR MOST IMPORTANT VOYAGE

What can we gain by sailing to the moon if we are not able to cross the abyss that separates us from ourselves? This is the most importantof all voyages of discovery, and without it, all the rest are not only useless, but disastrous.

Quote by Thomas Merton. 

Thomas Merton OCSO was an American Trappist monk, writer, theologian, mystic, poet, social activist, and scholar of comparative religion. On May 26, 1949, he was ordained to the priesthood and given the name “Father Louis”.

REFLECTION:

  • How satisfied are you with the life you are living?
  • Have you gained all the external trappings (career success, money, plaques, promotions, luxurious material things) yet still feel a void? 
  • Do you try to build your identity from the outside in, hoping to find yourself in the image reflected back upon you in the eyes of others? 
  • What would building your identity from the inside out look like? Explore… journal about this.

NEW WAYS…..

Almost every significant breakthrough is the result of a courageous break with traditional ways of thinking.

Quote by Stephen R. Covey – from his book  Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People

REFLECTION:

  • Is there something you are dealing with that is requiring a new way of thinking?
  • What would a courageous break with your current thinking look like?
  • Brainstorm new and outrageous possibilities.