Flyin' Shoes

As part of the restructure of my life, I’ve spent the last 3 years putting together the building blocks that have been missing for the 35 years prior. Well, of course there is always development going on but lets just say I hadn’t previously opened myself enough to become fully receptive to my own consciousness. No, I’m not going to power into a long diatribe about understandings of subliminal and background process that continue, even when you think you’re not paying attention. Those conversations are best enjoyed with multiple minds and heated exchanges.

Now I am receptive to my own desires, I’m able to direct energies to my vocation which has narrowed to travel, video and education. I still have some way to go to become the expert in my game but the voices directing me, keep informing that this is what I *should* be doing, so, I’m sticking with it. Following something you enjoy and believe in is an amazing way to feel that your life has a point. In this age of pseudo-enlightenment and 10-second consumption it’s hard to grasp our sense of belonging and ultimately, a desire that our life has not been wasted or in vain.

I would like to share the four things that have been paramount to both how I’m living my life now and how I’m steering myself toward the work I was born to do:

Draw a line in the sand
I never make New Year resolutions but as of late, I am marking public lines in the sand to ensure I achieve a task and keep moving forward. There are many books that advocate this practice and they are absolutely right – having a big public message that you’re going to do something means you have to get it done and there’s no turning back without unwelcome humiliation. It also stops you making false promises that you think will disappear if they’re kept to yourself.  Even if you don’t have anyone to speak your intent to, facing yourself in the mirror or writing a goal down is often enough inspiration to get on with it.

Act on intent
Ideas in your head are worthless unless they have an exit point into the real world. If you find yourself consistently saying ‘I’d love to do this but I need to get a website/business license/portfolio first”, then procrastination is hindering the explosion of your passion for the idea. The best time to do something is when it’s exciting, so go at it with gusto and worry about the minor details along the way. Sure you may need a website, but a splashscreen with contact info will suffice until you start to gain momentum with business. Yes, portfolios can be necessary but until you start doing some work, free or otherwise, you won’t have anything to put in the portfolio.

Don’t drown in the details
We can often get wrapped up trying to absorb a ton of information, to ensure we know as much as possible for marketing ourselves but take a minute to think; is 10% of 10 skills better than 100% of 1 skill? It could be that your jack-of-all-trades offering requires multiple talents but try not to learn too much before you need to and stick with what will get you launched.

Find your temple of thought
For me, this ended up being hiking. Whenever I’m stressed, finding it hard to think of life’s purpose, or need to open my mind to new ideas, I find a long steep hike and push myself hard. For others it’s often solitude, quiet and meditation – the catalyst doesn’t matter as long as you know what it is and can get ready access.

Last week, I took a morning out from the job-hunt regimen to gain a little bit of personal focus, by climbing Mt Si. Yes I could have chosen an easier target but hey, good for what ails ye, right? The hike itself ended up being closer to twelve miles, due to the bus only stopping in North Bend and two miles shy of the trail-head, but no matter; makes for a nice warm-up before hitting the incline.

This time out I’d set myself a tighter target – two hours or less to reach the top of Haystack rock. Ultimately, I made it to the top in exactly two hours (to the minute) and succeeded in not suffering any ill effect that day or after, for cutting 30 minutes off my last hike. So, what new insights did I have for myself that I could apply to life in general? It turns out, more than one.

Understand the mechanisms that best work for you, to get the job done.

Does running as fast as you can until you get exhausted and then crawling the remainder of the way, really benefit the job in hand? That really depends. If all the variables are in place and nothing can be overlooked, the short sprint can be most exhilarating, but then the long, slow, winding down can be frustrating and invoke stumbling into other distractions. Burnout is a big danger and fatigue can cause a multitude of factors to creep in. What about a slow, steady approach? Lack of excitement can again lead to distraction and a mind that isn’t sufficiently stimulated, will often wander off to find it’s own remedy. For myself, I’ve learned that I operate best when I achieve just shy of a sprint. Pushing myself fast enough to constantly need to be aware, yet not so fast that I lose grasp of what I’m aiming for and, more importantly, don’t fade out before I have a chance to achieve my goal.

Set a hard but realistic target, but subconsciously allow forgiveness for not quite finishing everything on time.

The two hour target was something I considered reasonable, based on my previous hikes and my current fitness level. I almost didn’t quite make it, but continued to push myself forward, making adjustments along the way on the sections I needed to fight to control, and the milestones I needed to reach. If I hadn’t made it, I wouldn’t have been unhappy, as I had given my all. While walking the two miles in to the trail-head, I gave myself a pep-talk on what was expected and assured myself that, as long as I tried as hard as I could, I wouldn’t harbor guilt, if I couldn’t make it in time. This immediately took pressure off me to go beyond something I was capable of, and gave me enough breathing space, to not make costly mistakes. Targets are very important to keep a level of focus, but forgiveness of ourselves, changes the end effect from feeling like a pointless punch in the face, to a constructive understanding of being nearer to getting it right the next time.

Give time to savor the victory and reflect on what it took to get here.

I’m often guilty of trying to get the job done, just to check it off the list; this method yields zero life lessons. We need the opportunity to sit back and admire the good work we’ve done, understand our own processes that took us there and reflect on the parts that didn’t go to plan, so we can adjust for the next project.

These lessons are not just for inner growth but are applicable to work, business and relationships also. Finding the mechanisms that enable us to understand how we function, is another step toward personal enlightenment and better translating the manual for our individual lives. I’m fortunate enough to have found hiking as the Rosetta Stone for the manual to my life.