The Situation
Sometimes, it feels like the game of life is playing you instead of the other way around.
You play by the rules you learned at home, in school, and on the job. Maybe you even earn all the trappings of winning, like high status, a big salary, and lots of stuff.
And yet, this pursuit of happiness isn’t making you very happy.
What to do?
It helps to wake up to the fact that we spend most of our lives running on autopilot.
The science indicates that 95% of what you think and do today merely repeats what you thought and did yesterday.
Interrupting this default programming and conditioning requires conscious effort and intentional action.
Of course, sometimes life provides a pattern interrupt in the form of crisis like the end of a relationship, losing a loved one, getting laid off, succumbing to illness, or being on the receiving end of an accident.
Whatever the circumstances, when life goes sideways or turns completely upside down, it can leave you feeling broken.
But these moments are also an opportunity to be broken open and serve as an invitation to step into possibility and your limitless potential.
The Solution
In the first half of life, we seek identity and meaning through external instruction and validation.
Whether through an epiphany or an existential crisis, you can become an agent of your destiny in your life’s next chapter and learn to play your game on your terms.
You don’t need to find yourself. You need to face yourself.
What got you where you are won’t get you where you want to be.
To make a difference, you must see, be, and do things differently.
Escape the identity trap1 that has you stuck with roles and goals that no longer serve you, and start stepping into possibility2 and your limitless potential.
Here are the three steps to move from life happening to you to life happening through you as you move toward bigger and better possibilities in your life’s next chapter.
Self-Awareness: Reconnect with who you really are (your values and guiding principles), what you’re really good at (your natural talents and gifts), and where you really belong (with others who share your values and need your talents).
Self-Efficacy: Trust yourself and have faith in your ability to figure things out as you embrace the process of unlearning old beliefs and behaviors that no longer serve you so you can step into possibility and limitless potential.
Self-Actualization: Purpose, prosperity, and peace of mind are natural side effects of embracing a life of greater fulfillment, meaning, and impact by doing work you love with people you care about. The process is the shortcut.
Each of these three steps is unpacked in more detail in Start With Who3, which you receive when you become a free or paid subscribe to this publication.
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