Tony Robbins once said, “The quality of your life is in direct proportion to the amount of uncertainty you can comfortably deal with.”
Indeed, your unwillingness to confront difficult emotions is the primary barrier stopping you from everything you want in life.
No matter what you do or achieve in life, there is a path to get there. However, it will be unclear and hazy. It will be outside of your comfort zone and give rise to a whole heap of uncomfortable emotions.
Hence, you will need to forget about how you feel in the moment in order to walk it.
This article is intended to give you the confidence to just that.
Here we go.
You Can Only Connect the Dots Looking Backwards
Most people want certainty before they act. They want to know that what they’re pursuing is a sure thing or they don’t do it.
However, you cannot connect the dots looking forward. You cannot map out exactly how things will go before you do it. Instead, it’s only once you step out of the trees and see the forest that the dots begin to take on any meaning.
To quote Steve Jobs,
“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.”
More than trust, you actually have to have faith. You have to begin the journey not because you know exactly how things will go, but because you know that one way or another you’ll find yourself in place you intended to go.
Which leads to the next point:
Once You Make a Decision, the Universe Conspires to Make it Happen
“The moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way.” -William Hutchison Murray
Once you’ve fully committed to the pursuit of your dreams, you have nothing to worry about. Everything you need is already coming to your aid.
The right people begin showing up in your life. Money starts flowing you. You coincidentally find yourself in the right place at the right time, more often than not.
Although, you and I both know that it won’t always be sunshine and rainbows. Sometimes it will feel like the world is falling in around you.
However, that doesn’t phase you. Why? Because you know that the dots are going to connect back later on.
While you can’t see the gift in the present moment, you have faith in knowing that it’s all happening for a reason. You know that any hardships are only making you stronger for the journey yet to come.
To quote C.S. Lewis
“Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny.”
Your Comfort Zone Versus Your Safety Zone
“Unless you’re in mortal danger, fear is a compass showing you where to go.” -Mastin Kip
According to Seth Godin, we’re all confused about what we should really fear. For example, most people are afraid of things that are simply outside of their comfort zones rather than safety zones.
However, in today’s world, the things that scare you are often the very things you should be doing. While the things that make you comfortable are actually the things you shouldn’t be doing.
To quote Jerry Weintraub,
“As soon as you feel comfortable that’s when It’s time to start over.”
When you feel comfortable things have become increasingly predictable. You’ve stopped growing. You’re living to day-to-day rather than building upon your tomorrows.
Which is not how you were indented to live. You were meant to explore your limits and see how far could go. You were indented to give your best life to life because there’s no good reason not to.
Said Zdravko Cvijetic,
“If you’re not giving your best to this life, which life are you saving it for?”
Indeed, it really would be a terrible thing to be left wondering what this live could have been.
I would be a shame to not “Die Empty.”
So, why choose that reality?
Why choose safe and regretful?
Why not choose to feel absurd, ridiculous, or even stupid in order to get the result that you want?
Wrote Benjamin P. Hardy,
“Do you want the result bad enough that you’re willing to feel absurd, horrible, amazing, ridiculous, and stupid to get there? Or, would you prefer feeling safe and regretful?”