🌞🌞10 Lessons from a Life of Courageous Creation 🌞🌞
I’ve been fascinated by learning more and more about what it takes to live a courageous life. Courage is not the absence of fear, it’s feeling the fear and doing it anyway.
Some of us are courageous with our personal relationships, always seeking ways to “speak our truth” and hold higher ideals than what is fed to us by the cultural norms for love, intimacy, communication and connection.
Some of us are courageous with our bodies, mastering movement, dance, athletics or choosing alternative ways of eating.
Some of us are courageous in our professional lives, always going for the next rung on that corporate ladder.
Some of us courageously volunteer in our free time to make the world a better place. When others are kicking back by the pool or sleeping in, we are at the dog shelter or mentoring boys and girls on the weekend.
Some of us have followed the hero’s journey of creating a living working for ourselves and our clients, with no company to hide behind or rely upon.
I find that freelancers and business owners have a special kind of courage. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your philosophical and political beliefs, the primary resource that tends to be traded in this world for life sustaining value…is money.
When someone goes out on their own, following their vision for an impact driven business, or a life of massive income and freedom of choice, or simply doing what we love to do day in and day out, they are risking so much in service of that big dream or vision.
They are living on the edge of discomfort in a way that an employee, even a CEO just isn’t living.
Recently, someone who has been following my work reached out to share how much one of my videos really impacted him. He thanked me for the content I create and then told me that if I ever wanted to, he’d be willing to share insights from the challenges he’s had or mistakes he’s made along the way.
He also had ideas for more content that would help him, and help others. So we got on a video call and had a great discussion.
He happens to be a man who’s made his living as an artist, only creating the art that he feels fully lit up by. I’m always inspired by that kind of creativity and courage. So I took notes on some of his lessons and insights. What came from it blew my mind.
🔥Below or 10 Lessons From Living an Alternative Life.🔥
They can be applied to almost anything you might choose that feels “against the grain”.
1. You have to know yourself really well. Going after a life you want will have you go back and work on your baggage from your past.
2. Many people will lack belief in your ability to go after what you want. People will question you because of their own fears.
3. What’s right for you isn’t always right for everyone else. When you make choices that are different from most of the people in your life, try not to judge them for “not getting it”.
4. You have to build resilience and perseverance to get back up when you fall down and get kicked. You will fall down..a lot.
5. If you don’t have haters you aren’t doing something right. You can’t take other people’s opinions personally or seriously. Your opinion and your value is what matters. And still learn to listen to the wisdom around you. It’s about discernment.
6. You have to surround yourself with other people who have chosen an alternative path. It’s too lonely otherwise, and you could start questioning yourself.
7. The people in your life who don’t “get it” can still be there to support you when you need them. Don’t push them away.
8. When times are good, lean into the good and create space and plan for the harder times. That way, when you have slow, bad or “off times” you can endure them with more calm and confidence.
9. Understand that when you are following your passions, a lot of other material needs aren’t as important. Learn what you need and disconnect from the consumer mindset. Know what presents significance, value, and meaning, and let go of the bull shit.
10. The only success model you’ll ever need is “Do You!”, anything else is not success…it’s conformity. Build a body of work that you’re passionate about and the right people will find you. It’s tempting to chase the money but that won’t lead to success. If you “do well” on that path, you are essentially just in another “job”.
I love how these insights can apply to all creative endeavors, lifestyle choices, relationship values and simply the path of growing more conscious and loving daily.
When you decide to do anything that is outside of the mainstream approach to life whether that be in the bedroom, bathroom or board room…it will always require you to dig deep, mature quickly and create courage.