Last week I recorded a Ted Talk “audition tape.”
It was an assignment given in The Awakeners program with Michael Neill. A few participants will be chosen to present their Talk live in London next week.
I spent hours writing and rehearsing. The doing part was fine. Enjoyable even.
But between working, I spent way too much time thinking about it.
Fussing, worrying, nagging myself to finish before the deadline. That part wasn’t fun at all.
I noticed how ridiculous it was.
I’d be doing my morning movements, judging myself for procrastinating – while at the same time, ideas for the talk would drop in. I’d pause to jot them down, even stopping to write out the arc of my story.
I was working and beating myself up for not working the entire time. 😵
A coach friend asked me, “If a miracle happened in our conversation, what would it be?”
Without missing a beat, I said:
“A miracle would be knowing that worry is completely unnecessary and useless.”
Because here’s the thing…
The talk was coming together almost on its own, in spite of my fussing and fretting, just because I wanted to do it.
All that extra thinking was unhelpful, stressful and totally unnecessary.
Is something is weighing on you?
Here’s my radical invitation:
Give up.
Not on the thing you want to do – but on thinking about it so much.
Take a thought vacation for as long as you will allow. An hour…a day…a weekend.
Completely give up thinking about it, and watch what happens.
Creative, curious thinking is great. But making yourself think smothers your creativity. It’s trying to drive action, but it creates tension, fear and paralysis.
A friend once shared his strategy for dealing with stressful thinking. “It just doesn’t matter.”
And it reminded me of this iconic moment from Bill Murray in Meatballs:
It just doesn’t matter.
It really doesn’t.
Not what you think.
Not what you feel.
No even what your mind says you should be doing.
You don’t have to take it seriously. You don’t have to listen to it. Not even to motivate yourself to complete a project before a deadline.
Life is kinder than that. Your creative mind knows what to do, and ideas arrive when you’re relaxed, not stressed.
Force isn’t necessary because flow is available.
In May we’re diving into this very energy in the IMPACT membership with a new workshop:
How to Turn Connected Conversations Into Clients
- Discover how natural (and easy!) it can be to ask for and receive money for your powerful service.
- Learn my two-step “system” for creating clients – no social media required
- Roleplay “selling” situations and get supportive real-time feedback
- Join our Quest for inspired action all month long
Let’s create from ease and clarity, knowing your next step is already on the way.
https://www.theawakenedbusiness.com/impactinvite
Yours in love and play,
Steph
