Right now, I am lying on my belly on a towel on a beach, at the southern-most tip of Bali, two-finger typing this blog post into my email on my phone, so I can save it as a draft. My dress is unglamorously draped over my head, to shield the screen from the glare, and there’s no internet to connect to, unless I take the tedious stairs for 20 minutes up the cliff-side.
This is called: showing up. No matter what.
So many of my clients: inspired, ambitious people who want a freedom based lifestyle, alongside a soul-heart-and-purpose-driven career, say they want to create a way to live with freedom, while also creating value and serving others. But many of them have a long line of excuses why they can’t do it.
While these excuses may seem logical and reasonable, they are actually: fear and self-sabotage disguised as reason.
They might say things like: “I don’t have a fancy-pants laptop to work from like all the cool kids. I can’t do it.” Or “I haven’t got an office or special space to work from. I need things to be ‘just so’ to get started.” And “No one will take me seriously if I don’t have a professional website/business card/latest technology”.
Here’s the truth: all of those logical voices are just fear. Fear of success. Fear of failure. Fear of change. Fear of discomfort. Fear of causing others discomfort. Fear of fear.
Here’s another truth: all those things you fear? They will happen. You will succeed. You will fail. You and your world will change. You will get uncomfortable. Others will get uncomfortable. And if you’re not a little bit scared every day? You’re not truly living.
And this life? This life is your opportunity to rise above the fears. To feel the fears, and experience them for what they truly are: notches in your belt of evolution and growth. Fear = expansion. Fear = stretching. Fear = knowing something greater than what you have ever known before.
You are here to elevate. Your fears are the rungs on your ladder. You always have a choice. Go up. Or go down.
Don’t wait until you’re ready. Start now. Start from where you’re at.
There’s never going to be a more perfect time for you to start showing up. To start living your dream. For you to start.
Don’t have all the technological systems of the modern age? Just start with where you’re at. As you can see, all you really need is a phone. Or, like this homeless model in New York: an Apple Store.
Still sleeping on someone’s sofa? Just start with where you’re at. Be grateful for the sofa, for being both your landing pad and your lift-off point to where you want to be.
Don’t have an office to work from? You are your office. All you have to do is start showing up.
I’ve never had a real desk or office. I ran my business off my tablet for the entire first year. Blogging wherever, whenever I could. Scheduling social media posts to stay connected with my tribe. Booking my coaching calls into blocks so I could make sure I’d have reliable internet during those times. I did this on the road. From Amsterdam to Mexico to Panama to San Francisco to LA to London to Goa. Anywhere was my office. I just had to keep showing up.
I’ve never run my business the traditional way most businesses to. Everything I do is based on intuition. I follow and trust how I feel. I throw myself into situations without certainty. I don’t allow my fears to rule me. I just keep showing up in the way that feels right to me. In my truth. With love, with heart, with soul, and with purpose.
I’m currently halfway through launching my first ever eCourse: Manifest More. From a tropical Island paradise with limited wi-fi. Crazy? Maybe. But I’m living my truth. My dreams. And I keep showing up.
You want to live your dreams? You want to create a life that means something to you? Start showing up. No matter what. No holds barred. No fears dressed up as logical reasons. Don’t wait until you’re ready. Start now. Start from where you’re at.