40 Days to Personal Revolution: Week 2 - VITALITY
Vitality is the experience of being fully alive, which includes a commitment to our growth. To remain committed we should notice how and why we stop ourselves from pursuing the very things we want.
Because everything, big and small, affects our vitality, it is important to do something that allows us to reconnect with who we are and what we stand for.
I signed up for the 40 Days to Personal Revolution to reconnect with who I am and what I stand for. It can be easy to get lost in the day to day. By reconnecting with myself and what I stand for, I can improve other aspects of my life, such as my business.
One can reconnect through exercise, meditation, walking the dog, talking to a loved one, or getting an extra hour of sleep each night. Vacation is another popular way to reconnect.
For the second week’s group session, we (the participants) were asked to recall some of the things we wanted in our lives, based on the circle exercise of week 1. Those wants are now to be referred to as possibilities. Next we would attach the word "but" behind each possibility. And behind “but” we were to state why we couldn’t, wouldn’t, or didn’t pursue that possibility.
For example:
I want to run a successful virtual bookkeeping business, BUT I often feel like I am not qualified.
The "but" represents the small, passive voice. Despite being small, this voice can be controlling. It is the voice that encourages us to settle, and, ultimately holds us back from growth. It often sounds like, “I don’t know…”, “I don’t have enough of…”, or “I don’t have time.”
Here’s another:
I want to go to school to learn physical therapy for the purpose of being a better yoga teacher, BUT school costs too much money.
I realized my small voice does not often belong to me. It belongs to my parents, some friends, or society. The voices are a projection of their fears, envy, or jealously. I found that I listen to the voices because I do not want to disappoint, and I want to be liked and accepted.
If you recall from week 1, I realized I had been subconsciously looking for a reason to not do something, and that reason was often the result of another’s opinion. That reason is the small voice. How often do we do things to please others at the sacrifice of ourselves?
In order to commit to our growth, we must stop ourselves from listening to our small voice. We need to listen to our Big voice.
The Big voice represents your true self. It is the voice that wants you to succeed for you, not another person. Most important, it is the voice of your truth and what you stand for.
The second part of the group exercise involved using the Big voice to re-write the possibility. For example:
I see the possibility of _________________ AND my small voice agrees with _______________. However, I know that ______________ is possible, and that is what I choose to stand for.
Re-writing first example:
I see the possibility of running a successful virtual bookkeeping business AND my small voice agrees that I am not qualified. However, I know that running a successful virtual bookkeeping business is possible, and that is what I choose to stand for.
We need to focus on what is possible, not what is probable.
Going forward I intend to focus on possibilities. I’ll also acknowledge when I hear the small voice. Rather than act on the small voice, I will pause, look for, and listen to my Big voice, which represents who I am and what I stand for. That, my friends, is the essence of vitality.
Stay tuned for Week 3!
