The best way to prevent yourself from accomplishing anything worthwhile is to get stuck in the land of “if only.”
If only I had more experience. If only I had more connections. If only she would talk to me. If only they didn’t think that. If only I had more training. If only I had more time. If only I didn’t have these other commitments. If only I was lucky. If only I was more skilled. If only I was a better writer, speaker, dancer, marketer, programmer, facilitator, presenter, résumé writer, researcher, singer, networker, leader.
The biggest problem with a world in which the rules of the game are changing so dramatically is that we have to create a new story about how to navigate it. And it is only a story. The sooner we grasp that it’s all invented and that we are experts at constructing our own meanings and our own realities we get to decide what to do with that extraordinary insight.
One option is that we can tell ourselves a new story of possibility. Another is that we can tell ourselves an old story of the way the game is played and let “if only” rule the day.
One of three things is true:
- You’ve got what you need at least to get started and you are afraid that it’s insufficient for what the world expects.
- You know what you need to get started – new information, skills, relationships – and now you’ve got to go get it.
- You don’t know what you need because you don’t know what you want.
You either need to get moving, get learning or get clear. If only there were another way.
