Catch this principle: Hesitation is the enemy of your self-actualization.
Think of it this way. Inspiration is an interruption in your regularly scheduled programming. An inspired idea is like a nudge from the Divine that says: “It’s go time. Get after it. I’ll help.”
But when you hesitate to move forward on a bolt of inspiration you’ve received, you give your old patterns the chance to take over.
Old patterns like seeking approval and validation from other people before you give yourself permission to move forward on your own callings.
Old patterns like perfectionism and procrastination.
Old patterns like getting super excited about the idea you’ve had… then losing steam as you think about why it might be hard, how embarrassed you’ll be if it doesn’t happen, or all the times you’ve tried and been disappointed before. Old patterns like failing to see how all those disappointments were part of your preparation, part of your process.
And that’s why hesitation is the enemy of self-actualization. Hesitation weasels it’s way into your habits of thought and becomes a treasured way of being (TWOB) by lying to you, telling you it’s going to keep you safe from making bad decisions, embarrassing yourself or failing.
But what hesitation actually does is keep you stagnant and small.
When you say “I’ll think about it”, you allow your Inner Critic to masquerade as the voice of reason, giving it a chance to cook up all sorts of imagined, terrible, unlikely outcomes of whatever action you were feeling inspired to take.
“I’ll think about it” usually means you’re not convinced you’re really ready, capable or deserving of whatever you’re hesitating on. You’re still litigating against yourself in your own mind.
When you decide what you really need is a more detailed plan, more credentials, more money or more time, you create false prerequisites for your own fulfillment. And you cause your best ideas and goals to get stuck in your inner pipeline, where they start to congeal and wire into a template of unfulfillment, incompletion, despair and disappointment.
Hesitation interrupts your natural cycles of growth, creation and soul-level fulfillment.
Most people who know they have a hesitation problem try to whip themselves into shape with more action and more accountability.
But the antidote to hesitation isn’t always action.
Sometimes, the antidote to hesitation is simply inviting inspiration, trusting that it will come and allowing inspiration to power your action when it does.
And that’s about getting consistent and intentional with your morning routine.
That’s about keeping your mind, your calendar and your relationships free and clear of grudges and grievances.
It’s about carving out a little time and space to be able to take the first step toward your inspired ideas, in small ways, as they arrive (versus just adding them to your “someday” to-do list, never to be seen again).
It’s about reclaiming sovereignty over your own spiritual wellbeing, your capacity and your calendar, instead of feeling like you live at the whim of the mood-of-the-day on Facebook and the calendar commitments that no longer serve you.
That’s what a masterful life is. It’s not a life where nothing unwanted ever happens to you.
It’s a life where you regularly receive inspired ideas and do your role to bring them to life, all the time, without getting blocked and stuck.
It’s a life where you know your own patterns of self-limitation and hesitation, and when you see them arise you recognize them, salute them, and gracefully continue moving toward the callings of your soul, with self-compassion and appreciation for the wisdom and clarity you glean every time you make a new, graceful choice.
When was the last time you had an inspired idea or received an opportunity that made your heart leap to say YES, but your mind and your mouth said: “I’ll think about it?”
What would be possible for you if you were willing to unlearn your hesitation habits?
I invite you to get curious about that.
Head up + heart out,
P.S. If you want to overcome your hesitation habits, I’ll help you gently, gracefully unlearn them in Life and Self Mastery.
Next session begins Monday, July 6th, and you’ll start out receiving my soothing, energizing, inspiration-sparking Daily Ritual emails, six days a week.
Twice a month, you’ll get invited to a live master class that’ll contribute to your inner wellbeing and your success in life.
I’ll teach you my Spiritual Strategies for releasing the treasured ways of being (TWOBs) that no longer serve you, like hesitation, as we focus together on a different area of your life in each month’s curriculum.
I’d love to support your journey into the masterful, magical life you came here to live.
<< Learn more or register, here.Â
Tara-Nicholle Nelson, MA, Esq.
Founder + CEO of SoulTour
@taranicholle on FB | TW | IG | LI
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