When you're on the outside looking in, watching other people's lives unfold, their personal shifts may seem to occur spontaneously. This can feel especially true if you're comparing your journey to theirs. In fact, change is work. If all you do is talk about change, you're just philosophizing. Lasting transformation requires action in order to truly be absorbed.
So how do you know which action to take? What's the "right" next step? Well, the answer requires some clarity. And clarity presents itself as you become awake and aware. Let's review:
Awakening is a time of deeper understanding and significant internal shifts. Whatever has been percolating under the surface, in your subconscious mind, in your soul has now become clear and you can't unsee it. You've opened your eyes on a wider world.
Awareness is the realization that nothing will ever be the same. When you are consciously aware of your own internal shifts, and you understand that you can't go back to where you were - and would you really want to? - you're faced with what's left: YOUR TRUTH. Awareness can be uncomfortable. And yet, from the discomfort comes clarity. It is a golden opportunity to choose yourself.
So awakening and awareness bring you fresh insight - some people call this leveling up. And once you arrive at this new level of being, what's next? Action. Action is necessary in order for you to assimilate this experience not just in your thoughts, but in the deepest levels of your knowing.
When you're faced with taking action, the ego almost always asks the question, "okay, hot shot, but what are you going to do now? How do you know that's the right choice? What if you're doing it wrong?" or similar. Here's the thing: action isn't about perfection - it's about asking a simple, yes-or-no question: will this action bring me closer to my vision? If the answer is yes, then do it; if no, then keep looking and listening with curiosity. Either way, you're still moving forward, because looking and listening are also action.
Awakening and awareness bring you clarity: your vision, your goal becomes a beacon that illuminates your path. Action is every step you take on that path toward your goal. And like walking a path, action isn't something we all do in the same way. Some people are sprinters while others walk. Some take huge, bounding leaps while others take small, tentative steps. The style doesn't matter - what matters is that you DO IT.
Don't get trapped in ideas of perfection. Don't let your vision be dampened by the fog of should or supposed to. Those are all voices from your ego mind, trying to protect you by keeping you small. If jumping off the edge of the cliff isn't your jam, then find another way - even a 5% step forward, a toe in the water, is action. And one by one, small and imperfect actions toward your vision will get you there.