We have experienced self-doubt and procrastination as constant companions on our journey to following our true passion. Our work had brought us certainty and stability, and that meant safety. To give that up took passion and clarity about what we were going to sacrifice our safety for. And not going it alone was a game changer for us.
Especially when an idea is still fluffy and the vision blurry, all we have to push us forward is our nagging thoughts:
I am not getting any younger.
I have the life experience and skills to contribute something meaning-ful to the world. And I see a great need for it.
We seek out conversations with those who have a good bit of life experience and who have discovered a specific and purposeful contribution they could make with their lives.
Some of them are great planners and executers. Others are wonderfully creative and explore different options of being of service to society and environment. Yet others have an inspiring idea, but as yet only have share it in the safe space of their coaching relationship.
We have found that all who seek to make a major change in their lives struggle with this question:
“Can I pull it off?”
Everyone frames this doubt in their own unique way.
Do I have the time?
Do I have the money?
Do I have the expertise?
Do I have …?
Pause for a moment and ask yourself: What’s your unique way of asking “Can I pull it off?”
Robert Keegan and Lisa Lahey from Harvard University have spent over two decades researching what keeps people from acting on their decisions. They have developed the “Immunity to Change” framework.
Immunity to Change stands for how your emotional immune system protects you from the potential disappointment and shame which could arise from your changing our lives.
Here’s a short and illuminating talk by Robert Keegan on this matter.
Your immunity to change is your unique protection mechanism that holds you back from pursuing your goals.
It keeps you SAFE.
The challenge is that what holds you back is mostly subconscious. In other words, what keeps you from pursuing your dream are not the obvious doubts you can easily list: a lack of resources like time, money, support.
More likely, what keeps you from pursuing your dream are your big and subconscious assumptions about who you are and how you operate in the world. These assumptions hold you in their grip whilst you don’t even know that you have them.
At Choose Leadership we want to support as many people as possible to pursue their dreams for the benefit of society and environment, so that together we can tackle today’s global and local challenges. And we believe that humanity’s future depends just as much on people with a good bit of life experience as on the young generations.
If you are in your late forties, fifties and beyond, we invite you to a conversation about how you are, or would love to be contributing to society and the environment in a positive way.
If you’re not sure:
What idea are you not yet sharing with your friends, colleagues, and the world? What’s holding you back?
Or, if you have already started to bring your idea into the world: What has got you here? What’s supporting you? And what challenges are you facing?
There is a swarm of people out there who burn to contribute to the greater good.
