I recently had an intriguing conversation with a guy at a local cafe who loves adventure and spent decades driving tour buses across different countries. He is truly an international man; he lives in Canada, speaks Japanese, Dutch and German and is married to a woman from the Philippines. He was sharing about his desire to start shooting and sharing travel & driving videos and the varying life difficulties he was facing
He opened up about a piece of advice he received from a younger person in his life, the phrase “JUST GO FOR IT!”
I have no doubt the sentiment came from a good place and yet this commonplace advice of “GO FOR IT” as a way to get him moving, seemed to have resulted in a contrary desired effect. It paralyzed him with overwhelming burden rather than propelled him into creative and life giving endeavours.
For this 45+ aged individual, the desire to “go for it” wasn’t the issue. He had to consider his wife and family, his day job and the financial obligations that come with raising a family in a city like Vancouver with rising living costs.
Sometimes courage doesn’t look like “dropping everything to follow our dreams” - though it is the picture we tend to romanticize about when we think of the truly courageous. In fact, the “drop everything and go for it” pathway could sometimes parade as a mask that hides our stronger desire to escape the difficulties of our present reality. Instead of being courageous, our impulsive decisions could be a form of escapism, an unhealthy way to deal with challenges or even self-centredness if we are giving little regard to others in our decision making process.
Now that’s not to say that we should never step forward and "GO FOR IT" because we may sadly find ourselves paralysed at the other end of the spectrum ie stuck in passivity and dare I say laziness. Sometimes we really need to hear “GO FOR IT” from the people around us. But we when we hear it, we would do well to firstly consider what “GO FOR IT” means for us.
We need to contextualise and personalize the phrase for our present situation.
"GO FOR IT" may mean stepping out of your cushy corporate job to try your hand at your own business. Or it may mean gradually and intentionally reallocating your finite time to what is more important for you right now.
"GO FOR IT" may mean finally taking up that course and investing in your personal development. Or it may be about grinding through to complete that program.
"GO FOR IT" may mean ending that relationship. Or it may mean sticking out for a bit longer while getting professional help.
"GO FOR IT" may mean staying where you are. Or relocating.
I’ve been learning real courage isn’t something we simply pick up from verbal advice. But rather our courage develops as we learn to recognise the fear inside of us, see it as a compass rather than a chain, and choose to step towards and through it, moment by moment, day by day.
So friend, I do want to encourage you and say “GO FOR IT” - whatever that looks like for you and wherever life finds you today. May you begin to recognise the subtle fears inside you and take steps towards and through it. And watch and see your courage develop. You may not feel an energetic surge of courage right now. But as you take those next steps consistently and intentionally, I believe you’ll grow to become a courageous person.
I’m looking forward to who you become!
Live whole. Live Holystic.
James
p.s if you want to better understand your unique story and have increased clarity and courage to live purposely in relation to others and the world, we should have a chat. Visit liveholystic.com to book a time.