Are you playing it safe?

You may be one of the few people walking the earth who is genuinely living their real life. But, if you can’t count yourself among that number, why is that? Why aren't you already well on your way to living as your best self in the life you were made for? 

Instead of living a life filled with fulfilment, meaning and vigour, why do you so often cut a frustrated figure, cussing and complaining about the lack of progress you are making towards the ’success’ you long for?

Well, if you're anything like me, you've probably talked yourself into a corner where you are surrounded by so many issues and blockages that you're now trapped - a multitude of reasons and excuses why you haven’t got what it takes. Reasons and excuses that have you pinned down and unable to move.

The more time you spend hemmed into that corner, the bigger those issues and blockages seem, and the more real those reasons and excuses become. 

And then there’s the fear. Fear that, even if you could find a way through all that stands in your way, you won't be able to pull it off - that your efforts will fail, your goals will be missed, and ‘success’ will forever evade you - begins to creep in.

And, as fear creeps in, it suffocates your enthusiasm and wrings the life out of your determination. Slowly, at first, and then with greater pace, you start to settle for existence in the status quo.

But you weren't made to settle.  The status quo is a place you were never meant to be.  You were made to live. To 'have a go'. 

You were made to write a story of failed attempts, missed goals, tears and frustration, all outweighed by the joy and wonder of becoming the person you truly are. So wouldn't you rather live the life you were made for than lead a ‘play it safe' existence filled with stories of, well, nothing at all?

I know I would. 

And I do live that life - complete with stories of failures and missed goals that, so far, exceed stories of rip-roaring success. 

And I'm fine with the fact that my stories of failed endeavour currently outweigh my stories of success and victory.  Because I know that, as uncomfortable, hard and scary as it is, this is the life I am made to live and, if I don't live it, the only stories I have will be empty - filled with what if, maybe and regret. 

And those are stories that I have absolutely no desire to tell.

So, how do you overcome the obstacles that stand before you, real or otherwise, and the paralysis they induce, so that you can write your own stories of failed attempts, mistakes, wrong turns, and, hey, who knows, maybe even some successes and victories here and there?

You get real, you get brutal, and you get honest.

You take the time to pull out into the open every reason and excuse, every issue and obstacle, that you have allowed to pin you into that corner and paralyse you. 

For example, maybe some of these reasons and excuses resonate with you:

• I don't have enough finance.  
• I have too many responsibilities.
• I don’t know where to start  .
• I’ll let down my family and friends if I change course.
• People will think I’ve gone crazy and laugh at me.
• This is way too scary, I just can't face it.
• Maybe the situation isn't really that bad - I'm probably just getting it all out of proportion.

Or maybe you have others.

But, whatever your reasons, excuses, obstacles and blockages, once you know what they are, challenge every single one of them. I mean, really challenge them. Pull them apart until nothing remains.

Remember, be honest, be brutal and hold nothing back. 

You see, when all is said and done, is any one of those things on your list really a reason not to just start the adventure into your real life, or to push on? Is there really no way to overcome it and become all of who you are meant to be?

Remember, I said be honest, and be brutal.

The fact is, no one ever said following your dream would be easy. We just want it to be that way, so when we hit blockages we find it all too easy to throw in the towel.

But, in reality, are any of the excuses or reasons you come up with to not push ahead with your adventure genuinely blockages that you can't overcome, if you choose to?  It may be hard, even scary, to overcome them, but they can be overcome.

I mean, does anyone ever have ‘enough’ time, skill or freedom from responsibility? No matter how much time, skill or freedom from responsibility you have, your adventure will almost always demand more than you have. 

And there are never enough hours in the day, but with better time management and some adjusted priorities, you can make it work.

And maybe people will think you’ve gone ever-so-slightly mad and laugh at you, but they haven’t got the courage to step away from safety and follow in your footsteps, so yours will be the last laugh.

Whatever your excuse or reason, there is almost always a way over, through or around it. So, what's holding you back? How will you respond to your reasons and excuses not to throw off the shackles and launch yourself into the adventure of your real life?

And why not give yourself a head start with free membership of the Live a Big Life Academy, packed with a ton of courses, resources and tools to help you to lift the lid on the real you. Visit www.liveabiglife.com/free-membership and sign up today.