For several years Ben has been dreaming of moving from the city to a small town in the mountains. As a writer and consultant, he has always believed he could live and do his work from any location. Following a vacation in a mountain town that he loved, he became very energized about living there. He began to plan his move and told friends about it. One of his friends offered some “friendly advice” about the disadvantages of living in a small community. Suddenly, Ben began to ask himself “What am I thinking? What if I’m wrong about wanting the small town lifestyle?” Doubt set in and became the focus of his thoughts. For several weeks, Ben kept playing in his mind the same repetitive pattern of questions and his dream, over and over. He couldn’t move forward and he couldn’t give up the dream he had for so many years. Nothing happened, inertia took over.
Ben decided to shift his attention by gathering more information. He created a list of questions related to moving and the community, and began to do research to gather facts. He contacted realtors in the town, asked a couple of his long term clients how it would affect their working relationship, and investigated the services available for both his work and his lifestyle. While he was gathering these facts and writing them down, he stayed curious and objective. He looked at the whole situation as if the idea of moving was brand new. He removed his personal attachment to the outcome. After gathering all the facts, Ben focused on how energized he was about the information he had gathered. It became obvious that he was very “lights on” about relocating to the mountains. Inertia and swirling doubt were gone, and he is now enjoying the life he had dreamed about for so many years.
The principle of this story is doubt your doubt, not your dream:
1. To get out of doubt and fear of the unknown, shift your attention by gathering information.
2. Ask seven questions related to your vision. This will give you enough knowledge and intelligent answers to continue with certainty.
3. Stay curious and know nothing. Look at all people and situations as if they are brand new to you.
4. Stay objective and don’t take any information personally. The observer affects the outcome. Any preconceived ideas can alter how you see things and therefore the outcome.
5. After you have objectively gathered the information, observe your energy about the information. Start using your intuition, stop analyzing. Analysis dulls intuition. If you stop analyzing and start using intuition, you access whole brain intelligence.
Live every day with your lights on!
Cathy Hawk & Gary Hawk
