A distinction I often explore with my clients is whether they are running away from something or running towards.
Running away is what we do when we want to avoid discomfort.
The impossible targets. The crappy boss or board. The relentless pressure.
The tedium. The loss of connection and affection at home.
The challenging teen or parent.
Running away implies striving. Working hard to fix or mend. Struggle, difficulty.
Doing anything not to feel the pain of what is really going on.
Running towards suggests soaring. Ease. Movement with the tide of life, not resistance to it.
Creating the future, not accepting it by default.
Jumping into life, feet first and saying ‘bring it on’ not ‘make it go away.’
It’s always interesting to see what language we use to create our world.
Some examples.
‘Starting over is hard’ = Starting over will be hard.
‘I’m not good with change’ = Change will be difficult.
‘I’m excited by what’s next’ = I will experience excitement.
When we pay attention to our language, we also attend to how we create our experience of life. It’s a simple but powerful point of leverage.
In the Home Straight work I do with clients looking to create a powerful, fulfilling and joyful phase in the second half of their career, we get forensic about language and how we choose to paint our world.
That’s how we apply the first layer (and in fact all the layers) of paint to the canvas of our lives.
If you’re noticing you’re running away from rather than running towards, give me a shout.
We can talk through how you can shift perspective and create an enticing next chapter.
Photo by Sam Mgrdichian on Unsplash