Letting go of the status quo

When we caught up last time, I shared some insights from the work of psychologist Lynda Gratton and economist Andrew Scott and their book ‘The 100 Year Life‘. At the end of the edition, I invited you to reflect on some questions, the last question being ‘How will you begin to reimagine the possibilities of YOUR lifetime?’ in an era where we are living longer than ever before.

Now, this is a BIG, all-encompassing question we have here: How will you begin to reimagine the possibilities of YOUR lifetime?

If your response was a feeling of fear – in particular, irrational fear – it sounds like you need to revisit our earlier edition where we addressed the 6 antidotes to overcome fear. If your response was a feeling of overwhelm – ‘I hear what you’re saying, but I don’t even know where to begin??’ Well, I’d like to put forward one simple idea to support you in reimagining the possibilities.

Begin by letting go of the status quo!

As hard as it is, when thinking about possibilities, the first step to take is to let go. Let go of what is no longer working for us. Let go from what we think is ‘expected’ of us. Let go of the status quo!

Once we shed these expectations and open our minds to what ‘could be’, we realise we have choices (yes, these choices might be uncomfortable and most likely hard, but we always have choice) we then can begin to imagine a new state, a new possibility. 

Yet, I see so many people who hold tight to the very thing that is causing pain or restlessness or feeling ‘less than’. Many people focus on what they might be giving up – status, title or tenure, rather than what is possible when they start taking steps to create the life they truly want to live.

And here’s the thing, it doesn’t need to be an ‘either/or’ situation. Who says you can’t create the rules of the game so they work for you?

This is what my reimagining looked like: I knew 3 years before leaving a corporate role, that I wanted to work for myself. I also had 3 small children and needed to finish off formal study. Recognising that life’s a marathon not a sprint, I started taking small steps. First step, seek permission from my employer at the time to move to part-time & start a side hustle, working with other corporates to see if my business idea had legs. Employer said yes, and idea did have legs! Second step, refine business idea and use that experience to support completion of my formal study. Third step, take advantage of organisational restructure and exit with redundancy as safety net. Fourth step, leave on good terms with employer so they become a great referral source.

Were there bumps in the road? Absolutely! Did everything go according to plan? No way! But the moment I lifted my eyes to the horizon and thought deeply about who I am as an individual – when I let go of the status quo – the path became clearer. Not only did it become clearer, but the more people I actively engaged to support this new pathway, the more support I received.

 This is how ‘Pathway to YOUR Potential’ came to be.

Now, I invite you to really think deeply about who you are now and who you want to be. Think back to Bronnie’s book and her insight on the number one regret of dying – I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me. Think about life as a marathon, not a sprint. Think about stepping into the arena and daring greatly.

Then, let go of the status quo, harness YOUR power to change YOUR life and *honestly* respond to the questions below:

What could be the reimagined possibilities of YOUR lifetime? Write down all your responses.

• What is one small step you could take to begin realising your possibilities?
• How will you hold yourself accountable in taking this first step? How will you celebrate AFTER taking this first step?