live. Undaunted

Lean in.

What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

Take time for yourself.

We live in world where we’re inundated with pithy memes and uber-successful thought leaders smiling from our social feeds.   They’re coaching us to break through to the other side of fear to succeed.  It can be daunting to just “be yourself”.  What if your self is trying to make it through to the end of the workday and to go home and collapse in pajama pants?  What if you feel like a hamster on the wheel trying to keep up with tasks others throw at you?  “Be yourself!” Rah-rah-rah!  Does that sound cheerful or like an insidious threat to get over yourself?

Inevitably, the disconnect between these outside influencers and the tiny box you shrink your life to fit into becomes demoralizing.  You’re daunted.  When you compare yourself to “them” – the rock stars who look fully engaged – resignation sets in.

Look, I’m no self-help guru but I have thoughts about getting out of that tiny box.  The world is a better place with you in it.  In case you slept through 2017, a lot of people have given up and are daunted.  We’re rolling over and hoping everything just goes away while we huddle in our pajama pants.  Deep down, we know it’s not truly LIVING but “you are HERE” and the rock stars are way over THERE.

My radical idea is not to worry about them.  True, pajama pants you might not be a force to be reckoned with.  Today.  But, if we take small steps, make plans, harness the courage to go off the path from time to time, we’re going to get out of the tiny box.   One step, one day (sometimes one minute) at a time.  Day one can be on simple, tiny thing.  Do it today and then celebrate that achievement.

In it’s simplest terms, “Live undaunted” is my personal call to action.  It looks cute as a motivational graphic, sure.  Words that sound pretty and cost us nothing.  The more I rolled it around in my head it split into an ambition and a declarative.  The tiny box is “Exist”.  As you take up space and begin to move in a purposeful direction, that’s the “Live”.  LIVE!!!  It’s an ambition.  It’s a promise.  It’s LIFE!  You can absolutely live while you’re on the journey and you’re one leg removed from those pajamas.  Living doesn’t begin when you get to “THERE”.  So, yes, let’s be radical and “Live.”  Let’s be proud of daring to live.  But, if we really want to take up space and do it up, let’s put an intention on it and be UNDAUNTED.  All that bs that had us heads down in survival mode (So.  Much.  Stuff.  Job, money, love life, kids, bullies, terrorists, the new iPhone… feel free to mix and match your stressors) didn’t get us down!  Warriors overcome challenges and pajama pants.  Real people have obstacles and stories to tell behind the smile or milestones.  It wasn’t effortless.  Own that shit.  We’re going to LIVE and once we start masterminding our own successes (and even failing before trying again) we’re going to shout into the storm that nothing held us back.

Live.  UNDAUNTED! 

Think about it.  We’ll talk…