Several years ago, I started a business growing organic heirloom tomatoes that I then sold at the local farmers market.
It was my first serious business venture, and as such, contained many steep learning curves for me.
Although that business was ultimately unsuccessful financially, it was very successful in helping me to learn and grow in so many ways.
The lessons I learned through that first business made it much easier to start and then operate my massage therapy practice years later.
Within six months, I was able to quit my job and enter into the world of the self-employed, along with the feeling of excitement and uncertainty that comes naturally during such a transition.
For the next 5 years, I provided value for my clients in a way that felt truly satisfying, while financially supporting myself in the process.
Now, as I yet again start a new business, coaching others to follow their dreams, I realize that it isn’t really about the lessons learned along the way.
It’s about the evolution of my desire along the way.
And it’s not just the failures or challenges that enabled me to continue to clarify what I preferred, it’s the successes too. Every experience has become a part of the ever changing, ever evolving vision of myself and what I want.
Every new experience has given me a fresh perspective, a fresh vantage point from which to desire more. Even though it took me a while to see the benefit I received from some of those experiences, they all helped me to become who I am, and I can now cherish them for it.
And it isn’t just the big things.
For example, as I followed my inspiration to write this post, my perspective shifted as I began to tell the story; leading me in a direction very different than I had initially intended.
And that’s how life works. It is a constant evolution of experience, and a continual shifting of your perspective, that helps you to consistently clarify what you prefer moment to moment.
You will never “get it done,” and that’s a good thing.
Even when you accomplish what you want, the having of it will always lead to the wanting of whatever comes next.
Only by allowing the experience of every step you take to shift your perspective, and then embracing that new perspective can you continually become the next best version of yourself.
Think about it. How many times have you set a goal for yourself, and then your experiences along the way shifted your original perspective?
Maybe that led you to tweak your goal, or caused you to create a new goal entirely.
But if you didn’t allow your change in perspective to affect the original goal, and you simply pushed through and tried to motivate yourself to accomplish what you originally wanted without taking into account who you have become along the way, then when you finally achieved it, it wasn’t as satisfying as you thought it would be.
Only through the flexibility of allowing your goals to shift in response to your ever evolving perspective can you not only enjoy the journey to what you want, but ensure that when you get there, the result feels as good or even better than you thought it would.
And I’m really enjoying how this post turned out. 🙂