3 Ways to Go Beyond and Leave the Known for the Unknown
“One doesn’t discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore
for a very long time”. ~ Andre Gide
To reference a nautical proverb, strong ships were not built to sit in the harbor. Each of us has strengths that we don’t even know because we haven’t tested them. By putting ourselves in situations that require more of us than we think we have, we stretch our own knowledge, our capabilities and demonstrate that we can handle whatever we set up for ourselves.
However, to do that means being willing to endure times of self-doubt, when loved ones give well-intentioned advice about what to do (which, quite often, they’ve never done themselves and can only come from what they know to be true in their world). It means being willing to know your destination, without necessarily knowing exactly how you’re going to get there. It means intense personal development to expose and foster those inner connections, capabilities, and dreams.
What do we need to let go of in order to get completely different results from what we’ve always gotten in our lives? The following might surprise you.
1. Our Being
The way we’ve always been won’t take us to where we want to go, if where we want to go is a new place. That is, if we want to move to the tropics, but we’ve always lived in the frozen tundra, we will have to make adjustments in how we think, dress, behave, eat, etc. Energetically, we will relate to a new environment through a new way of being. This is what is required to activate the universal law of attraction; which basically states that “like attracts like”. If we continue to be as we’ve always been, we’ll continue to get what we’ve always had. In order to create new success, we have to grow and express our inner Being.
2. Our Knowing
We accumulate knowledge throughout our life, through education and experiences. That knowledge may or may not be relevant anymore to where you want to go. However, it was essential that you have it at the time in order to get to where you are now. It is most helpful to have a beginner’s mind, a blank slate, so that you release preconceived ideas and are open to the opportunities that present to you along the way. The most important thing to “know” is that you are living on purpose, and if that doesn’t feel right, it’s time to make a change.
3. Our Doing
We need to do things differently in order to get new results. That applies to people, to expectations, to prioritizing our time and energy, and more. In relationships, we may find that we are showing up in a new way, and our “people” may not know what to make of us. This is a natural reaction, in a way, because if we are doing different, they also have to change. If we decide to not do something different, we are limiting our self-expression to keep the peace. In other areas, we must actively release our attachments to our history, because we are no longer that person – it is a new day. We must release our expectations to a particular outcome; that is, we know we want to get from San Diego to New York, but if we are too attached to it being via an airplane, we will miss the scenic route where we could meet the exact right opportunity. Our Doing needs to trust and be in flow with our new states of Being and Knowing.
Moving out of the comfort zone into the vitality of new life is exciting and dynamic – and can bring up our innermost fears. However, by being willing to experience the letting go of what we know in exchange for what we can have is the only way we will achieve the greatness of success already waiting inside us.