Sometimes I get really nervous. This usually happens right before I hit the stage, the morning before a marathon, or right before I press send to that e-mail I knew needed to be written yet have no idea where or how it will be received.

I am then reminded that nerves are the best thing I could be experiencing in that moment.

As Steven Pressfield says in “The War of Art,” (hat tip to Chloe for the great read):

The more fear we feel about a specific enterprise, the more certain we can be that that enterprise is important to us and to the growth of our soul. That’s why we feel so much Resistance. If it meant nothing to us, there’d be no Resistance. …

The professional tackles the project that will make him stretch. He takes on the assignment that will bear him into uncharted waters, compel him to explore unconscious parts of himself.

Is he scared? Hell, yes. He’s petrified.

(Conversely, the professional turns down roles that he’s done before. He’s not afraid of them anymore. Why waste his time?)

So if you’re paralyzed with fear, it’s a good sign. It shows you what you have to do.

Deep breath. Here we go!

Pick of the Post: Straight No Chaser – Buddy Holly

Related posts:

1. Step Into Action: The Journey To Prostate Cancer Freedom
2. “Our Greatest Fear…
3. Day 2 + 3: Distraction & Creative Action

I could make an excuse for why something isn’t the way I want it to be or take action to get the result I want.

My choice.

(via Indexed)

Pick of the Post: LMFAO – Sexy And I Know It

Related posts:

1. Making excuses
2. Where the Magic Happens

Steph: “Bro – this is what it feels like to live the dream!”

Margaret: “How are we going to do this?”
Me: “Live the dream!”

Random nervous person who is hesitant to approach a hottie at the bar: “…”
Sahil: “LTD!”

“Living the dream” is a catch phrase to some and a way of life to others. I’ve been practicing in my own life what it means to live the dream (LTD). The people in my life are pretty great examples and fellow practitioners of actually doing it, which helps when I need a good kick of “this life is awesome.” The pattern I’ve recognized and synthesized from these different leaders is the following.

1. Create it.

Reflect on what my ideal life could look like at a given point in the future, free from the constraints of my present and my past. I ask myself questions like: “What would I love to do? Where in the world would I be living? How, and with whom, would I spend my time and money?” I create a story, picture, a vision, and lists that encompasses it all. When it is written down in words or pieced together in pictures, it usually generates an emotional response – nerves, happiness, laughter, a sigh of relief. These emotions indicate to me that I was true to what I want in the world. What I create becomes a compass and a guide along the journey – not a destination. These creations become the magnet of life, pulling me forward rather than holding me back.

2. Commit to it.

Make it less of a dream and more of a reality. Maybe, someday, and hopefully will keep the dream a dream. I will and I am declare to myself and the world around me what I am up to. It’s my commitment to living this ideal life I’ve just created. My thought and word choices indicate my level of commitment and sense of power I believe I have in making it real.

3. Let go of the how.

(This is my favourite one and probably the most important!) I occasionally have an exact step-by-step process that, I believe, will get me to that dream. Breaking down big goals into smaller ones is valuable. However, more often than not, I need to let go of the attachment to how I’m going about achieving those goals. This detachment allows people I haven’t met yet to help me, information I don’t know yet to influence my thinking, and external factors and roadblocks to come in and out of the process with ease. When I let go of “my plan” I give myself the opportunity to see how my life is unfolding according to a bigger plan.

4. Take the next step.

One step at a time. One step closer gets me one step closer. Knowing what I want to do next is great. Doing what I want to do next is what creates results. Taking action gives me the opportunity to course correct, to uncover what works, and to actually move closer to what I created. Sitting, thinking, waiting, planning, wishing, preparing for, trying, … are just different levels of commitment (see #2).  “I am trying to learn how to play golf” is different than stating “I am learning how to play golf” … and then picking up a pair of clubs. Committing to my action is just as important as committing to my dream.

5. Enjoy it all.

The roadblocks. The achievements. The missed targets. The love. The difficult conversations. The detours. The fear. The this-didn’t-go-as-planneds. The highlights.
The ups and downs of life will always come and go. It is my choice how I respond to each. I become grateful for their impermanence – and then begin again at #1.

As you may see, there are some strong ties to LTDing and vision + goal setting, neurolinguistic programming, faith, and positive visualization. A good reminder that, just like people, no one theory is only great on its own.

So now I’m curious… how do you live the dream?

Pick of the Post: Regina Spektor – The Hotel Song

Related posts:

1. Dream Team
2. What do you live to do?
3. Will Smith says “Achieve Your Every Dream”

What do you say to someone who reminds you what it means to feel loved?
To someone who will give you a kick in the butt, a supportive shoulder, or the biggest hug right when you need it?
Someone who asks you to stop playing by the rules of the mediocre and stand up for what could be awesome in the world?

What do you say to someone who is up to big goals of creating an action-, love-, and bliss-filled life for herself and everyone around her?
To someone who makes work time feel like play time?
Someone that makes you so proud every day that you can’t even find words to do your feelings justice?

To that someone, I say happy birthday!

Steph Corker Irwin – you are my favourite. Safe travels sis!

(See – no embarassing video montage this year!  … maybe a groggy skype chat though)

Pick of the Post: See below. “If you told me we were dreaming, I would pinch you to prove we’re awake”  (These folks may capture what’s it feels like when Steph and I get together. LTD!)

Related posts:

1. Weekend Away With Sis
2. Happy Birthday Sis!

“Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising which tempt you to believe that your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires courage.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson (via the t.a.d. principle)

The easy thing to do is identify what I want. A goal. An ideal job. The partner of my dreams. The amount of time I want to spend sweating a week.

What takes courage is standing for what I want. Going after my goal. Creating my ideal job. Being the person I want to be for the partner of my dreams. ACTUALLY going to the gym.

Being in action creates the results I want. So I ask myself – do I want an idea or a result?

Pick of the Post: Milkman – Put In Work

Related posts:

1. Setting Goals With No Control

(Hat tip to Joshua for finding this one)

Pick of the Post: Fefe Dobson – Can’t Breathe

Related posts:

1. My “5 Rules for Life”

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and start to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was. The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured it into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous  ‘yes.’  The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

“Now,” said the  professor, as the laughter subsided, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.. The golf balls are the important things – God, family, children, health, friends, and favourite passions, things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the things that matter like your job, house, and car. The sand is everything else — the small stuff.  If you put the sand into the jar  first,” he continued, “there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

So pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to laugh and connect with others. Take your partner out to dinner and tell them you love them. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the dripping tap, the burnt out light bulb or the messy garage. Take care of the golf balls first — the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.”

(Re-posted from Soapbox Mama. Hat tip to Sauder alum Randy for pointing me to it!)

Pick of the Post: Jonsi – Sinking Friendships

Related posts:

1. The best of “What Matters Now” – Seth Godin’s new (free) e-book
2. Putting Intention into Action

Did you get this e-mail in your inbox today? Cause I certainly did. Heck yes, I work with amazing people (who give permission to post this).

Say it loud, say it proud. Game 7, we’re bringing home the cup!

In the hangover of a devastating Game six in which our beautiful city saw their team walk away from Boston dejected and clutching on to the pipedream of a hometown win come Wednesday, I must admit that my stomach is in knots (and not only from the four beers that I drowned myself in yesterday). We were all there; we saw 4 goals one after another fly into the mesh, passing Luongo and creating an ever-increasing mouth gawk on the faces of the crowds watching. Suffice to say, bummed. But I’ve never seen something SO gut-wrenching, so nasty as when the entire pub that I was sitting at burst… no, ERUPT into applause when coach V pulled the Italian Stallion that we call our goalie. This is the same guy that stood so proud in all three series prior. The same dude that pulled it together for us in seasons past. The same man, YOU GUYS, that stood as a brick wall as we watched our country win the shiny gold at last year’s Olympics. The result of his efforts? Victorious clapping when he was instructed to put his sweats and baseball cap on and rest for Wednesday’s toughie.

Granted, I come from a city where we poured water in a school field and learned how to skate at age 4 over the bumps and twigs that were frozen into it. Where the most common after-school activity in the winter was hittin up the ODR (outdoor rink for those whom this acronym evades). Where as many of my rockstar chick girlfriends could pass a puck as the dudes (and many times skated circles around them). Where the entire city referred to things in hockey-terms just to prove a point (‘That comment that he made was way past the blue line’…). Where the most common names for pets was after your favorite player (and kids, too, probably). Yeah. This culture. We had a team that made it to the Stanley Cup finals (twice, infact), and proceeded every other subsequent season to lose more games in a month than we could count on an extremely large abacus. I’ve been through 5 jersey sizes in my lifetime – starting from a onesie with the emblazoned logo on it when I was brand new to the world. Trust me, I’ve seen my fair share of whomping. I’ve walked away from the arena many a-time bummed; with the difference being that I have also marched up one of the busiest roads in our city high-fiving everyone that was sportin’ my colors. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. We won together (sometimes) but we also lost. TOGETHER. Never, ever, ever have I seen anyone boo their very own net-minder. I’m told that there’s a rare few people in the world that have TWO favorite sports teams, which I do, and (I know you won’t want to hear this, but) this nastiness has made me at times throw a cardigan over my green-white-and-blue and wish I was rocking the colors of the town I was born in.

So… we want to win game 7 yeah? We realize that we are not entitled to it, yeah? We know that these are real human beings that have worked their high-paid butts off to get to game 7 Stanley cup FINAL, correct? I get it, Vancouver is the pretty girl in school; we’re gorgeous, fun and have the hunkiest boyfriend in school to our left (this analogy would apply to Whistler, maybe?). But come on, this is it. This is OUR city. This is our sport. This is our time to shine. This is our STANLEY CUP TO TAKE HOME TOMORROW. Bodycheck the negative nancy attitude and cheer for our team, folks. Put on your colors and come to fricken yoga tomorrow morning on the lawn.

Tomorrow after the win, dammit, I am going to march up one of the busiest roads in our city high-fiving everyone that was sportin’ my colors.

Thanks.

Caitlin

Pick of the Post: U2 – Streets Have No Name

Related posts:

1. Dear Canucks,

(via bluquote)

Pick of the Post: The Script – Nothing

Related posts:

1. Voting Time: The Fish Gets Named!