I often talk about the power of choice to create the life we want (see my posts on the power of the crossroads of possibility and creating your dreams one choice at a time). One of the ways I think of it is using choice as a tool to sculpt your life.
As a sculptor, you have two options. First, you can start with a vision of what you want to create and start removing what doesn't fit. That might be a toxic job, limiting habits, people who drag you down - whatever it is that is standing between you and your ultimate vision. Your efforts are aimed at a specific result.
You can use choice to remove what doesn't belong and reinforce what does. The first step to doing that is to be consciously aware of what is standing in the way and what reinforces your vision. Then you can consciously apply choice as a sculpting tool. For example, you might make a short list of ways that you get in your own way and commit to first noticing them, then to making different choices.
With the second option, you can follow the flow and discover where it takes you. As Michelangelo said, "The idea is there, locked inside, and all you have to do is remove the excess stone." You notice what doesn't belong and remove it, watch for what does belong, and let a life aligned with what energizes and inspires you emerge.
The beauty of this is that we don't always know what's right for us until we find it. If you aim to create a sculpture based on a flawed and incomplete perspective of what you really want, the end result is bound to be just that, flawed and incomplete. Allowing yourself to discover what's locked inside the stone frees you to learn and grow. You can see each choice you are confronted with as an opportunity to move closer to the heart of it all.
Neither of these approaches are superior to the other. In fact, they're complementary. The first option gives you focus and direction. It gives you a goal to aim your efforts toward. But by itself, it risks being rigid, unable to adapt to hidden features within the stone.
The second option allows you to let go and flow naturally towards your best life. But by itself it runs the risk of meandering aimlessly, dabbling a little bit here and experimenting a little bit there. The focus and direction of the first approach helps channel the energy towards results.
The two approaches can be used simultaneously, or you can tap into them one at a time. For example, you might let the sculpting flow naturally to help you get out of a rut created by basing your career decision on external expectations, or societal definitions of "success." Once you start to get clarity about what feels right, you can use the focused approach to give it form and substance. That alternating process is likely to continue throughout your life.
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by Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst






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