I was talking to a client about her big dreams and visions last week when she politely interrupted me and said, “Yes, I do want to figure out what I really want to do but I also want to be practical.”
And I get it. There was a time when I prided myself on practicality.
But here’s the problem with practical.
In order to make practical work for the best version of YOU, you have to start with those big dreams and visions first.
You must envision the most amazing, most incredible life you want to live and then, and only then, break it down into practical steps.
This means putting all of your faith into an idea—something that hasn’t happened yet, something that’s not yet real.
Many don’t do this.
Many start with practical and practical is where they stay.
The practical mentality can keep you focused on what could go wrong—which can quickly turn into feelings of fear, negativity, scarcity, and lack.
If I began with practicality, I never would have quit my full-time corporate job to backpack across Europe for three months, signed up to run a marathon with no previous training OR started a coaching business with three small children and only a part-time job.
It’s easy to find evidence that supports being practical and the safety and security that comes with it.
But believing in the unseen takes a certain amount of trust, which is just not practical.
Unicorns
Santa Claus
Energy
Love
Your ability to succeed
You can begin testing the practicality waters by:
- Noticing when you’re assesing whether or not a decision is practical or too risky. Do you move forward anyway or postone the decision?
- Consider why you’re pulling back on something that you really want. Is it because it’s not what others may think is “normal”? Are you concerned you may be judged for not being practial?
- Play around with practicality. Is there something you can do that feels impractical with very little risk? How does it feel to think about doing it? What would happen if you went for it?
So yes, you get to prescribe your own practicality dosage, but read the warning labels:
May result in a life lived exactly as predicted.
Or you could choose the pie in the sky, risk-taking, dream-chasing, fantasy of a life that’s not always practical, but is a hell of a lot more fun.
