Strength shows not only in the ability to persist but the the ability to begin again. Nobody likes the idea of starting over. I know I don’t. But sometimes life forces your hand calling you to reset, whether your ready or not.
If you’ve invested any time building anything - a business, a marriage, a life - you know that uneasy feeling in the pit of your stomach when you have to begin again. It’s hard.
This is why so many people stay in jobs they hate or keep going back to the same old, unhealthy addictions that leave them broken. It’s easier that way.
But there’s something beautiful about starting over, something liberating about beginning again. The best day of your life is the one in which you decide your life is your own. No apologies or excuses. No one to lean on, rely on, or blame. This gift is yours - it is an amazing journey and you alone are responsible for the quality of it. This is the day your life really begins.
Square One?
Never be afraid to start over it’s a new chance to rebuild the life you really want. There is no such thing as going back to square one. Even if you feel like your starting over, you are trying again with more knowledge, strength and power than you had before. Your past experiences, failures, and successes have all taught you something. More than you realize. And knowing what you know now means you aren’t starting over. You’re just beginning again, building on the foundation of your life. Your journey was never over, it was just waiting for you to find it again.
Do something new, now
When was the last time you did something for the first time? Do you remember what it felt like? It was probably fun, possibly even thrilling. I bet it required some hard work, too. Maybe it’s time to do that again. To take a risk. To break a rule. To start.
The Power of a To-Live List
A to-live list is simply a collection of wishes, dreams, and moments of joy you want to experience in your life. It’s not just a bucket list, but also a collection of things you’d love to do more often. It helps you get excited about life.
Write down the experiences you want to have, the big and the small. Write down little pieces of life that you want to create for yourself. This list doesn’t have to be complete. It’s supposed to give you an idea of the joys you could allow yourself to have and the things you believe make life worth living.
Read your to-live list out loud. How does it make you feel? Do you get excited? Does it make you smile and give you a warm, tingly feeling?
Think about the goals you have been working toward. Do they fit into the snippets of life you’ve just envisioned for yourself? If not, can you change them to fit your dreams and needs?
Take your time to plan how you can make your dreams a reality. Some points may be easy to cross off your list. Others, like “do work I care about” might take longer to realize. Those are the dreams you want to have a plan for.
Revisit your list often, especially when you feel like you’ve lost your direction. It will give you the focus you need to reconnect with your why and make your dreams a reality.
Maybe you’re in a season in which you feel like what you’re doing is all for nothing, that you’re doing all this work and nobody’s paying attention. But maybe that’s not the whole story.
Maybe you’re being prepared for a season that hasn’t come yet. If that’s the case, may I encourage you to do one thing?
Show up
Even when your not seeing results… show up.
Even when the critics tell you to quit… show up.
Even when you’re tired and tempted to throw in the towel… show up.
If this is a time of preparation for you, do the work. Show up. Because what you are doing is sowing — planting seeds of your future, — and though you may not reap them for some time, the work you’re doing is not pointless.
Stay the course, be brave, and your season will come.
If you’ve invested any time building anything - a business, a marriage, a life - you know that uneasy feeling in the pit of your stomach when you have to begin again. It’s hard.
This is why so many people stay in jobs they hate or keep going back to the same old, unhealthy addictions that leave them broken. It’s easier that way.
But there’s something beautiful about starting over, something liberating about beginning again. The best day of your life is the one in which you decide your life is your own. No apologies or excuses. No one to lean on, rely on, or blame. This gift is yours - it is an amazing journey and you alone are responsible for the quality of it. This is the day your life really begins.
Square One?
Never be afraid to start over it’s a new chance to rebuild the life you really want. There is no such thing as going back to square one. Even if you feel like your starting over, you are trying again with more knowledge, strength and power than you had before. Your past experiences, failures, and successes have all taught you something. More than you realize. And knowing what you know now means you aren’t starting over. You’re just beginning again, building on the foundation of your life. Your journey was never over, it was just waiting for you to find it again.
Do something new, now
When was the last time you did something for the first time? Do you remember what it felt like? It was probably fun, possibly even thrilling. I bet it required some hard work, too. Maybe it’s time to do that again. To take a risk. To break a rule. To start.
The Power of a To-Live List
A to-live list is simply a collection of wishes, dreams, and moments of joy you want to experience in your life. It’s not just a bucket list, but also a collection of things you’d love to do more often. It helps you get excited about life.
Write down the experiences you want to have, the big and the small. Write down little pieces of life that you want to create for yourself. This list doesn’t have to be complete. It’s supposed to give you an idea of the joys you could allow yourself to have and the things you believe make life worth living.
Read your to-live list out loud. How does it make you feel? Do you get excited? Does it make you smile and give you a warm, tingly feeling?
Think about the goals you have been working toward. Do they fit into the snippets of life you’ve just envisioned for yourself? If not, can you change them to fit your dreams and needs?
Take your time to plan how you can make your dreams a reality. Some points may be easy to cross off your list. Others, like “do work I care about” might take longer to realize. Those are the dreams you want to have a plan for.
Revisit your list often, especially when you feel like you’ve lost your direction. It will give you the focus you need to reconnect with your why and make your dreams a reality.
Maybe you’re in a season in which you feel like what you’re doing is all for nothing, that you’re doing all this work and nobody’s paying attention. But maybe that’s not the whole story.
Maybe you’re being prepared for a season that hasn’t come yet. If that’s the case, may I encourage you to do one thing?
Show up
Even when your not seeing results… show up.
Even when the critics tell you to quit… show up.
Even when you’re tired and tempted to throw in the towel… show up.
If this is a time of preparation for you, do the work. Show up. Because what you are doing is sowing — planting seeds of your future, — and though you may not reap them for some time, the work you’re doing is not pointless.
Stay the course, be brave, and your season will come.
