Do the work!
Dear souls,
I love Dan Pink! He’s the author of so many great books that I enjoyed. I find that he always brings great science and research to his work. The following quote stayed with me, and I must admit I do not remember the context, but what if we gave it an ultimate meaning! Originally meant for your professional life, let me spin it a little bit so that you may apply it to all aspects of your life … Especially when it’s challenging!
DO THE WORK,
TAKE THE CHANCE,
DO THE RIGHT THING,
REACH OUT,
&
IGNORE THE REST
-DAN PINK-
Do the Work
Let’s say you are faced with a difficult situation at home or at work. It’s triggering you in many ways. You get all tangled up in bad thinking, negative emotions join the party, perhaps you even lash out a little bit! Let’s just say your behaviour is not the best! Popular belief would argue that you have to push through, fight through the situation. I would argue that’s risky!
Byron Katie would tell you that when she argues with reality, she only loss 100% of the time! It is what it is! By trying to push through or fight the situation you’re facing, you are giving your power away. In other words, you are hoping that by getting any outside results from the situation, the people or circumstances at play you would feel better! If you’re lucky it will, but it may not turn the way you’d want. A safer way to approach this is by doing the inner work that is required here! Whatever is upsetting you as to do with you, as the Stoics would say.
It’s not things that upset us, but our own judgment about them!
-Epectitus-
Our starting point here is to willingly take on the work of checking within, why this is troubling us!
Take the chance
You have to know that exposing yourself to the inner work will be very uncomfortable. It’s going to stir up inside of you a lot of emotions, judgments, bad thinking and perhaps uncomfortable physical feelings. That’s OK, this is not going to last forever! Take the chance to do this inner work, trust me it’s the most beautiful gift you can offer yourself.
Do the Right Thing
The right thing here is to process your stuff! Whatever is coming up, work with it as an opportunity to feel better, find resolution in the matter. Do not keep this within you! Use different tools or techniques if you need to. Meditate, walk, journal! We all have our own preferences for what will work well for you in order to help you find balance and equanimity again. Do that… That’s the right thing! Let’s start simply here, we can explore higher dimensions at another time.
Reach Out
You can take this literally. If reaching out to a friend, a trusted mentor, a coach or whomever here can help, that’s good! I would encourage you to do that! There is also a higher hand you can reach out too! Call it life, the universe, God, the Dao, Buddha or whatever you believe in. You are a spark of something magnificent. I call it the divine! That energy is always present within you and reaching out to it will help.
Ignore the Rest
By this point, if you’ve followed these steps, you ought to be proud of yourself. Not only little by little repeating this as other challenges come up will lift you up to the great being that you are, but you will also shine for others. This is transforming yourself, so that you may transform other people’s lives by being the creator that you are. At this point we have to repeat the process and ignore the rest :).
Hence, the next time you face a difficult situation or person, please remember to do the inner work! That’s your ticket to love, inner peace and much more!
With love,
Max
🙏💜
Looking for some support?
Try Stoa on demand coaching 🤳
“This is very interesting. No need to schedule an appointment weeks ahead to get my coaching. I jump on the app, ask away and Max is there to start helping me within hours.”
-Coaching Client-