Evading Complacence
Last week, I expressed hopes that you could find a sense of enough - in your life, in your business, in your relationships. Wherever you’re looking for enough.
When I encourage people (including myself!) toward enough, they frequently respond with fear. “But, if I have enough, won’t I get complacent?” or “But wouldn’t that be giving up on <whatever thing I don’t have yet>?” or “But then what will I do with my time/energy/talents?”
I have a secret for you: having enough doesn’t mean you have to stop moving. It doesn’t mean being frozen in place, for fear of losing enough. It doesn’t mean losing any imagination of what could be, or any drive to get there.
Having enough means seeing possibilities and options instead of roadblocks and impossibility. It means navigating the world proactively instead of reactively. It means having the space to thoughtfully choose what to do and where to spend time and energy, instead of reacting and chasing the perceived scarcity.
It means choosing growth, exploration, and challenge because you want to, not because you feel trapped or forced.
And, yes, there’s often a transition. The motivation of enough is different than the motivation of scarcity. It’s quieter, it’s deeper, it’s more sustainable. But it’s less urgent, and sometimes the action that enough asks for is rest. Especially when we’re accustomed to motivating ourselves from scarcity and fear, in ways that are reactive and urgent, it takes a little bit to recalibrate. To be able to hear the quiet voice that says “I want…” instead of “I must…” It takes a little bit to reset, recharge, and gather the resources to act with deliberate intention. Enough tends to ask for slower, less frantic motivation.
And, almost always, when I see people take the time to slow down and seek that quiet motivation, they find something stronger underneath. Something more meaningful to them, something that resonates more beautifully. And I see them wanting to pursue that - whatever it is. I see more fulfillment and less burnout, more space for play and joy, more space for love and risk-taking. And, I see at least as much commitment to their goals as I saw when they were scrambling to scrape enough together. I see just as much drive to do the thing, whatever that is.
But I also see coaching, as a practice, become so much more effective when people are able to shift into thinking from a place of enough. There’s more space to move, there’s more space to think, there’s more energy to devote to accomplishing goals thoughtfully. There’s space to really explore what’s underneath, and find approaches that support both the goals you’re moving toward and you as a person. There’s space to experiment and learn, and there’s so much more capacity to trust yourself in the process of getting there.
I love working with clients who have enough, and I love watching what unfolds in front of them as they pursue their desires, rather than react to the perceived shortfalls in their life.
If that’s you, let’s work together! Fill out an application and I’ll schedule a call to talk about what makes sense as you explore how to use your talents even more effectively to pursue a life that’s full, beautiful, and meaningful - for you and everyone around you.
