It’s not immediately obvious, but you can tell something isn’t quite right. Nothing serious enough to warrant more than a passing thought, but it’s there, lurking in the background, slowly sucking the joy from your very existence.
Am I getting warm?
Also, although they may look and dress in a similar way – and they may even acknowledge your presence from time to time. You can’t shake off the horrible feeling that your friends, family and co-workers are performing in a totally different play. Vibrant characters, each with a story to tell and an audience to tell it to. But you’re stood at the side of the stage, watching, listening and wishing that one day, you too, could be the star of the show.
So, what can you do?
You can stop wallowing in self-pity. You can stop feeling like a victim. You can stop blaming yourself for a lack of star quality.
There is a world out there and it’s crying out for someone new, someone like you, someone with the balls to take control and dominate every waking moment.
Do you have what it takes?
Do you even know what it takes?
I do.
Let me ask you this very simple question.
What really turns you on?
The answer is all you need.
Your job
Do you jump out of bed in the morning with a spring in your step and smile on your face?
Some people do. It’s hard to believe, I know, but there are people out there who can’t wait to start each and every day because they are living the dream.
I’m not talking about millionaires. I’m talking about regular people like you and I. People who refused to lie down and settle for second best.
This isn’t about money, fame or even recognition. This is about spending 8 hours every day doing the one thing you love above all else.
Are you living the dream or are you living a lie?
Your relationships
A relationship without love is a fire without oxygen. A relationship without passion is a fight without a cause. A relationship without a future is persevering when your heart has long since given up hope.
You know the signs. You’ve been in this situation before. Don’t settle for the cards you were dealt when inside you yearn for love, passion and excitement.
You don’t win any prizes for being miserable.
But waking up next to the person you want to spend the rest of your life with?
That’s something worth buying a ticket for.
Your friends
Are you surrounding yourself with the right people?
Good friends are worth their weight in gold. They enrich your life and add value to everything you are, everything you do, and everyone you know. When it’s time to celebrate a new job, to raise your spirits following a bad day or to join you on your next adventure – it’s their duty to remain by your side.
Friends that don’t play by the rules, who drain your energy and take it all without giving anything in return should be cast away.
Weak characters never make it to the end of the story.
Who deserves to be in your next chapter?
Your free time
You’ve just arrived home from a bad day at work, and all you want to do is collapse on the sofa, enter some form of vegetative state and fix your empty gaze into the void that is early evening entertainment.
But it’s not supposed to be like this. You had plans. Your plan was to swing by the gym on the way home. Your plan was to meet with a friend for a couple of drinks and a bite to eat. You wanted to plan something, anything, that differed from your usual routine.
You failed.
Your free time is a just a limbo state between one harrowing day and the next.
You need to sort it out.
And fast.
Your life
Change occurs in the present – the only time is now.
So I ask you; what puts a smile on your face? What puts the jam in your doughnut? What turns you on in such a way that you’re on the verge of doing a little sex dance?
I’ve said this time and again; the very thing you spend most of your time fantasising about – that’s it.
That’s what turns you on.
You know exactly what you want. You know exactly how to get it. You are already the hero of your own story so there is absolutely no reason why you shouldn’t switch on the lights, raise the curtain and give everyone the performance of a lifetime.
We’re waiting for you.
This is Awesome! You have a gift, Jamie, your words echo what has been trying to flow from my spirit, but lacked the proper framework. I am sending this to two people in my life who I feel need it. Thanks!
Thank you for your kind words, Lei!
Great post. Bottom line for handing in my notice was that the job wasn’t me. It was some else’s dream. I couldn’t summon up the mojo to work even harder on something that was displacing even more of the time and energy I wanted to spend on my own projects. The end is in sight (very long notice) and I’ve just hit publish on my latest ebook.
Peter Ewin Hall recently posted..What’s your excuse?
Hi, Peter. I think we all work for someone else’s dream at some stage – it’s like a right of passage we have to go through to see what’s on the other side. Good work on the eBook – I will check it out!
Hi Jamie! I love this. What I have found is that it is extremely important to surround yourself with positive people, but it’s equally and probably more important to be that person for yourself. I’ve found, in more recent years, that I am not that person who used to doubt herself. Of course, I am not without fear! But I know I have to bring my A game to my marriage, job, and life in general. What has helped most make my life happy – including leaving a full-time job with benefits to start my own business – was to start exercising and eat healthy foods. Having junk in your life brings you down, and I wasn’t taking care of my body from the age of 18 – 35. I find that improving my health helped me identify waste in other areas. Thanks for the fiery words and inspiration!
Tammy R recently posted..Not a Beginning or an End, Just Living
Hi Tammy. You know what, as I’ve grown older (some days.. I feel I’ve grown A LOT older) I have also learnt to up my game a little and to cut away some of the fat from my life. Taking care of one area tends to help you sort out another area too. Thanks for your comment!
Hahaha. I find that I can be a big time waster and that it ends up turning me off, but when I manage my time well and feel productive most of the day then I am definitely turned on. Not sexually, but you know what I mean.
I think it is so important to get into relationships that lift you up and are positive rather than soul sucking ones.
I wish I could jump out of bed in the morning full of energy, but my medication makes me groggy for the first half hour after I wake up. Besides that though I am happy at where I am in life.
Thanks for the post. Your writing style is refreshing. Keep it up. Humor in a girl is a big turn on by the way. ; )
Sebastian Aiden Daniels recently posted..5 Life Lessons Learned from Improv Classes
Thanks, Sebastian. You know, the first time I read your comment it appeared as if you thought I was a girl…
That’ll teach me for skim reading 🙂
Hahahaha. Well I’m glad you went back and reread it.
Sebastian Aiden Daniels recently posted..Tips to Help You Wean Off of a Drug
So am I.. 🙂
Gotta agree with Lei. You sure have a way with words. I loved this short but great article. 🙂
Shh, you’ll only encourage me.. 😉
Every time I read your post, I always expect for you to ditch out again and again that “You/I/We are the hero of our own story”, your signature line … kinda .. and there it is again ! hahaha ! 🙂 It’s a BAM (wow reality check) !
Anyway with that said (being a hero, yeah) in the same way we are also the “Villain of our own story”, we play a dual role in this (we wait for our hero that never comes but that hero is also us), and why is that ??? because most of us are afraid to see what’s underneath and the reality that we suck in some of the decisions we made in life again and again and again … we lose our way at some point of the story and we are looking for someone to save us, someone to look at our reflection in the water because we are afraid to see our own “monster” reflection. But no one has an obligation to carry your life for you except yourself isn’t it ? most of us are dependent that’s why we failed to realize that.
That’s why we contradict our self, it’s like wearing mask, we choose to stay in that same road thinking it is the safest zone to be, we choose to be hidden … and then, the villain conquer the story, happily never after … gates close and we sing “Wake Me Up when it’s all over, when I’m wiser and I’m older all this time I was finding myself and I didn’t know I was lost”
That is why “Waking Up Early” is necessary for us to succeed, not just in bed but also in mind, in heart and in soul. Afterall at the end of the story, nothing stays hidden for too long and the problem with wearing mask all through out is that anytime it can be ripped off and although villain never wins, it is their effort to make our life unhappy and miserable that counts when the credit already rolls …
Uh oh – am I becoming too predictable? Or maybe it’s good to have a motto – Like Batman, or something…
I think we’re all wearing a mask. Some people take it off occasionally and allow themselves to breath but others keep it on permanently and it shuts out the world. It’s interesting how you say that we use the mask to hide from ourselves as well as others. Hiding from our own inner monster in the hope that if we ignore it, it will eventually go away. But it never does.
Good advice there about waking up, Mihael. The sooner we realise, the sooner we can change.
Totally love this article Jamie! Why settle for anything less when we can have it all? I especially love the very last paragraph — we DO all know what we want. Lack of clarity is one of the things I come across most in people and it’s a great excuse to not do anything — it’s also the easiest to crack, because at the end of the day, we all know what we desire. It’s just a matter of believing that it’s possible for ourselves (which it is), and moving through the fears that might come up around going after what it is we really want. Inspiring post… thank you!
Hey Rebecca, it’s true, we all know what we want, but we’re just too lazy/scared to go for it. Even through my darkest moments (goal/aim wise) I knew deep down what I wanted to do, just not how I wanted to do it – that’s the key I think. Thanks for your kind words!
Well written Jamie. The title was very inducing, and almost too private to answer haha 🙂
Thanks for sharing it. I love the short little snippets of introspective information.
Cheers!
Dragos bernat recently posted..25 Of The Most Inspirational Quotes Ever Written
Thanks Dragos! 🙂
Hi Jamie,
Sometimes we need to hear the words from someone, and it works for us. It’s a good post. I’m sure it’s going to help someone…
Hassaan Khan recently posted..11 Milestones that Bloggers Achieve But They Don’t Know
You are so right, Jamie! We have to proactively sort out the different areas of our life in order to experience true success & happiness.
If one areas of your life is a mess, it hinders your growth in all other areas.
It’s easy to get fooled by believing that your relationship doesn’t impact your job, or vice versa! But all aspects of your life are interconnected…
Ps. Hope you were also wishing for Germany to win 😀
Maxine recently posted..5 ludicrous reasons why you don’t ask for help – and how to overcome them
Hey, thanks for your thoughts! I’m glad we agree on this, and I’m also glad Germany won! (after England were eliminated, of course). 😉