Contentment

Episode #21 - Contentment

Today we’re talking Contentment. For my clients they want to feel content and think if they feel content now, it will discourage them from taking action. Kinda like I’m happy where I am, so why try.

The funny part about it is when you feel contentment, you are clearer on what you want to drive for.

So let’s look at the opposite of contentment first. It’s feeling stuck and in a hurry. The hurry is two-fold: 1) We want to feel better quickly 2) We don’t want to lose steam and quit.

So the hurry only seems necessary. Having the hurry energy almost feels like a motivator, but it’s what keeps us stuck. This is what happens in hurry. We focus on time, not long-term results, we exhaust ourselves because of the brain space hurry uses, and we hold our success hostage to a time limit. If I was good enough, I could do it in this time or some flavor of that. We remove content as an option for ourselves UNTIL we’ve met our goals as if that is the reward of the goal.

Hurry and rush don’t make our goals happen. We do, so if we are feeling more energized and clear, that’s when we have the space to think about the game plan and how we want to treat ourselves on this journey.

Anything we’re choosing to do is to contribute to the spice in our life, so the goal itself that we’ve set doesn’t have to be a tool that keeps us from enjoying our life until it’s done.

Do you see what I’m saying? The goal is the part where I push myself, and then I can enjoy myself after. It’s why we lose weight and gain it back. We’re in a hurry to the end so we can feel content, but when we get there to the new results, we haven’t created habits we love and revert back, so it’s chasing contentment when we come from rush. This elusive thing.

That does NOT have to be the case AT all. Contentment is something you can choose right now, and the more you give yourself permission to feel content now, the more you will enjoy the journey of where you’re going. It’s like like isn’t just the destination. You’re going to be living when you get THERE, and you won’t lose your drive. You’ll have more drive when you’re content.

That’s why choosing contentment now, fuels your drive in your goals. So instead of fearing that contentment will slow you down, you’ll have more energy and clearer decision making which gets you to your goals quicker. It’s like the tortoise and the hare story. Without the rush, you reach your destination and enjoy the trip.

I’ll give you my own tortoise and hair example - Last year I ran - participated - in a half marathon. It was the first one I did by myself and I was pumped. I trained all year - I was going to make it my fastest ever. Well then I got a stomach virus. You can imagine. It was three days before the race. I was vomiting amongst other things and barely ate anything.

Race day came and I was still in the bathroom, but I was like I’m doing this. At first I started full throttle as planned and ran the first 6 miles. I was still so sick and my body said - nope. It was a full shut down. I felt the urge to run to the rest room, and there were no bathrooms. I thought OK if I literally take this one step at a time, one mile at a time, I will finish. I don’t know how long, but I will finish. My ONE goal, don’t get picked up by the police car following us LOL.

So I made it the best I could. I took my headphones running music off, I enjoyed the landscape, I cheered on others passing me, and for a loooong time, it was me. I thought I must be the last one, didn’t matter. Kept walking. I ended up finishing with almost identical time as the year before when I wasn’t sick with a stomach virus.

Moral of this story - I decided to be content where I was at. It didn’t keep me from finishing, It gave me drive to FINISH, whatever that looked like, and I enjoyed it. It was only miserable when my stomach gurgled, but I got through without incident. LOL

Contentment comes from what we think. Not the circumstances we’re in. Contentment comes when you choose to love where you’re at. It does not remove your drive. It fuels it. It makes the journey more full. It’s available right now.

Contentment isn’t holding yourself back. Contentment is choosing to love where you’re at and where you’re going. Who you become in the middle is the most transformative part. Since you don’t have to wait to feel content until you get there, there’s no pressure to rush.

Have a great week, lovely. See you soon.

If you want to have contentment and reach your goals, schedule a free consult: www.mschristiewilliams.com