Yesterday Mark sold his Harley.
He’s mentioned a few times that he was thinking about it, but I didn’t think that he would actually do it. He LOVED that bike, and he loved to ride.
It was a hard decision for him, I know, but he was so sure of the choice he made. “That’s not the phase I’m in right now. I have a young son,” he said. “I will have another bike again someday when I’m in a different phase. I know that and I’m okay with it.”
He let go of something he loved that he really enjoyed – and it was hard. But he did it to create unconflicted space for something else he loves and enjoys – spending time with our young son.
So many of us try to do it all, have it all and be it all right now. Different parts of us want different things and that’s okay, but a lot of times those different things are in direct conflict with each other. It’s one of the reasons that you’re often feeling pulled in so many different directions or like there are just never enough hours in the day.
It’s also one of the reasons that you stay stuck in achieving your goals and making changes in your lives. When you want something, you have to look at the very likely possibility that it is in conflict with something else that you actually want, too. You then have to decide which you are ready to let go of, and that can feel really hard.
Tough choices don’t always feel great in the moment, but you make them anyway. This becomes a lot easier to do when you are crystal clear about your values and priorities. You know that letting go of one thing allows you to embrace something else, and you know that something else is more important to you right now.
It’s okay that this feels hard. Acknowledging that honors the part of you that is letting go of something (instead of shutting off or shoving it down). This helps you to be a confident decision maker because you’re looking at all of the pieces at play and choosing what you want most.
Did you know you make over 30,000 decisions a day? You are always saying yes to something. Know what you are saying yes to and take an active role in that process. Own your choices, especially the hard ones. It’s the difference maker to living a happy, fulfilling life – one that you design on your own terms.