Most of us are a bit like Walter Mitty aren't we? Daydreaming about what we want rather than going out and getting it. Creating different scenarios in our heads about how we could have acted instead of how we actually DID act. Keeping inside our comfort zones until even that gets uncomfortable.
If this sounds like you, please know that you are not alone.
Even with all the work that I do with people helping them to live and create inspiring and magical lives, seeing and experiencing the deep transformations that my clients make on a daily basis, and watching extraordinary events happen in front of my eyes. I was still living what I consider to be an average life.
In principal, there was nothing wrong with it. I lived in a lovely apartment in a nice part of London, I have great friends who I absolutely love, and am one of the leading coaches and human behavior experts in the UK, but yet something just didn't feel right.
Like Walter, I was dreaming of something more.
Travelling the world had been something I had never been interested in throughout my teens, and suddenly, in my thirties I had developed this hunger to go and see the world. I should add that like Walter, I had also developed the fear to go alongside that. I had become quite comfortable with my life. This is what happens though doesn't it? As a person who has studied human behavior now for over 10 years, its clear to see that when a person doesn't grow, they become stagnant and unfulfilled. In addition to this, I had to consider what I was actually teaching and whether I was practicing my own methods. It's always been really important to me to be authentic. As a result of this, I decided that I needed to step up a gear and start living an extraordinary life so I booked a one-way ticket to Bali Indonesia.
I had no idea how long I would be gone, or what I would be doing there apart from writing my books and seeing clients, but I just knew that I had to go and undertake my own adventure.
It all felt really scary at first, but I just knew that the only way to overcome my fear was to face it head on.
This was the theme of my trip for the first 4 weeks. There were so many times I felt this fear within me. The voice telling me that I couldn't do it, or that various experiences were dangerous, but still I continued. That's the thing you see. The voice itself, the fear - isn't the problem. The only problem arises when you start taking action on that voice. I realized that the voice was just a thought coming from years of being inside a bubble that although kept me safe, also kept me stuck. I wasn't willing to stay inside that space any longer. It was time to expand, and expand I did!
It wasn't just Walter Mitty going on adventures. I climbed up a volcano and camped in the rainforest, went to holy springs and temples and received blessings from monks and high priestesses in sacred parts of Asia and Indonesia. I visited floated villages and walked through rice paddies, and for the first time in a long while, I truly felt alive. I wasn't just dreaming it - I was doing it, and every time that voice came again, I heard the voice and moved ahead anyway.
After a while another voice began to take its place. It's the one that says 'I CAN'. I can do this and I can do that. This one felt really good and encouraged me to continue. It was also the one that reminded me of my potential and helped me to grow in confidence. It's the one that I prefer to listen to.
Either way, I remind myself. I am neither the voice that says I can nor the one that says I cant. I am the one who chooses which one to listen to and moves ahead on that basis.
I am the one who reminds myself that these 'voices' and just thoughts. Merely a collection of past experiences that I once had that I refuse to be bound to in my present or my future.
Because of this, I am fulfilling my own mission to lead an inspiring and fulfilling life and to help others to do the same. Walter Mitty said:
'You can either stand in the safety of your life or run headstrong into the unknown'
I chose the unknown, because what lies in the unknown is the potential for greatness. The space for creativity and inspiration, and the opportunity to create an exceptional life that others only daydream about. Which one are you going to choose?
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty opens in UK cinemas on Boxing Day:
YouTube Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ve8mc6UNSk