Distill the Real You #4: Finding Your Own Path

(Disclaimer: everything in this newsletter is shared as a set of observations, rather than a list of instructions...)

My path through life looks like the dotted black line wanderings that characters used to take through Bil Keane's Family Circus cartoon.

I have prolonged periods of "what is he doing?" wanderings that puzzle my family and friends, interspersed with bouts of irrational confidence. I had such a bout last week, and that's why you are reading these words today.

After a few years of thinking I need a new creative challenge, in the space of an hour I...

• Had an eureka moment in which it became obvious to me that I needed to launch this second LinkedIn newsletter...
• Came up with the newsletter's name and focus ("help you get closer to who and what you are meant to be")...
• Designed the newsletter's logo...
• Wrote and published the first issue

What happened next was magical. You are one of more than 45,871 people who subscribed in the past week. I am beyond grateful for such an outpouring of support and enthusiasm. More specifically, I am grateful to you.

That's only part of the story. For years now, a big chunk of my actual life didn't fit into my personal brand as a "ghostwriter". More and more of my work revolves around coaching people to discover (and live as) their true self. So, it really didn't take me an hour to launch the newsletter; it took me five years to get ready to launch the newsletter in an hour.

And that's the way much of life works. When you're ready, an incredible opportunity appears. The trick is that you also need to be fully prepared to grasp it.

Being prepared in this manner happens when you are fully open to who you are and what you need. I love how Rick Rubin describes this in his book, The Creative Act:

“How do we pick up on a signal that can neither be heard nor defined? The answer is not to look for it. Nor do we attempt to predict or analyze our way into it. Instead, we create an open space that allows it. A space so free of the normal overpacked condition of our minds that it functions as a vacuum. Drawing down the ideas that the universe is making available.”

That description represents my truth, and perhaps yours as well. My best ideas come from outer space. Or inner space. Not from some calculated, rigid process on my part.

Do I deserve credit for my work? Only partially.

I deserve credit for being open to new ideas and new possibilities. That's it.

The rest of what you are reading—and the rest of your own life—is the result of trillions of tiny interactions that happen in our world that somehow influence you to live and act the way that you do.

This newsletter will share observations that might help you sort out how you got here and what you need to do next. Not "should" do. What you need to do, deep inside.

My intention is to avoid giving you advice, instructions or formulas.

As the late Anthony de Mello wrote (in The Way to Love), “In the things that really matter—life, love, reality, God—no one can teach you a thing. All they can do is give you formulas. And as soon as you have a formula, you have reality filtered through the mind of someone else.”

Thanks so much for joining me on this adventure. It will be fun!

**

I hate to sell, but I do believe in being open and honest about opportunities to work with me. Here is one such opportunity:

• I have room to add two coaching clients to my roster. My coaching approach may be right for you if you are successful but do not yet feel fully aligned with the person you are meant to be. You can learn more here.