At the age of 60, Barb Wolfrom competed in the Ms. Senior America pageant. This event followed a lifetime of avoiding rejection and failure. But as she took a deep breath before delivering her first speech of the competition, Wolfrom felt an inner shift. “The part of me that kept me back was put aside,” she says.
Wolfrom didn’t win the Ms. Senior America pageant. She didn’t even place, but believes participating changed her life permanently and for the better. Happily, you don’t have to wait until you’re 60 to have a similar revelation. You do, however, need to confront what’s holding you back and, like Wolfrom, set it aside once and for all.
Here are some simple ways to do just that.
- Know what inspires you–and partake frequently.
No, it’s not just for artists. The power of inspiration is often treated as something frivolous or scarce. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Inspiration is, however, a highly personal thing and it’s up to each of us to discover that phenomenon that lifts us up, empowers us, and ignites creative thought– and keep it well fed. - Understand inspiration’s evil twin.
If you’ve read Steven Pressfield’s brilliant The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles,you know how to recognize and deal with resistance. If you haven’t read the book, what are you waiting for?
- Connect and participate.
Nobody has pointed out the rewards of doing so more eloquently than C.S. Lewis: “Good things as well as bad are caught by a kind of infection. If you want to get warm you must stand near the fire; if you want to get wet you must get into the water. If you want joy, peace eternal life, you must get close to, or even into the thing that has them.They are a great fountain of energy and beauty spurting up at the very center of reality. If you are close to it, the spray will wet you ; if you are not, you will remain dry.” - Live in a laboratory.
Information is important, but most valuable when followed by implementation. The most successful entrepreneurs are big experimenters. They try things. Then they evaluate. They adjust and retry. Evaluate again. Replace the need for certainty with a spirit of adventure and not only will you accomplish much more, you’ll evict your fear of failure. Nice prize.
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ReginaLove, that is SO great to hear! As for soy, it may help with menopause symptoms -- it it controversial. The best way to use soy is in the form of whole fermented soy foods (miso, tempeh, tamari and natto). Non-fermented soy foods such as soy mi
Agreed. I never thought I was vain until I had a mastectomy at age 39. I was devastated and told the doc I wanted to wake up with implants. Now at age 60, I am lopsided and wondering if I was just avoiding the inevitable. You get what you get and you
Sounds very interesting.
Spike, you are awesome! Love your perspective, thanks for sharing.
I have so many obligations that I don’t feel like I can take any time for myself. I spend some time on the computer and feel like I should be folding the laundry. How do I take time to write or take a class? I’m a grandmother, mother, wife, work FT, volunteer when I can, and need some kind of positive boost in my life.