When you’re chasing achievement without your heart, it’s usually the kind of achievements that have to do with what other people think, or some form of recognition and approval from the outside world.
Have you ever worked towards and achieved something in your life, but once it arrived in your life, that feeling of achievement didn’t last very long? Whether it was buying something, building a business, or getting to a place you wanted to be in your life circumstances, there was no lasting peace with achievement that you thought there would be.
A lasting feeling of achievement only usually stays when you follow your heart. From being one with your heart, feeling as though you’ve “achieved” within yourself comes naturally because you form a deeper connection with who you are in your heart.
When you’re chasing achievement without your heart, it’s usually the kind of achievements that have to do with what other people think, or some form of recognition and approval from the outside world.
Recently I spoke with a client who wanted to do a PhD. She realized through our session that there was a hidden agenda for her to chase the phd goal to be perceived as an authority, because inside she didn’t feel like one. “Do you think a piece of paper is going to give you the power and the inner security you’re really looking for?” She knew it would not.
In my own life, I kept a job once for several years longer than I would have loved to in my heart, a quite painful experience in retrospect because of how much resistance I was carrying around. I stayed so long because I was afraid of losing security, approval from my parents, losing meaning in the identity of success, and losing the perception that others thought I had it all together in my career.
When you chase achievement “because” of any other reason than what’s in your heart, you do sometimes receive what you were looking for, but it usually leaves you with an empty feeling. But when you give up your hidden agendas that seek to give you security, recognition, approval, and acceptance from others and yourself, you free yourself to do what’s in your heart, what you love.
True achievement is found in doing what you love. This is when you have the space to chase your calling in life. When you open your heart, love finds you; that’s why what you love is often referred to as your “calling.”
The more I experience life, the more I realize how simple it is. Do what you love, say what feels true, do what feels true, and be one with the energy of love and inspiration moving you. Do not believe the thinking that tells you it’s not possible; thoughts, positive or negative, are most often empty lies giving voice to fear.
When you are connected with your heart space, life becomes beautiful and your doubts and fears often feel less real, even if you haven’t “achieved” anything new in your circumstances.
When you are separate from the presence that you are in your heart, life becomes more difficult. It becomes about what’s good and bad in your life. It becomes about fixing, improving, or changing your life and bettering yourself. And it also becomes a game of what you need to get from others and your circumstances, rather than what love and presence you can give to your life.
In this way, many times achievement comes from a fear of not having enough… not being enough.
But when you’re in the present moment, being one with your energy, are you afraid of not having enough?
When you’re in your heart, do you feel as though you’re not enough?
When you’re being yourself, and expressing the authentic part of you, are you looking for outside approval from others?
When you’re doing what you love, are you trying to change your circumstances?
Move to the beat of your heart, your intuition moving you authentically, and all of the problems you perceive to have will naturally disappear. “Stuck” will morph into inspired action.
When you’re in your heart, and doing what you love, a sense of achievement accompanies your every moment, and then often naturally you receive inner and external security, approval, love, and acceptance from others–but you don’t need it anymore because you are connected with it inside.
So while there is nothing wrong with building a life you love through your circumstances, without a connection to your heart, have you ever felt as though you have fully “arrived” that way?
There is no happiness in the destination if there is no love in the journey. I also believe there is no depth of consistent happiness without connecting with who you are beyond your circumstances.
I’m NOT saying to stop chasing your dreams, or achievement. I’m saying: use what you love to do to connect with the energy of your heart to do what you love. Use your dreams as a vehicle to know yourself in your heart.
True achievement is freedom from seeking happiness in what you do, in things you have, and in building your identity to “be someone” in the eyes of another because you’ve already found a deep connection with your heart, and are already full of the love many are seeking in their external achievements.
Picture from RevolutionOfSelf.com
Identity Magazine is all about empowering women to get all A’s in the game of life — Accept. Appreciate. Achieve.TM Every contributor and expert answer the Identity 5 questions in keeping with our theme. As a team, we hope to inspire and motivate ourselves and inspire you to get all A’s.
What have you accepted in your life that took time, physically or mentally?
That my parents are who they are. It’s not my job to fix, improve, or change how they show up in my life, but rather, take a look in the mirror and see my own judgments, fears or pain.
What do you appreciate about yourself and within your life?
My persistence. I just don’t give up. I’ve heard that it’s what separates those who “succeed” and those who don’t – and I’m not sure if it’s true, but it has been my experience.
What is one of your most rewarding achievements in life? What goals do you still have?
Doing what I love in my life as a profession, and not compromising my heart. I would love to write a book one of these days.
What is your not-so-perfect way? What imperfections and quirks create your Identity?
Stubbornness, the downside to persistence is stubbornness. 🙂 Quirky? Depends. I think when you move to the beat of your own drum, people say you’re quirky; I feel right as rain.
How would you complete the phrase “I Love My…?”
I love my vulnerability, my softness, and my heart.
