Burn it Down. Start again. Renewed. Refreshed.

The 1988 fires in Yellowstone National Park were ugly.

A total of 793,880 acres (36% of the park) were affected by the wildfires. The entire park closed to all non-emergency personnel for the first time in its history. The fires were considered unprecedented at the time.

I visited the park in 2011 and the effects were still quite visible 23 years later.

The Park rebounded quickly, though. The fire was even beneficial in some ways. 

According to Wikipedia "The recovery from the fires began almost immediately, with plants such as fireweed appearing in a matter of days after a fire had passed. While surrounding national forests did some replanting and even dispersed grass seed by airplane, the regeneration in Yellowstone was generally so complete that no replanting was even attempted.Though some small plants did not immediately re-assume their pre-fire habitats, most did, and the vast majority of plants regrew from existing sprouts which survived the heat from the fires. There was a profusion of wildflowers in burned areas, especially between two and five years after the fires."

I visited this beautiful Park again in 2019, this time sharing it with my husband and 8 year-old daughter. While there is still evidence of the fires, it's much less so.

Life is like that, too.

In fact, does any of that sound familiar and applicable to what's going on right now?

It should ring a bell. (Unless you're living under a massive rock!) We are certainly going through unprecedented times right now. 

We should take some cues from nature.

What if you purposefully, consciously, and selectively burned it down?

What if you very deliberately burned down your life - the parts of it that aren't exactly what you want - and started again? Renewed. Refreshed. 

A shedding of your skin so to speak.

There's something about taking very decisive action to end what's not working for you instead of holding on. And...Why would you hold on?

• Fear of the unknown.
• Because what you have is okaaaay, maybe even "good." (A very non-convincing and tentative-sounding "good" that translates as "meh.")
• Because you don't know what's next.
• Fear of failing.
• Self doubt.
• Not being "ready."
• Feeling like you're not enough.
• Feeling overwhelmed.

I could go on but I think you get the picture.

Oh yes - back to the decisive action. There's something about it. Want something...like, despers? Cut yourself off from any other option. Leave yourself no other choice. When you're determined to take the island, you burn the boats.

For some people, having their back against the wall is the only way they buckle down and do the work necessary to get what they want. For example, going into massive debt to learn how to do something so you have to take action and make the money back to pay for the class.

Do you really HAVE to put your back against the wall to quit putting off doing the work to get whatever thing? No. Of course not. There may be another form of leverage that works for you.

What I see a lot of people struggling with is trying to do it ALL. At lightning speed. All at the same time. And then complaining about being overwhelmed.

Some people are cut out for the hustle. They like and thrive on working long days with lots of irons in the fire. With lots of responsibility (that others would consider stress.) They like - need - the intensity. They hate being idle or going slow. They easily juggle and relish having multiple important projects going at once. They feel alive in these situations.

While other people are cut out for a more slow, methodical approach. They prefer to think through things carefully and focus on one or, when feeling adventurous, two projects at a time. They fall into overwhelm and don't like it when "pushed" too hard. They shine best and are most effective when they have a limited scope of responsibility.

Neither is better or worse, right or wrong. 

It is good to know where you fall on the spectrum, though. Wherever you fall on that sliding scale...line up your outcomes accordingly.

That's the key to creating the life you really want.

Its not all about and only about the outcomes - although it IS all about the outcomes -  it's about the life you live to get them. 👀💭💬🗯

Did you catch that? Your dream life is just as much about enjoying what you do to get the outcomes as it is getting the outcomes themselves. When you enjoy the work / process / journey you have already won the game. Getting the outcome is the sprinkles on top.🍩

Don't expect yourself to behave one way when you are obviously the other. Don't line up fifteen major projects at the same time when executing that plan feels awful, overwhelming, and coerced to you. Nothing will feel good to you, you'll fall behind and you'll be constantly disappointed in yourself. And shuga...no one wants that.

Likewise, don't settle for two major initiatives when you crave a dozen. 

🍩🍩🍩🍩🍩🍩🍩🍩🍩🍩🍩🍩

Do what feels expansive, not contractive, to you.

What feels right? One major objective? Two? Ten? 

Move things to the forefront and execute as much or as little as you WANT at any given time. Deliberately CHOOSE. And feel good about it.

Stacie, is it really that easy? Why...YES!

That may mean more at times than others, based on your current capacity and bandwidth and what else is going on in your life. 

THAT is the standard you should hold yourself to: yours, no one else's.

Today is the day to #GoForIt and #LiveDeliberately.

Founder, Personal Evolution Co.