31 Days 2 Get You Started: January 25: Believe Your Life is Worth More.
One reason it can be so hard to do what you really want is because we are programmed to need the approval of other people: our parents, friends, peers, colleagues, Facebook friends and the like. It takes tremendous determination and courage to be able to discard the rules and restrictions of our society. I think it’s somewhat easier for men to follow their paths, but still, no matter how much advertisers might tell you to “think outside the bun” and buy their product, society wants you to paint in the lines, and be distracted by the Super Bowl, by Justin Bieber’s mugshot, by which celeb is sleeping with whoever, by a new line of clothing and all manner of irrelevant horseshit.
Society aka advertisers/big business wants you to be more concerned with your weight, the texture of your hair, with spending money on mascara, with having a boyfriend, or a girlfriend, or getting married, instead of listening to your interior voice and doing what feels right to you. Some of you are thinking, “I didn’t know Carlota was a commie.” Ha. I lived in Russia for years and saw what the Reds did to that country. This isn’t about politics. I simply know what I stand for, and what I believe in. I know that, for me, this business, and the fulfillment of my potential is much more important than any person’s approval. As long as I approve, I’m okay.
I’ve lost friendships with weaker characters who had to be nice and receive constant approval from their Facebook friends, even as they cried themselves to sleep every night, and hated their lives, and were left empty by their “adorable” boyfriends. Obviously, it doesn’t matter how many other people approve you, if you dislike yourself. Life’s hard enough; if you can’t like yourself, it gets much harder.
If you’re reading this blog, and thinking about these hints, I suspect you also know that your passion, your heart, your truth matters more than what anyone else says. I suspect that you’re also trying to become a better friend to yourself. Trust yourself and listen to your gut: you know what you want. You know what you need. Be true to yourself. There is no other way.