Amateur Hour is Over

Can you feel it? The power-shift of 2019? The momentum of this “year of the boss”?

After being sick (and frustrated, and lazy) for most of December, I felt a marked change come January 1. It actually surprised me - I didn’t realize a new year could be so noticeable, so palpable, so potent. But based on my own experiences and the lessons of this wonderful teacher, that’s exactly what the year is about:

Upgrading your life from amateur to pro. Building and realizing that which you came here to create. Facing the dirty closets and disorganized drawers of home life, of work, and of the mind, and handling the mess.

So what does it take to transform from amateur to professional?

It means taking the value of your life and your true calling more seriously. It means actually handling - with grace and grit - the important duties you’ve been putting off. And perhaps most important of all, it means moving forward with deliberate action toward your higher order calling.

I’ve always loved Stephen Pressfield, but I just recently picked up Turning Pro where he describes this shift perfectly:

“What happens when we turn pro is, we finally listen to that still, small voice inside our heads. At last we find the courage to identify the secret dream or love or bliss that we have known all along was our passion, our calling, our destiny.”

I first went “Pro” when I quit my corporate job to launch Wandering Wellness almost 4 years ago. Everyone thought I was crazy, but I knew I had a job to do. That said, this business of being a professional, is not a one-time switch. It takes diligence and discipline. It takes a constant checking of myself to ensure I’m not getting languid in how I prepare for my job. That I am showing up for my clients, my classes, my physical appearance, my spiritual practice like a boss.

Presently, much of my upgrading to a Pro has centered around the home. If I’m not traveling for a speaking engagement or downtown to teach at workplaces, I work from home. These days, I’ve dropped the amateur excuses of less time/energy by hiring a dog-walker and weekly housekeeper. These small outsourced investments have led to monumental shifts and far less procrastination through cleaning. That said, there are areas like my digital organization and some final layers of the Marie Kondo process (hello papers!) that I am committing to finishing by end of month.

For a number of my present clients - and many of you out there - you are also feeling this shift, and putting on your big girl (and boy) pants to take responsible action toward that call. And this is indeed, absolutely the year to launch, create, or build something.

But it’s a great time to ask yourself, are you meeting the exciting challenge of life with the dignity and practiced talent of a true professional?

Are you actually writing (daily!) that screenplay you’re always talking about?

Are you investing in making your company real - with an LLC and tax ID number, and all that jazz?

Are you showering and dressing each day for the professional life you want instead of the one you have?

Are you stuck in a career you hate but doing nothing but complaining about it instead of setting yourself up for something new?

Now is the year to walk the talk. To use the opportunity of 2019’s energetic alignment to really crank things up. And as I’ve personally experienced - if we start to move in the right direction - even inch by inch - the momentum of this year will carry us a full mile.

It’s your time to show up. It’s your time to get discovered as an actor. Or move to a farm in Costa Rica. Or launch your Doula business.

But the question you have to ask yourself is - are you ready to do the work?

And when you answer “yes” - your job is to GO DO IT.

Don’t waste another minute. Step up to the calling of your heart to recognize and start acting like the true Pro that you are.

For personal consultations on maximizing your year, I look forward to working with you one-on-one.