Fulfilling unfulfilled dreams is a leap of faith.

Creating something from nothing is insane.

Whether it be a book of poetry, a sculpture, a new business, or finally breathing life into the screenplay that’s been burning a hole in your brain, it’s crazy.

You have to leave the comfort of certainty and leap head-first into uncertainty.

We have to let go, albeit temporarily, of the identity we’ve fabricated and the identity we’re comfortable being.

We’re no longer the CFO, VP, and master of our domain.

We’re an aspiring poet, writer, entrepreneur, or sculptor who more often than not, don’t know the next step.

Becoming who we’ve always desired to be is wickedly exciting. We’ve made a decision (wildly empowering), and we’re doing the thing.

But because we’re new to our endeavor, we’re going to suck in the beginning.

And if you don’t suck in the beginning, you’re not creating anything new; you’re merely doing more of what you’ve always done but with a little twist.

The initial excitement is going to wane; it’s inevitable.

It wanes as the novelty wears off, the mundanity of the process kicks in, and the difficulty of our endeavor grows.  

Conversely, our fears, self-doubt, uncertainty, sucking, and feeling like a phony grow exponentially as our excitement wanes.

Picture it like this:

Our excitement is like a graph moving down and to the right.

Simultaneously, our negative travel companions are moving up and the right.

So, how do we persevere in the face of diminishing excitement and increasing fear?

How do we craft our remarkable lives built on the back of fulfilling our unfulfilled dreams?

We craft a mission.

A mission is our “why” why are we willing to take the leap, and why are we willing to continue the journey?

When I was writing “Blank Canvas: How I Reinvented My Life After Prison,” I was excited by the possibility of what I was creating.

But, each keystroke contained whispers of insecurities, raging inadequacy, self-doubt, self-loathing, and soul-crushing impostor syndrome.

These are merely minions of the overlord of my master fear, the fear of being seen, heard, and understood in my raw, naked vulnerability.

It was a burden I questioned whether or not I could carry.

The days it felt the heaviest were when I had to remind myself of “Why?” I was carrying this burden.

“To help one person.”

My mission is to create art (writing and speaking) that helps people live authentic and extraordinary lives.

Fear transforms when I work in service of something more significant than myself.

It becomes a burden I’m willing to carry to the edge of the universe and back.

Not for myself but for those who currently can’t carry their own.

Fear, self-doubt, uncertainty, sucking, feeling like a phony, and entering the limbo between identities can be a soul-crushing burden, one that, if we attempt to carry for only ourselves, will crush us.

But when we carry the burdens for others, we’re willing to persevere and endure the often painful process of becoming.

Our willingness to carry the burden expands exponentially with our mission.

And the quality of our lives expands when we align with our mission.

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If you’re feeling stuck, and tired of the status quo – but don’t know what the next step is, check out the Reinvention Reset.

It’s a highly focused, tactical, 60-minute call designed to get you unstuck, reinvigorate, and build momentum.