I was sitting in one of my favorite spots in town, a wooden bench with a commemorative plaque inviting people to sit, overlooking the water when it happened.

I was reading a book, and words I’ve read and heard countless times before appeared on the page before me. 

They arrived unexpectedly; even if I knew them, I didn’t know their origin. They were delivered to me in a way I didn’t expect and shifted my life.  

Two hundred thousand plus words, words that formed a journey I love and believe crafted the greatest novel I’ve ever read, conversations with my wife around my childhood, coupled with the inner work I’ve been doing every morning, created the perfect storm.

It was as though the universe had led me to this place, those words when I was ready to truly hear and accept them.

“And now that you don’t have to be perfect, you can be good.”

East of Eden, John Steinbeck

My childhood, bleeding into most of my adulthood, was a fear-filled desire to be perfect. When you’re perfect, no one can criticize you, no one can judge you.

Perfection means approval and acceptance.

When you’re perfect, you’re safe.

There’s only one problem with that: when safety and the need for external approval and acceptance become the driving force of life, everything becomes a threat, and nothing new or authentic will ever blossom.

When my eyes scanned the words and my mind absorbed them, a weight lifted off me; years of perfectionism and its soul-crushing limitations left my body.

All the versions of myself that carried the burden of fear and perfectionism were gone.

Out of nowhere, and much to my surprise, I cried.

They weren’t tears of joy but tears of old wounds being healed. They were the tears of release, and they were tears of new possibilities.

I accepted the feelings and allowed the tears to flow; I allowed the moment to be what it was, nothing more and nothing less.

I felt spacious and free as I took in the beauty of where I was and experienced a wave of gratitude that this is where I live.

An immense feeling of peace washed over me as I watched a dog run on the beach.

My mind very quickly went into overdrive,

“How do I maximize this moment?”

“How do I use this feeling to further create the life I want to live?”

“I have to act, and I have to act now.”

The voices were grasping and desperate, shattering this beautiful moment.

My intuition spoke, and I’m grateful it did; it spoke in the unrushed tone that our intuition possesses,

“Just let it be and enjoy.”

So I did. I sat without pressure, I sat without a drive for perfection.  

This moment was at the forefront of my mind for the next few days, while the voice of urgency and optimation called me to execute and implement.

The voice sought to fill that spaciousness and newfound freedom with action toward my goals.

Now that I feel this way, think of everything I can do and accomplish.

I’m a big fan of momentum; once a ball gets rolling (often the most challenging part of any endeavor), I’ll do what I can to keep it going.

But this desire was different; it was operating out of scarcity and fear, and it didn’t want to “lose” this life-changing moment to the day-to-day.

Moments like these aren’t ever lost, maybe put on the back burner of our minds, but never lost for this simple reason.

They happened.

Nothing can make it unhappen.

While I was walking yesterday, the voice of urgency and optimization were doing their thing. Still, another voice arrived without urgency and without fear, proposing a much different solution.

What if I allow the spaciousness and freedom to shape me instead of trying to shape actions to fit into the spaciousness and freedom?

What if instead of focusing on “how” this feeling can impact my life, I experience how the feeling is impacting my life?

What if I “be” instead of do?

Something interesting (and, in hindsight, not that surprising) happened.

I experienced more spaciousness and freedom.

I don’t know what will happen, and often, in the face of uncertainty, fear consumes me.

But not this time.

A quick reflection on why fear isn’t consuming me leads me to one simple, powerful, and beautiful word.

Clarity

I know what I want, and I know pressure and perfection won’t create it; they’ll destroy it.

But spaciousness and freedom?

They’re what’s needed to allow this seed to blossom.

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

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