When Ryan and I came back to New England, he was craving a purpose.
After receiving “no” after “no” from corporate wellness positions due to COVID, he felt stuck. To get the ball rolling, he took a different route—he decided to call around the local area and pretty quickly, landed a full-time job that he was overqualified for.
Receiving this easy and effortless YES felt like a sign, so he got to work.
Three weeks in, however, he knew it wasn’t where he wanted to be.
The job was taking time and energy away from a project he really wanted to be working on—writing his book.
He wanted to quit, but he didn’t want to disappoint me or my family.
He was also grappling with feeling ungrateful. After months of “no’s” to finally receive a YES, who was he to quit? It didn’t make sense.
One night, I asked him point blank: How do you want to use your life? What is the future you want to create?
After a few minutes, the truth came out.
He wants to be an author.
He wants to speak from stages around the world, inspiring people to grow through travel, while sharing his adventures and the possibility available to them to fully LIVE their lives.
Wow. A man of my own heart 💜
I told him I supported him 100% and then asked: If this is the future you declare and you had nothing to lose, what is the next action to take?
“I would quit.
And I would work on this book like it was my full-time job until a position I really want opens up.”
This past week Ryan had the tough conversation with his new boss. He shared how the job was getting in the way of writing his book and how he was prepared to quit in order to bring his dream to life.
In this moment, Ryan was being a stand for his declared future.
Most people never get to this point.
Most people let fear, doubt, other people’s opinions, and “the way it should be” stop them.
Ryan could have listened to the story in his head that he was ungrateful.
He could have bought into the belief that I would be disappointed.
He could have listened to the opinions of others who were CERTAIN that quitting would be the worst decision.
But, lucky for Ryan… he has an amazing Transformational Coach for a girlfriend 😉
In all seriousness though, Ryan chose not to buy into anything—thoughts, beliefs, stories, opinions—that were not in support of his declared future.
He was willing to act from a place of having nothing to lose.
He was willing to give up a job* that was not bringing him closer to where he wants to be.
Can you guess how the conversation went?
Quite surprisingly, Ryan’s boss was blown away. He admitted he had the utmost respect for Ryan pursuing his dream AND he didn’t want him to quit.
Instead, his boss made a counteroffer.
He asked Ryan to stay on part-time, which is unheard of at this company.
From a willingness to risk it all, Ryan went from working 40 hours a week to 12. Now, he has plenty of time to write his book AND he gets to stay with the company.
This is how a declared future BECOMES reality.
Whether Ryan’s boss made the counteroffer or not, Ryan moved closer to the future he wants.
With love & power,
-Kayla
*It’s important to note that Ryan is not in a state of financial survival. If you’re struggling to pay your bills every month, it’s wise to get your financial well-being handled FIRST. Ensuring that you are well sourced may be the very next action associated with your declared future AND there’s no shame in that.
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