Recognizing My Inner Eeyore
Photo by JD Hancock
I am in Austin this weekend for the Co-Active Coach Fulfillment training class, and I've been learning about the Saboteur--the inner voice that says, "No, you can't change. You're not good enough. You should do this and not that." It's the voice that makes you feel small and down on your abilities. And given that Eeyore's Birthday Party was today in Austin, becoming aware of your "Eeyore mode" feels like a good metaphor for recognizing that your Saboteur is getting the best of you.
I was talking to a coworker the other day about my big audacious goals, and when I started talking about the HUMONGOUS effort it would take to make it happen, he called out my negative talk. My Saboteur was telling me that my goals are too hard, too big, and would require too much change. That the work required doesn't fit in my life right now. That I can't do it. "I'm still finding my way," my inner Eeyore said. And my coworker challenged me to take a mini-vacation to find some quiet space for myself so I could think big and create. Even that felt like an impossible challenge.
The very next day some things started to change for me at work. Things are shifting to be more in alignment with what I want to do--without me pushing my agenda on the world. I get to create and try the stuff I want to create and try! And as I drove to Austin after work that day, my brain was full of ideas. I wish I had been able to write them all down in the moment. My stay in Austin has given me some of the break I needed to think big--the mini-vacation my coworker urged me to take. There's more to come. My Eeyore hasn't been forgotten, and he's certainly not gone; my goals are big and audacious and glorious, and that's precisely why I need to work on them now.
What is your Eeyore stopping you from doing?
