Ambition is the most primal and secret fundament of our being. Not to act upon that ambition is to turn our backs on ourselves and the reason for our existence.
Sometimes when we are terrified of embracing our true calling, we’ll pursue a “shadow calling” instead. The shadow career is a metaphor for a real career. If you’re dissatisfied with your current life, ask yourself what you’re current life is a metaphor for. The metaphor will point you towards your true calling.
What are you running from?
The shadow life is the life of the amateur. We pursue a calling that we know will take us nowhere.
When we’re living as amateurs, we are running away from our calling – the calling of our destiny, our opportunity to become our truest and highest selves.
All addictions share, among others, two primary qualities:
- they embody repetition without progress.
- they produce incapacity as a payoff.
Resistance hates two qualities above all others: concentration and depth.
It can be fatal, keeping up with the Kardashians.
When we blow a hole in our foot, we no longer have to face the real fight of our lives, which is to become who we are and to realize our destiny and our calling.
The amateur is easily distracted and seeks instant gratification.
When we turn pro, we stop running from our fears. We turn around and face them.
Qualities of the Professional:
The pro works. The amateur tweets.
The pro will murder his darlings without hesitation in order to stay true to his expectations.
The pro is immersed in the present, not the past or future. The work. Is its own reward.
The pro does not give away his power to others by making them icons.
The Professional helps others. She is not staid to give away her knowledge.
The pro has a mindset of a practice.
A practice is/has:
We practice as warriors, with humility, as students.
