Choose. Do. Guide.

It's February 1st. Finally, time to get up and do something about everything I've wanted something done about.

I've been on a sabbatical for 90 days. I am healed. Different. Better. - whichever word you think suits best. Yet, somehow, I'm still in my way. The mind is a powerfully weak thing.

Three words stand out to me on this new journey. Choose. Do. Guide.

Choose! I'm not sure where I first settled on the word 'choose', but it had given me power over life.
Choosing means stepping outside of victimhood and accepting that I decide what's next. And, I decided what is now, there is no one else to blame or plead to. If I want it, I choose it, and if I have it it's because I chose it.

I started sinking into my old depressive state yesterday and the word choose flashed into my mind. I then asked myself "What did I choose to cause this feeling, what can I choose to feel better?"
There is real power in owning your circumstances.

I chose to escape that state by choosing friendships, and leaning into the few friends I still have left. And, I'm better for it.

Do! it's the most significant action word of all action words. It's impossible to define "do" without movement. Change requires doing.
I've been putting off doing for a long time and for such varied reasons.
One key thing I've learned through it all though is that 'not doing' may feel good for a moment, but will bring pain for a lifetime.

A "do" mind is focused and tough. It's seeing and knowing all the pain and choosing to act anyway. So, Mr. February, I intend to greet you with much choosing and doing.

Guide! One of my favorite YouTubers, Ali Abdaal, did a video about imposter syndrome. It's one of those things we all struggle with while thinking we are the only ones that do. In his video, he shared the concept of being a guide. We all feel the need to show up as experts and teach people a new thing or be the originator of an idea. What he purported was the possibility of guiding others through their journey by sharing something you may understand a little better than they do.

It helped me develop my why around all this choosing and doing. In addition to my growth, at the end of the journey and along the way I can use my discoveries and understanding to guide someone else.

So, here I am, at the beginning of a new month, a new mind, a new life, a new way. At the starting line, ready to choose, do, and guide my way to the next thing.