Written by: Craig Stanland, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
The midpoint of your life is an inflection point in your life. You enter the liminal space between the first half and your second half of life. It's when you begin to understand that the life you've been living has been designed by a blueprint other than your own. You've followed the shoulds and expectations of family, friends, and the zeitgeist.
Beliefs formed when you were a child pull the puppet strings of your life.
You've built a life that's not 100 percent your own, and you wonder why you don't feel at home in your life or even in your own skin.
The materialistic trappings and corporate success that once fueled you no longer excite you; if anything, they exacerbate the emptiness you feel within.
You feel the intrinsic desire to cultivate the second half of your life with purpose, meaning, and fulfillment.
You long for inner peace and emotional freedom.
You feel the urgency of life and the gravitational pull towards finally fulfilling your unfulfilled dreams.
You feel ready to pursue your calling.
Breathing life into the Civil War novel burning a hole in your soul.
Applying the vision you've carried for years onto a blank canvas.
Mastering the ancient art of Sashimono (Japanese woodworking)
You want to reinvent your life to create an extraordinary second half, but you believe pursuing your calling is a full-time job, and you already have one of those.
Your limiting beliefs (maybe even some of the puppet masters from childhood) enter the picture:
Pursuing your calling requires a tremendous amount of time, and it's not worth doing if you don't have the time.
You won't bother if you can't go all-in and immediately excel.
Because if you can't go 100% all-in and excel immediately, then there's no point in even trying or beginning.
You're an all-or-nothing kind of person.
You commit to everything you do, and this can't be an exception.
The sentiment behind this type of thinking is respected and honorable.
"John won't do anything unless he can go all-in and master it right away."
Sound great, right?
It's not; it's a capitulation to fear.
All or nothing thinking is nothing more than a foot soldier of fear.
It's an honorable-sounding excuse designed to keep you imprisoned in complacency.
Your unfulfilled dreams can't fulfill themselves without your input.
So how, in the face of family and financial obligations, do you also feed your soul?
One hour at a time.
Why one hour?
One hour makes it real.
One hour is enough time that it requires a commitment; it stands out on your calendar.
One hour embodies the saying, "Sawdust makes a pile." An hour a day stretched throughout a life equals thousands of hours.
An hour, when used correctly, is enough to create massive change in your life.
Here's the thing:
Pursuing your calling doesn't require 100% of your time. However, it requires 100% of your effort for the time you commit to it.
If you commit to pursuing your calling for one hour a day, you're going to experience (it's guaranteed) the following:
Freedom from Automatic Pilot.
Do you feel like you're existing but not living?
Like you're just going through the motions?
If you answered "yes," you're stuck on automatic pilot.
The same actions day in and day out, all the while hoping for a different outcome.
When you commit to your calling for one hour per day, you'll
break the automatic pilot cycle and feel more in command over your day.
When you feel more in command of your day, you understand you're responsible for the direction of your life.
You'll have something to look forward to, and having something to look forward to creates a sense of purpose and meaning.
You'll Cultivate Self-Trust.
Self-trust is an imperative component of building an extraordinary life. In fact, you can't build an extraordinary life without it.
Self-trust is not, contrary to popular belief, the notion that everything will work out ok.
Self-trust is the deep intrinsic knowledge that regardless of how things work out, you'll be ok.
The difference between the two is like the difference between a Yankee fan and a Red Sox fan.
When you show up for yourself day after day, especially when you don't feel like it, you've kept your commitment to yourself.
You become the person who does what they say they will do.
You build self-trust, and self-trust builds the extraordinary.
The Ripple Effect
The other 23 hours of your day will be transformed.
No "ifs", "ands", or "buts."
When you commit one hour a day to your calling, all the other items I listed above coalesce into life on purpose.
Giving yourself the gift of doing what you love, the thing that makes you come alive generates a force that cannot be denied.
You'll show up better at work; you'll show up better in your relationships.
When you pursue your calling for one hour a day, you cultivate purpose, meaning, fulfillment, freedom, and peace in your life.
A friendly reminder:
Zero work towards creating your extraordinary life story guarantees zero results.
One hour a day towards creating your extraordinary life story guarantees results.
Which will you choose?
Let's talk if you're ready to invest in 1:1 support so you can write your extraordinary life story.
Join me for your Free Reinvention Clarity Call.
My best-selling book, "Blank Canvas, How I Reinvented My Life After Prison," is available on Amazon.
My book is for Gen X-ers who want to reinvent themselves with a new, empowering mindset so they can cultivate joy, purpose, meaning, and fulfillment in the second half of their lives.
Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Craig!
Craig Stanland, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Craig Stanland is a Reinvention Architect & Mindset Coach, TEDx & Keynote Speaker, and Best-Selling Author.
In 2012, Craig Stanland made a choice that would cost him everything. After exploiting the warranty policy of one of the largest tech companies in the world for almost a year, the FBI finally knocked on his door.
He was arrested and sentenced to 2 years of Federal Prison, followed by 3 years of Supervised Release, and ordered to pay $834,307 in restitution. He lost his wife, his homes, his cars, his career, and even his identity. He wanted nothing more than to die.
A well-timed prison visit from his best friend of over thirty years turned his life around.
Craig rebuilt and reinvented his life from rock bottom to a life of meaning and fulfillment.
As a Reinvention Architect, Craig leverages his experiences and personal reinvention to work 1:1 with clients so they can re-architect their lives with freedom, passion, purpose, fulfillment, and meaning.
Craig's mission is to help people cultivate the courage to pursue their calling so they can live meaningful lives.
His book, "Blank Canvas, How I Reinvented My Life After Prison" is available on Amazon.
