“It’s not about what you’re doing, it’s how you’re being.”
“Do less, earn more.”
“Hustle culture is out!”
“Rest, rest, rest!”
I used to think I completely understood these.
And I leaned in hard to them. Rest, you say? On it.
There is no absence of “doing.”
You are always doing something.
And doing isn’t “bad.”
Busying yourself for the sake of busy-ness (*ahem* busi-ness…), or just to feel productive, or as a way to avoid your own inner truth…those are the things we want to avoid.
On the one hand, we’re surrounded by messages to do, do, do.
And then the counter message is to stop that, do less, rest more.
In our minds, they become opposites, pushing us to one end or the other.
You’re either doing OR resting.
You’re either doing OR being.
So, perhaps when you’re doing, something in your mind tells you you’re not being hard enough.
Because, as we might be led to believe, being is different from doing.
But here’s the thing, being isn’t the absence of doing.
Being is aligned doing.
Being is HOW you show up to doing; it’s the energy you bring to the action you take.
It’s doing with intention.
There are multiple ways to approach the action you take.
For example, you could approach from a place of fear and doubt, unsure if it will work out, and constantly worrying about the outcome.
Or, you can approach from a place of trust and self-confidence – trusting yourself and the journey.
The first approach is like trying to fill the engine of your car (AKA your desires) with “bad” fuel (this visual is courtesy of Christina Rice’s 3D to 5D challenge).
Your car will only go so far and the low-grade fuel will probably result in a whole host of other issues that will continually take you off course.
On the other hand, filling the engine with the right fuel for your car will keep it in good condition longer. You’ll have fewer issues, be able to travel farther, and have fewer things distracting you from the journey.
Being the powerful human being you are is about your energy (the fuel you fill the engine with).
Doing isn’t bad. Doing doesn’t mean you’re hustling (taking action to maintain the engine and fill it with fuel is doing, but it’s HOW you do those things that counts).
Aligned doing (action) is necessary.
Perhaps that was obvious to most people all along, but for me, I got caught up in the false dichotomy of doing vs being.
In trying so hard to just “be,” I became more passive about my goals, and eventually started to feel doubtful because I wasn’t seeing the results I wanted.
It only recently became clear to me that my lack of results had more to do with HOW I was showing up and doing (or not doing) the things I need to do. I was trying to “be” so hard, that I actually wasn’t being what I needed to be at all.
