You may have read that title, and immediately been thrown off by that first word, “obsessively.” It makes a lot of people feel uncomfortable. But honestly, I feel like it gets a bad rap.
I chose that word on purpose, because I think that more people need obsession in their lives. Now to be clear, I’m not talking about the type of obsession that hurts others, damages relationships, or leads to unhealthy behavior. Like the dad who neglects his family because he’s obsessed with his work and making money – that’s not the type of obsession I’m referring to. (If you’ve experienced that, my heart goes out to you.)
When I use the word obsession, I mean intentional and focused. I firmly believe that one of the reasons so many people are unhappy is because they never become obsessed with truly living their lives. Instead, they’re just alive.
The internal obsession
One of the main areas that I think people need to be more obsessed, and I may be a little bit biased being that I’m a coach, is in trying to be the best version of themselves.
Take an honest scan of the people in your life right now; how many can you say are obsessed with being the best version of themselves?
I’m willing to bet it’s not many. In fact, if you’re willing, share the number you come up with in the comments below.
Most people want to do just enough to live a “successful” life.
And the reason why usually points back to what we talked about last week, that people buy into these fake rules of life, and allow them to limit their potential.
On top of that, going back to what I wrote about in the Own Your UNCOMMON-ness post, most people don’t even know who they truly are, so they wouldn’t know where to begin to start obsessing.
That’s why the first step to living an UNCOMMON Life is embracing and owning your authenticity, because it forces you to figure out what the heck the authentic you looks like.
And going back to unapologetically wanting to be, do, or have more in life, when you get to know who you truly are and what you desire in life, you can then become obsessed about bringing those things in.
Stop dabbling in a bunch of crap that means nothing to you. Do the work necessary to figure out who you are (or want to be) and what you want, then unapologetically go get!
Facing the Demons
Now, word to the wise, if you decide to walk this road of trying to not settle for the boring and mundane and truly live your version of an UNCOMMON Life, you’re going to have to come face to face with your demons.
You cannot, I repeat CANNOT, step out as the best version of you if you’re not willing to face your pains, insecurities, fears, and struggles.
There was a laundry list of them when I decided that I wanted to live my life this way. And there are still some that I’m facing to this day. Oh, and there will ALWAYS be some.
This UNCOMMON Life doesn’t have a finish line. It’s not a destination, it’s a way of life. And there will be demons throughout.
You will be mocked, you will be judged, and people will think you’re weird and that you’re arrogant, among many other things. But, when you become obsessed about your personal growth and being the best version of yourself, those things don’t affect you as much.
Putting it all together
No matter how you decide to tackle this beast called life, it’s going to have its share of ups and downs. I don’t want you to think that because I write about this UNCOMMON Life thing the way that I do, that it’s some cultish way of living. It’s not. It’s honestly just a set of values that I believe we were all created to live by. One where people love more deeply and live more passionately. You weren’t given this life to be miserable. You were given it so that you could thrive, and help others in the process. Well, in order for you to be able to do those things, you have to first become obsessed with being the best you! Comment below what you need to become more obsessed with in order to become your best self.
