What You Allow is What Will Continue

The wallpaper on my laptop reads, “What you allow is what will continue.” 

For the past year, I’ve had this statement as a backdrop every time I sit in front of my computer.  A gentle reminder that, “Dude, if you don’t like what’s going on in your life, your business, your creative world—don’t sit in it, find a way to alter or change it.”

Easier said than done. Most agents of change come into one’s life in the form of an unavoidable crisis or at least by force. As long as we maintain the basics—a little cash in the pocket, a good meal once in a while, and maybe a single day off—we hold off on making changes for another week. I’ve been there: a relationship that lasted five years too long, a working situation that should have been quashed soon after it started. It was safe for a time to be in those places, but they eventually outlived their usefulness. By allowing those conditions into my life, they would continue on and soon kill my spirit (and almost did in a very big way). 

Depending on the circumstances, finding the will to change one’s own situation could mean tremendous upheaval or it could simply be slight adjustments that make a world of difference. Change requires planning and testing… and action. 

Sometimes (almost always) your planning and testing fall short. You fall flat on your face and can lose time, money, and sleep. You’re left to scramble and figure out how to “MacGyver” your way toward your desired outcome. 

You may not be as “safe” walking this tightrope toward the change you desire… but you certainly are free (not “freer” but simply “free”). Your efforts as a change agent for self, will be regarded and duly noted by others—and will allow them the audacity and courage to become a change agent for their own self. 

Perhaps you’re super self-aware and already work hard at making the necessary changes in whatever quadrant of your life you need. Maybe you’re not. Maybe I needed to re-learn this lesson… and so I thank you for indulging me this opportunity.

Choose yourself. Nothing is impossible. Slip that little apostrophe in and add a little space: I’m Possible. Damn it, it’s the truth.