Anchors.....
An anchor keeps you in place, it keeps you from drifting too far away from something, it keeps you from exploring into new places.
Anchors can be detrimental, limiting, and become suffocating to our true identity.
We are given anchors from a very young age. Maybe you were raised in middle class. You may have been taught the following.... A job that pays $30,000 is good, a job that pays $60,000 is amazing, a job that pays over $100,000 is not attainable or even unnecessary. You may have been told to buy a Honda instead of a BMW. Buy a $200,000 house but not a $350,000 house. These are anchors. They are terms or boundaries that we are given and conditioned to accept.
While I subscribe to wise spending, I think at a young age we carry anchors into our adult lives and what once was good advice, for many people become universal law. A world view in which we judge ourselves and those around us.
Anchors create a world that is limited. Full of limited good. It does not create a world that is full of abundance.
Anchors have a hard time accepting that the world changes daily and moves forward, that culture shifts, social norms change and that we don't live in a static world.
We live in a world that is full of abundance and is always changing.
I recently took a vacation to Florida.
Being in Florida gave me perspective and context.
I was in an environment where no one really cared about music, craft cocktails, raw denim and the list goes on of what makes Nashville great. I do love where I live. I also love going other places.
I was surrounded by the ocean, massive homes on the ocean, cars that cost more than my house. I looked at those things and thought... that must be nice... that will never be me... ANCHORS....
I have spent most my life attached to anchors that are hardwired into me. Anchors of what type of career I should have, type of friends I should have, limiting myself and boxing myself into a certain type of lifestyle.
If I am honest, my life has been shaped to look similar to those around me. I have anchors in my life on the amount of money I can spend on certain items. Things I can and can't talk about. Things I can do or not do. Limits on my success and others.
All those things are important to think about but they should be held with open hands.
Someone has to live on the ocean.... why not you?
Someone has to make great music... why not you?
Someone has to dream big, move anchors, change thinking and grow.... why not you?
Don't let your surroundings stunt your vision of the world and the abundance we live in.
Don't let the bubble you live in decide your worth or value or what you want to do.
I vowed during that trip to take all the anchors off, change my perspective and start living and thinking bigger. Not just in a physical way but in a mentally, emotionally, and spiritual way.
I talk to lots of people who are stuck by anchors. Stuck in their thinking. The anchor keeps them in place. They can be assistant director, but never director. They can be head of a company, but never run their own company. They can make $15.00 an hour but $20.00 is unattainable. At a restaurant they can buy the second most expensive item but not the most expensive item. All these things are anchors.
You have the freedom to get rid of anchors. You can decide today what matters to you... not your friends or co-workers, or even family. You have the freedom to float into new water. You have the freedom to move, grow, get a new job, buy the expensive item, buy the cheap item. Some people are conditioned to only buy high end things and frowned upon if they buy the cheaper item. All of these are anchors that can be moved.
It is not even about the money or status or wealth or poverty... its about being true to you. Its about not limiting yourself because you are amazing. You can do whatever you want. It may be hard, it may take time, it may not take time... but you can get rid of anchors.
I know once I started to get rid of anchors in my life, things felt spacious, things felt attainable.
The big dreams are not so scary anymore.
I think what I am trying to say, is that you have the freedom of choice to have any lifestyle you want. That's what makes this life great. Free will.
So get rid of some anchors today. Don't sell yourself short, don't be scared to try the things you really want to.
Don't limit yourself just because someone else limited themselves.
Let me know what anchors you are going to leave behind today so I can encourage you and journey along side you.
Never stop growing.