follow your dreams | Liz Cirelli

Daydream Believers Podcast hosted by Liz Cirelli

Take a leap of faith

I find myself reflecting and contemplating a lot – especially when I’m travelling. For the last two months I’ve been in California – I came out here to attend a music production and licensing retreat hosted by my music production mentor, Gary Gray. When I booked my ticket, I booked it with the intention of going on a ‘music mission’.

I hadn’t really given much thought to the details of how that mission would unfold, but one thing was clear – I wanted the trip to be all about the music – and I wanted to stay out in California long enough to build long-lasting connections and relationships.

Let me backtrack to just before I committed to come out here. I had a little money come my way which meant that for the first time in 10 years, I was able to put something into a savings account. When Gary told me about his retreat, I wanted to go, but the fear of financial lack arose within me like a hungry snarling dog.

I use the analogy of a snarling dog, as that’s what it felt like. The ferocity of this fear was so strong that it almost totally blotted out my desire to go, to follow my heart. I say almost because an instant after I felt the ferocity of this fear, another sensation swooped over me – and this sensation spoke to me louder than the fear. It said: “you have to make this journey, Liz.” I knew this was the voice I had to listen to, not the voice of fear. The snarling dog had to be put in its place.

Despite knowing deep down that I had to say yes to the retreat and to coming to California, I still felt the fear inside me. I had more money than usual, yes – but in practice, not enough to sustain a longterm trip to the States. I didn’t know how this would work, but I knew I had to take the leap of faith.

So I did. I booked myself a one-way ticket to LA, trusting that Lady Luck would support me. Remember what I said earlier about my intention to make the trip a music mission? For it to be all about the music but that I hadn’t really given much thought to the details of how that mission would unfold?

Well, being out here and letting go of my need to be in constant control has been like me diving head first into a cornucopia. Me deliberately taking a step back and not having everything planned down to the finest detail meant that I allowed vital space for Providence to sweep in. On a practical level, I met people – who were initially complete strangers – who welcomed me into their homes and not only offered me a place to stay, but also really looked after me. These people have subsequently become very dear and special friends. Bob – I cannot thank you enough for everything!

On an artistic level, I have met some incredible people who have inspired me and helped me re-focus and redefine my goals as a music artist. New collaborations have been formed and new and very long-lasting connections have been made. I feel like my creative juices have been given a shot of turbo-powered superfood. I’m so excited for what the future holds.

I consider having goals extremely important in any endeavour, but especially when it comes to having a successful career as a creative. At the same time, I consider it important to be flexible with how those goals are achieved, and to also constantly learn and grow along the journey, redefining your goals as you go.

The people I have met, collaborated with and connected with here have reminded me of what inspires me and what my natural gifts are. This has helped me redefine my goals in accordance with what I believe to be my life’s purpose – the call of my higher self rather than the call of my ego.

Of course this means working with music, continuing my own career as a music artist, but doing it from a place of deep connection with my community (if you’re reading this email, it means you’re a part of that!) and working in a way that ultimately inspires other people to follow their dreams. I love seeing people happy, so I want to work in a way that will enable me to help more and more people along the way. I would love to eventually contribute to institutions (or set up my own!) that help children from troubled families follow their dreams of working in the music industry.

I would not have learned the lessons I’ve learned, become clearer on my goals, nor made the beautiful connections I’ve made had I not taken that leap of faith and listened to the voice of my heart over the voice of fear. Your heart will often tell you to do things that may seem crazy to you. You must listen to it. This the voice of wisdom talking to you – the voice that guides you to realise your life’s purpose.

Have the courage to take leaps of faith – it is only when we leap that we discover we’ve had wings all along.

These posts exist to provide you with the knowledge, inspiration and motivation needed to pursue your dreams. If you’d like to have your say on what topics get covered AND have your questions answered by me and/or our expert guests, simply join our community on Patreon. We really look forward to welcoming you to the family.

Overcoming fear – part 1

09/07/2017 by LizCirelli

Blog, Podcast

community, creative, daydream believers, fear, follow your dreams, help, inspire, Liz Cirelli, mentorship, overcome, podcast

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Last week I touched on where I consider fear to come from in spiritual terms: from my perspective, it is a method employed by the darker forces at play on this planet to keep us from expressing our creative gifts. Why? Because our creative expression is also the gateway to our empowerment – and I’m talking experientially when I say that!

I’ve had to overcome quite the collection of fears in order to start achieving my dream of working in music full time. There was the fear of financial lack, fear of failure, fear of judgement, fear of not being good enough, it was all fear fear fear!

I tried all sorts of tactics to overcome fear – feeling it as excitement made sense to me, but it didn’t work – all I felt was still fear. Paralysing fear. Another way to overcome fear is to do it anyway – and this appealed to me, but the fear I felt was so paralysing I literally couldn’t move beyond it.

What finally freed me from the clutches of fear was entertaining the thought that maybe, just maybe, there was something greater than me trying to manipulate my thoughts and keep me paralysed in fear, because by doing so it had my energy – and without it, it could not survive.

This belief made me become more resolute than ever to follow my dreams and I finally found the courage to put everything I had into music. And I mean everything: money, time, energy, patience, resilience, determination, dedication – all of it got thrown at music.

Once I had plucked up enough courage to do the very thing I was so fearful of doing, the fear melted away – not just in regards to my creativity, but throughout my entire life.

Of course I still feel fear because I’m a human being, but now I have the will to plough right on through it.

We must remember that the thing we are most afraid of doing – especially regarding our creativity – is often where our magic lies – or where our life’s purpose resides, so it’s really important we act in spite of our fears. And when we do, we realise there is actually nothing really there to be afraid of. It’s just an illusion of shadows.

Perhaps regarding fear as an outside force trying to manipulate your thoughts seems zany. It might be. But what I’m interested in is getting to the very bottom of the root of what causes that thought, that then triggers that emotion. And I’m talking deeper than a set of circumstances that happened to you as a child, or the result of social programming.

I found it fascinating that, simply by convincing myself that the fear was not mine so to speak, it somehow gave me the courage to overcome the fear. This therefore suggests to me that we can overcome fears simply by choosing to entertain another way of thinking – and believing in that. So my suggestion to you is to investigate new beliefs that will change your way of thinking and eventually liberate you from the bondage of fear.

If this way of thinking doesn’t resonate with you, but you struggle to overcome your fears by just doing it anyway, there is another nifty little trick you can use to overcome fear – and that’s to actually flip it on its head and use fear as motivational fuel.

Let’s say you’re a procrastinator and always find other things to do than working on your dream. So try this: set yourself a daily or weekly goal and tell a few friends about it – then tell them you’ll pay them each £100 if you don’t get it done. Give that a go and see what happens! I’ve got a few more little tricks up my sleeve to help you overcome fear – I’ll be back with more in the next coming weeks!