Things Are Going Too Well...When Will the Other Shoe Drop?
“Anticipating tragedy doesn’t protect us from it when it comes our way. It just robs us of the moments of joy we could be experiencing right now.”
-Whitney English
Ever had a period in your life where things were going so well that you were constantly wondering when it was all going to fall apart?
Gay Hendricks talks about this in his book, The BIG Leap. We all tend to think there’s a limited amount of success, love and abundance we can have - that we “deserve”.
In these self-imposed limitations, once we reach our glass ceiling (that is, once we’ve reached the pinnacle of how much wonderful-ness we’re “allowed” to have), we begin to sabotage ourselves.
Or at least wonder when the next crappy thing will happen.
Can anyone say, “Hello, Ego”?
"We all tend to think there’s a limited amount of success, love and abundance we can have - that we “deserve." Not so. CLICK TO TWEET
Help! Too Many Good Things are Happening to Me!
If you can relate to these thought patterns, don’t worry, my friend! You are not alone. And to illustrate my point, here’s an example from my own life...
The past few months have been amazing. Not only did I film more episodes of Chicago Med, but one week I filmed two scenes in one episode (normally I only do one), I started to get auditions for my dream job (animation voice over) and I received tickets to a World Series game at Wrigley Field.
Yeah! It was an incredible time!
But after all that goodness was piling in on itself, I couldn’t help but think, “What’s going to go wrong?”
So that little thought right there – while totally common – is COMPLETE BULLSHIT! That is a manifestation of the little voice in your head that’s telling you that you’re not good enough, that you don’t deserve the good that comes into your life, or that “too much good” is a bad thing.
Learn How to Manage Your Ego
That little voice is your Ego. I tell my clients to give their voice a name because it helps them differentiate between reality and the nasty things the Ego says.
Mine’s named Stephanie.
And yeah, Stephanie really wants to protect me from getting hurt, so she tries to think of all the things that could go wrong before they happen. But that’s not necessarily helpful, is it?
In fact – her insistence on focusing on all the things that might go wrong just gets me down. Things are going so well! Why would I want to step out of that wonderful flow to obsess about how things might not be great someday?
It’s times like this that I have to have a little chat with Stephanie to let her know that she’s not needed. I’m always nice, I always thank her, but I tell her in no uncertain terms that, hey, it’s my life and I want to enjoy the great things that happen!
What your Ego’s name? When does it kick into high gear for you? Let me know in the comments area below!
Courtney Rioux, The Whole Artist coaches actors and other creative talent who feel stuck in their career and want more out of life. She's here to help you shift your mindset from stuck and unhappy to empowered and joyful — all while making it feel fun and easy. It’s like therapy without the therapy.