Have you ever been driving along and the GPS lost its signal? The error message flashes on the screen alerting you that the connection has been lost. Usually it’s because the signal has been jumbled in the atmosphere by clouds, trees, or being in a valley.
The same thing can happen in our lives. The signals from our mission, values, or habits get scrambled so that we struggle to decipher the code. Other authors have called this “noise” or “resistance.” I call it Interference.
Interference can come from internal or external forces. Either way, it’s these obstacles that keep you from finding and following your personal mission.
Interference can manifest itself in a variety of forms. The most common ways are as fear, self-doubt, burn out, busyness, procrastination, distraction, addiction, perfectionism, perceived lack of space, time, or money, and well-intentioned people like your friends and family.
When the Interference becomes too strong we lose our tracking and start down the path that society envisions for us (or what we believe society envisions for us).
Instead of taking our path, we start living what Randy Komisar called the deferred-life plan. Komisar wrote,
“It’s not, as I’ve learned from my own experience, that the deferred life is just a bad bet. Its very structure—first, step one, do what you must; then, step two, do what you want—implies that what we must do is necessarily different from what we want to do. Why is that the case? …. Don’t misunderstand my skepticism. Sacrifice and compromise are integral parts of any life, even a life well lived. But why not do hard work because it is meaningful, not simply to get it over with in order to move on to the next thing?”
To live the life we want instead of the life we’re living we have to break the interference. To break the interference we have to ask ourselves 1) How bad do I want it? And 2) Why do I want it?
Steven Pressfield believes that you have to turn pro to break through the interference. Being a pro means showing up every day. You want it bad enough that you’re willing to show up even when you don’t feel like it. Even when there’s no inspiration.
It’s like getting your cell phone signal back. You’ve got to climb out of the valley, or up the tree. Or move to where there aren’t any clouds.
Break through the interference. Show up. Everyday. And put in the work. Are you ready?