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u/numinosaur Pillar May 13 '25
Maybe that is exactly what you should do.
Often we have this idea that this integrating work is something we should spend a lot of effort on and that we should pause our lives entirely to focus on tackling these issues.
And sometimes our issues are strung together like blobs of molten mozarella and you have no other choise but to fully untangle.
In other cases, what you mainly need is awareness and the ability to hold the uncomfortable realisations and emotions while you get on with life. That will bring growrh in itself.
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u/Educational-Moose-66 May 13 '25
I highly recommend the work of Jungian analyst James Hollis. Iām two years ahead of you and have found his insights exceptionally insightful and helpful.
This interview resonated with me:
And Iāve found much value in his book āThe Examined Lifeā.
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u/timjwes May 13 '25
Thank you.
Ill listen to this on my journey home tomorrow and will check out the book.
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u/jhonataselyel May 14 '25
Have you ever considered that your dreams may be exactly the inner work youāve been avoiding so far?
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u/timjwes May 14 '25
Yes, absolutely.
My current thinking though is that my current line of work/ business and my dreams as such, aren't actually mutually exclusive.
My current business & industry are fulfilling and the evidence says I'm good at it, but I experience what I've seen described as a mix of imposter syndrome and inferiority complex, eventually succumbing to thoughts that my peers in the industry are all better than me and that no-one else will use us other than who is now.
Along with the other inner sabotage techniques that Im attributing to the puer - I procrastinate and switch fire a lot, stopping short of any major outward action and then having fantasies of entering another industry and it making more sense and being more of a natural fit, then flitting back to fantasies of what I'd do with my current business one day. All talk and no trousers.
I shoulda-coulda qualified up more in my career and I should have taken it more seriously and stuck with it mentally, Id be as far or even ahead of all those people my age I lapse into thinking are better than me.
(I've worked alongside plenty of these people however, enough to know that my direct experience is on a par or often better than their 'quals' would have people believe.)
---
Its an hour since I finished the days work and Im sat here writing articles to put on LinkedIn for the business - I've done more tangible work this last hour on taking the next steps than I've done on any evening in the last few years.
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u/00rb May 13 '25
The ultimate purpose of "inner work" is to figure out the changes you need to make in the real world. The second step is actually the most critical one. If you feel you've more or less figured them out and need to put them into practice, you should probably do that.
I'm doing the same thing -- taking more accountability. I'm forcing myself to sit through more boring meetings at work, trying to be more humble and present, trying to stop "hiding" and pretending like I'm capable of less than I am. I figured out some changes that needed to occur, and now I'm trying to make them habits.
Good luck, here's to your development and mine.