Being Willing to Do the Work: Why Internal Transformation is the Key to Unlocking Your Full Potential

I used to get real sick of hearing, in books, blogs, podcasts, or programs, that I needed to be willing to “do the work." I’d think: I don’t know what facking work you're talking about, because I’m working my tail off, and I’m not getting where I want to go. I don’t see how I could do more; I’m willing to do all the work! 

In my waking hours, if I wasn’t working, I was frantically reading and consuming, trying to figure out what this illusive work was, trying to find the key to unlock my potential that felt locked up inside me. I didn’t just read business or strategy books, I also read lots (and lots, and lots) of personal development books (and podcasts, courses, etc. etc. etc.). In all of my hustling and searching, I never found a clear explanation of the two kinds of work – external and internal— or how they work together to help you reach your highest potential. 

Two kinds of work

The external work: consistent action, effective strategy, and accountability

The external work is what you typically think of when you say you’re “working.” (This is the work that I was doing so much of.) This is the physical stuff you do in the world to bring your dreams and desires to life. You need to be showing up, taking action consistently, and using an effective strategy. 

Another external piece that can make a big difference is accountability. Even the most action-oriented, driven humans benefit from accountability. Without accountability we can veer lanes – change strategy or targets – without noticing, and we often do. I recommend that all of my clients choose one goal, with one aligned strategy, and stick to that for at least 90 days. Accountability can be the piece that helps you show up, maybe for the first time, to really execute your strategy. 

Side note: Energetically speaking, the external work creates the channels through which we’ll receive our desires. It is our hands and feet physically moving in the world, putting us in circumstances and places to serve, and thus, receive.

The internal work: mindset, fears, doubts, limiting beliefs, unconscious programming, stuck energy, unprocessed emotions

The internal work is about changing who we BE, so we are the level of human that is capable of creating and holding the level of outcome(s) we desire.

This is the work I cognitively didn’t understand how to do, but intuitively felt needed to be done, when I was Hustling. I looped, because I could feel this is where “the work” was, but I didn’t know exactly what that meant, or how to do it, and thus, how to ask for help or support doing it. 

As we grow, in age and desires, our "software" (AKA automatic and habitual programming) doesn’t automatically update. We have to consciously choose to do that. You can think of the internal work like a computer. The default software that our minds are running is like Windows 95. If we run on default settings and software, we’re running programming that was developed when we were very young. It has a lot of limits, and is inefficient in creating the results we desire. 

Side note: Energetically speaking, the internal work creates expansion and alignment, and is how we raise our energetic frequency, to attract our desires.

Great! So how the hell...

If you’re like me, if you’re where I was, you’re thinking, cool…how the hell do I do that? I read the books (I think all of them lol), took the programs, had a morning routine, journaled, did affirmations, created vision boards, wrote my goals down as if they were realized, spoke about my dreams as if they were certain…gahhh! I was doing the work!...right…?

I was taking all the action I could think of to take (bless my heart, I was working my ass of), and that included work that was intended to help me change who I was being. The problem was, none of the actions I took actually did. None of it penetrated to my core. My identity – who I truly felt I was – was dependent on the outcomes I created. With that strategy, I had to first create an outcome before I could believe I was capable of creating it, and worthy of having it. See the problem? 

I wasn’t able to see my stories, fears, doubts, and beliefs through any lenses besides the ones I had on. I would try to see it differently, but I honestly couldn’t. I could say affirmations all day long, but I never felt any different about who I was. All that stuff inside me -- fears, doubts, limiting beliefs and programming -- was still there. My strategy became just trying to pile enough shit on top to bury it alive. Because we're supposed to...

Feel the fear and do it anyway, right?!

I’d charge forward, and simply run over any feeling, doubt, worry, fear, concern, or exhaustion that came up along the way. Just shove it down and out of the way. Any time the limiting stories or programming came up, this cheerleader within me would say, “Just keep going, you got this!” The cheerleader meant well, and meant to support me, but all she was doing was helping me continually repress this massive ball of STUFF – the internal work – over and over again.

Ever pushed a beachball down in water? After you push it long enough, it just stays down, right? LOL Nope. No matter how many times you push it down, or how much force you use, it pops right back up, with equal force to the amount used to shove it down, right? That’s how your internal stuff works.

Until you update your software – do the internal work – from the inefficient default to something that will serve you better, you’re stuck repeating the same old patterns, and living with the same old limits. No matter how much action you’re taking in the world – the external work – your results will remain within the same general range, until you can who you be.

Good news: the solution is simple

If you’re ambitious and ready to level-up your results, but feeling entirely stuck, there’s a really good chance that you’re doing more than enough external work, and not nearly enough (or any?) internal work. You may be working your ass off, and confused why the massive effort you’re putting in isn’t getting you results. Relate? 

There is only good news here, friend. You don’t need to work more, or harder, to get the results you’re craving. You don’t need to find another new strategy, or another morning routine book. You’re not in the wrong industry, or with the wrong company. You don’t need to 10X your efforts, or hustle harder. Your results aren't dependent on some piece of information you don't yet have. You don’t need to bend your boundaries, or neglect your values and priorities. Your results aren’t tied to how exhausted and overwhelmed you are, or how long or often you’re willing to endure complete and total discomfort.

You just need to start doing the internal work.

For me that meant hiring a coach, and being willing to let go of any and all of the parts and pieces that were no longer serving me, and wouldn't take me to my next level. Even the ones I'd worked incredibly long and hard -- externally -- to create. Transforming from the inside out. 

Yes, I said simple, I didn't say easy. It's still work. But it's an entirely different kind of work, and ironically, doing that kind of work does make things easier. 

Go all in on YOU. You transform your life from the inside out, not the other way around. 

Questions? DM me. I’d love to hear from you! This is one of my most favorite topics to discuss, because it changed my life in every way -- externally and internally. Here to support you in doing that, too.