MoxieCast 020: Handling Uncertainty & Discomfort, with Nathan Seaward
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Nathan Seaward grew up knowing precisely what he wanted to do.
You know how people can get associated with a thing?
I have a friend who mentioned once that she liked flamingos and now she’s the flamingo-lady. Come Christmas or birthday, friends and family bestow upon her an array of flamingo-themed items: mugs, sweaters, socks, keychains, onesies, hats…
For years, today’s guest was known as “Nathan the Pilot” (though I didn’t ask about the mugs, sweaters and other flying knick-knackery).
He liked the association – and the world travel and the money that went with it. It bestowed a status on him. An identity.
But the romance with the management side of flying fizzled, and Nathan hung up his wings a few months ago.
Today’s episode homes in on the uncertainty and discomfort of leaving a career and an identity.
We talk about how Nathan knew it was time to make a change (because it’s so easy to pretend not to know, right?).
Growth and change are, by nature, uncomfortable. We’re hardwired to avoid discomfort – that’s why it’s so bloody hard. We’re going against our inner self-protection mechanism.
- Nathan shares how he’s learning to sit smack dab in the midst of discomfort and uncertainty.
- He shares his techniques for opening when he wants to contract.
- He shares how he’s stopped numbing his intuition and his body wisdom.
- And (my favourite bit) he talks about how he’s allowing himself to make this transition “badly,” going back and forth between the old and new ways of being.
This is a tender, vulnerable and inspiring conversation with a man in the process of shedding an identity.
I invite you to listen for insight around your own instinct to pull away from discomfort.
How can you learn to sit with not knowing how something will turn out? And how can you permission yourself to do it badly?
Please join this brave conversation with me and Nathan Seaward – and check out Nathan’s own podcast (link below).
Links and Resources
Bluefishing: The Art of Making Things Happen
James Butler episode on MoxieCast
Quotes by Nathan:
“Flying was my boyhood passion and something that I was doing for myself… then I started to realize, this is not my dream.”
“I see so many people who are unhappy in their jobs, but they’re stuck in analysis paralysis. I knew I didn’t want to be there. It seemed like death to me.”
“I was all-in on not working for someone anymore. I went all-in on freedom.”