The results are in, and you're:
THE ILLUSIONIST IN THE DISTANCE
Vision. Determination. An unrelenting drive to improve yourself and the world around you. You see things others cannot see yet, and you forever hold yourself to excellence.
But this constantly needing to be better has left you exhausted. You have spent way too much of your life worried about how other people see you and believing you must be perfect before you can even begin. You are ready to embrace that imperfect progress still adds up...
Get excited!
"You are chasing a version of you that you thought you had to become. This version of you is always up ahead, glowing in radiant gilded light from her mountain top moments and lofty positions on high. She has convinced you that you must be perfect before you can even begin."
"You are chasing a version of you that you thought you had to become. This version of you is always up ahead, glowing in radiant gilded light from her mountain top moments and lofty positions on high. She has convinced you that you must be perfect before you can even begin."
— mary marantz, Underestimated ch. 10
Being "The Illusionist in the Distance" means that you have big visions for how your life could be, but the pressure of this perfection often keeps you stuck.
This version of you that you keep chasing... she is better dressed, always showered, super organized, never running late, and her house and her purse are always clean. Her skin is more glowy, she makes time to workout, she actually eats that neglected bag of kale in the back of your refrigerator. She has color-coded goals written in her perfect swoop of handwriting. And she never misses a deadline. She's present, peaceful, intentional, has time for everything that matters. And everything she touches turns to gold. But she is an illusion, the ultimate mean girl in the form of your inner critic. And if you are going to step into purpose you are going to have to learn from her, but also... let her go.
So what does this really mean?
You believe perfection is the penance you have to pay to show up
Somewhere inside of you is this belief that there is some fatal flaw that must be fixed before you can live your fullest life.
You are convinced that if you can just get a little more organized, just look a little more put together, just have a nicer house and dress like "her," if you can finally walk into the room without a hair out of place... then no one will ever reject you again.
But there is no "there" up ahead in the distance
You are finally reaching that point in life where you are starting to realize that "there is no there there." With every part of you that you "fix"... ten more "faults" reveal themselves to you, they splinter and divide. This diverging army of "supposed to be" whose only hope is that you hide.
But we already know the truth. It is dawning on us with each new day. This moment of ARRIVAL is a mirage, an illusion, an oasis of belonging always off in the distance. Always just out of reach, always just one more rung up the ladder.
If I could hold up a mirror, here's what I would want you to see
You give people vision. Watching you pursue excellence, holding yourself to the highest standards, and determined to never stop growing... you have no idea how many people that has inspired. You set the standard of integrity by refusing to settle for mediocrity.
But you do not have to reach perfection in order for your life to matter. There will never be this one day when you finally feel like you've arrived. Perfect is an illusion when all you want is to feel really seen. But keeping your eyes on this arrival point in the distance is keeping you from seeing what's right in front of you right now.
Hello there!
BEFORE WE GET TOO FAR INTO THIS...
MEET THE AUTHOR:
I'M MARY MARANTZ
Recovering gold star, highlight reel, A++ level overachiever... picture Elle Woods meets Rory Gilmore, with a side of Jessie Spano.
"I'm so excited, I'm so excited... What, like it's HARD?"
I'm the girl who grew up in a single wide trailer in rural West Virginia, before making my way all the way to the hallowed halls of Yale Law School... only to still spend the next twenty years of my life Underestimating myself. Like I wrote in my first book, Dirt, "What if success is where the real trouble began? What if we get everything we ever wanted, only to find out it still doesn't change a thing about not liking this skin we have to do life in?"
I have spent the last five years figuring out how to quit playing small, NAME the Fear, and MOVE FORWARD anyway.
Today I help generation changers move from stuck to start. Because the person counting you out the most... just might be YOU!
In fact, I just wrote a brand new book about it...
UNDERESTIMATED
The Surprisingly simple shift to quit playing small, name the fear, and move forward anyway
PRE-ORDER TODAY!
Pre- Order your copy today!
Pre-order by April 29th and get the audiobook FREE!
Bonus Audiobook!
"It's the day you realize there are a thousand supposed-to-be versions of you standing on a thousand illusioned, illuminated mountain top moments in the distance. And not a single one of them cares enough about you to let you catch up."
— MARY MARANTZ, underestimated ch. 1o
a few next action steps:
Enough, already.
"The Illusionist in the Distance" can spend their whole lives waiting to be enough of something in order to matter. Whether it is something the world sees or just something they know they have "fixed" on the inside, this Achiever Type thrives on becoming an ideal version of self they have never once met yet. But now it's time to ask yourself, is there EVER an end to all this chasing?
You can't "A+" your way into belonging
The Illusionist has made a life's work out of figuring out how to move from an A to an A+. They don't just want highlight reels, they want their entire movie to be one big larger than life montage where the hero gets everything they ever wanted. They want the filtered perfection they see on the screen. And until they reach that point, they figure they better go ahead and play small so that no one can ever find out they are merely human.
Are you ready for more?
Be on the lookout for an email soon from me with even more details about The Illusionist Achiever Type... and most importantly where do we go from here. How to trade all of this chasing perfect that's keeping you playing small, and instead lean in to your true purpose and the work that has been created just for you.
Here are your curated must listen episodes for
THE ILLUSIONIST
And we have a full line up of binge-worthy episodes. But for you, my friend The Illusionist, start HERE! These are the episodes you most likely need to hear first as you let go of playing small once and for all.
Listen to this!
how to be genuinely happy (even in the waiting) w/ Lisa harper
These Mary Marantz Show episodes
were hand-picked just for you...
LISTEN NOW
how to change overthinking into a super power w/ jon acuff
how to get unstuck when doubt takes over w/ steven pressfield
how your small yes can turn into big impact w/ natalie grant
when someone else gets everything you wanted w/ lisa whittle
At the Mary Marantz Show we believe we can NAME the Fear... and MOVE FORWARD Anyway!
Here are your curated must listen episodes for
THE ILLUSIONIST
At the Mary Marantz Show we believe we can NAME the Fear... and MOVE FORWARD Anyway!
Listen to this!
when someone else gets everything you wanted
LISTEN NOW
when someone else gets everything you wanted
when someone else gets everything you wanted
when someone else gets everything you wanted
how to be genuinely happy even in waiting
how to change over-
thinking into a superpower
how to get unstuck when doubt takes over
how your small yes can turn into big impact
when someone else gets everything you wanted
Before you go...
"Because the person counting you out the MOST... just might be YOU!"
AVAILABLE April 29th EVERYWHERE BOOKS ARE SOLD
Before you go...
PRE-ORDER TODAY!
wanna browse the other results?
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