Today is March 25 and the Navigate the Chaos question to consider is “When you find yourself attached to something, how often can you let it go?”
American actor Jon Hamm was attached to his dream of acting and learned how to let it go.
Both of Hamm’s parents died before he was 21 years old. After graduating from the University of Missouri in 1993 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English, Hamm returned to his high school to teach eighth-grade acting.
Attached to the desire to act for a living, Hamm moved out to Los Angeles with $150 in 1995.
His older appearance made it difficult to find employment, however, and after three years his agent dropped him.
Still attached to his goal of acting, Hamm continued working as a waiter and set his 30th birthday as a deadline to succeed in Hollywood.
His belief was that “You either suck that up and find another agent, or you go home and say you gave it a shot, but that's the end of that. The last thing I wanted to be out here was one of those 45 year old actors with a tenuous grasp of their own reality, and not really working much.”
When he gave his attachment a deadline, things started to happen.
Soon thereafter he landed the role of the advertising executive Don Draper in the AMC drama series Mad Men, which premiered in July 2007.
The Draper role earned him a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series in 2008.
Reflecting back upon his experiences Hamm believes that “Losing both parents at a young age gave me a sense that you can't really control life - so you'd better live it while it's here. All you can do is push in a direction and see what comes of it.”
American spiritual teacher Ram Dass wrote “A feeling of aversion or attachment toward something is your clue that there’s work to be done.” Hamm gave himself a deadline when he would let go of his attachment to acting if he did not land a major role.
Do you maintain the self-awareness to realize that when you are attached that is your clue that there is work to be done?
As you go about your day consider asking yourself when you find yourself attached to something, how often can you let it go?