BE, DO, HAVE. This is a concept Landmark Education introduced me to more than 10 years ago. It changed the course of my life.
Mostly, humans do this backwards: we believe that once we have what we need, we can do what we want to do, and only then can we (finally) be who we want to be.
However, living life that way often leaves us waiting for a future that is somewhat out of our control and might never arrive.
The first time I experimented with being, doing, and having, I declared myself an artist. At that point, I had officially painted maybe 10 small paintings on 5×7 cards, and I had never had the idea that I could sell them. I didn’t have any training as an artist, and I had no idea what I was doing. I simply painted on a whim and found it somewhat interesting.
Several months after that, I found myself at a cross-roads. I had taken the Landmark Forum, quit my job in telecom, and taken a two-month road trip. I was back home and needed a new career. My dad said to me, “why don’t you be an artist?”
We both dove in head first. At the time, I was starting a year-long intensive leadership course with tons of people I didn’t know. I told them all that I was a professional artist. I wasn’t, of course, but I took on the being of artist. I dressed artistically, spoke as I imagined artists spoke, and took on the character of Annie Rose as an artist. I even stopped going by Annie and started going by Annie Rose because my full name felt more artistic to me.
Once I started being artist, I started doing things that artists do. I bought art supplies. I experimented with colors and mediums. I contacted galleries. I stayed up until 3 in the morning and slept until noon. I looked at the world in terms of colors and forms. And I taught myself how to paint (mostly through trial and error). I took every action imaginable that seemed consistent with my already-established being of artist.
Very soon after (literally weeks after), I started to have the life and results of an artist. I was accepted into several art shows at galleries. I was commissioned to create custom pieces. I donated pieces to charities. And pretty much everyone I knew related to me as an artist.
If I had gone another route—the route of have, do, be—I’m not sure I ever would have embraced the being of artist. I would have had to have so much—money for classes, classes so that I could know what I was doing, money for supplies, an art studio, lots of contacts, a portfolio, and so much more. I never would have made it.
Because I took the route of be, do, have, I became an artist instantaneously. In fact, I didn’t even have a portfolio to prove my body of work or that I was truly an artist when I was first accepted into shows. Gallery owners simply believed that I was an artist based on my way of being. And, I didn’t have to have the money, skills, or history of an artist before I could embrace a way of being that felt (and still feels) so authentic to me.
We can all embrace be, do, have, and I believe it’s important that we do so.
We can be wealthy before we have wealth, for example. If we be wealthy, we will take actions consistent with that of a wealthy person, and we will eventually have wealth. But we won’t have to wait until then to embody it.
We can be peace before peace is actualized in our communities. If we be peaceful, we will take actions consistent with peace, and we will eventually have it. Best of all, we can be peaceful in the process. (And, keep in mind, that being peaceful can look many different ways!)
We can be anything we want to be no matter what we have or don’t have.
Who can you be today that you’ve been waiting to be?
In love and liminality,
Annie Rose
One of the first pieces I sold.
A friend and me at one of my first art shows.