The Process of Distillation: Getting to the Essenc

TheProcess of Distillation： Getting to the Essence of Things

　　How do you distill your life down to its essence？ You can begin by confronting your fears.

　　I understand now， it is through a personal distillation process that I have encountered my own fears，and mastered them.

　　Each time I encountered fear， each time I had another moment of"ahhah'， I was getting closer to identifying my true self. The first illumination came in a moment of realization that I really did measure up. It was about conquering the fear of inadequacy.

　　Remember when you entered Stanford as a 17 or 18-year-old kid， or an eager grad student？ You were at the top of the heap.You felt pretty confident in your abilities， right？ And then you arrived at your dorm， or attended your first department meeting and after two or three conversations with your peers， you probably felt discomfortable and totally inadequate.

　　If you're anything like me， your internal monologue went something like，"Oh my God： the admissions office messed up. They must have mistaken me for some other Carly. These people are in a completely different league！ They're wondering what I'm doing here！ What will I tell them？"

　　Let me warn you， my fellow students. You' ll probably have this feeling of inadequacy many times during your life.When I showed up at AT&T once again， everyone seemed smarter. They seemed more confident， better prepared， better equipped to do their jobs than I was.

　　But， slowly， you win some battles. You prove yourself with your work. You fail， and you survive. You learn. Maybe you even lead. And that fear diminishes a little bit.

　　You've knocked a couple hundred pages off your personal Great Work. You've begun the distillation process. You're beginning to define your life.