Have you met with your own self-imposed levels of success?
I have met with a couple of business leaders this month who are determined to tell me how its going to be a ‘challenging year’ for business. There is a certain reluctance to change anything. Had they been my clients, I would tell them openly how their predictions and behaviours are supporting each other beautifully.
And the combination of predictions and behaviours would with little doubt deliver.
The determination to stay close to the edge…to mother’s apron strings or keeping the stabilisers on longer than necessarily, goes way back, and is rooted in our young psyche.
With the fear of getting hurt, both emotionally, and physically at the heart and the fear of making losses and looking foolish, high on the agenda too.
The only real certainty with this mindset is, despite all your efforts, to avoid these pains 10 years from now the only thing that will change are the numbers of candles on your cake.
Have you got C.O.U.R.A.G.E?
What does courage look like for you?
I do completely understand because we are not at all dissimilar. You and I will put those subconscious breaks on every day and not just in work mode. Life and business do take high levels of personal courage but when you really look at it what is this COURAGE we seek
What Courage really looks like…
- C = can’t do it, won’t do it. What excuses can I find that will mean no one can argue with me.
- O = Outrageous suggestion. Are you out of your tiny mind if you think that I am going to put myself through all of that for WHAT!
- U = Utterly futile. If it has happened already then it will definitely happen to me. Unbelievable that you would think I would attempt anything that size?
- R = Run like the freaking clappers. Do not stop, do not pass; you can shove the £200.
- A = Affirmations! Who the hell in their right minds believes that lying to yourself ever made ‘a s#&t’s worth of difference!
- G = Guarantee! What are the guarantees…oh that’s right, there isn’t one is there? And when it all goes wrong who has to pick up all the pieces?
- E = Excuse me if I just point out to you that things are not that bad… They could be worse you know.
This is so normal for you and me to have a lightning trip through all of these emotional thoughts when we are pushing beyond our comfort zone.
Life’s lessons.
I remember being on the side of a rock face 100’s of meters in the air on a very rust and rickety spiral staircase one which my husband thought he would point out would never pass health and safety in the UK. It was a single file staircase and the warm, dry and fragrant Sri Lankan wind whistled up my shorts and past my ears. In front of me was a man’s bottom, and behind me was my husband’s head. I had nowhere to go. I mean nowhere. The entire staircase was like a swarm of army ants all waiting to take just one more step toward the top. Apart from me. I froze. Literally froze
cont…
My hands gripped the rails.
No matter where I looked, all I could see was height and distance.
Much safer to stay where I was and not let go I thought. Let everyone else just move forward and reach the top.
I found the courage to move after what seemed an age.
Nothing my husband was saying in his vailed attempt to encourage me worked. In fact, I wanted to murder him. Yes, he was trying to cheer me on, but my god it was irritating.
If I was ever going to make it anywhere…up or down I had to act. And it had to come from within.
Do you find yourself stuck at the same level?
If you have like me, try a change of mindset and look at courage from a different perspective.
E = Easy as just putting one foot in front of the other. Follow the process and what you really desire. So many of us give up on what we want tomorrow and settle for the status quo.
G = Glimpses of brilliance and inspiration are only visible when you move outside your comfort zone. Diamonds are only created under high pressure.
A = ‘Ave a bloody go! Competence comes before confidence and that process requires practice.
R = Recourses are all around us if we have the head space to see them and the willingness to test them to find the best for the job.
U = Underestimate the power of vulnerability and you will forever feel weak. Success and life are not solo adventures.
O = One can only control what’s in my sphere of influence. Out of my hands, then it has no right to demand my energies. What I don’t know I will learn or ask.
C = Course you can. What’s possible for one is possible for another.