The following is an excerpt from my upcoming book The Fearless Factor @ Work.
Great leaders are not born, they are forged in the steel of experiences, both good and bad, ultimately becoming conscious of who they are, and the impact they are having on the world around them.
I believe we are all leaders of our own lives, and if you aspire to be a leader of others, you must first do your own work. Self-awareness is the first step in any change process.
Change has been the biggest driver of my life, whether I invited it in or not! I’m a believer in living life with great risk. It’s been a great teacher, but a hard task master. I needed endless curiosity and courage to face my truths and explore my possibilities.
I’ve reinvented my life so many times, I wonder who I will be in five years.
Living life with uncertainty, I bring my passion for change to everything I do. It motivates me to show up each day with one burning concern. To help people create a life of purpose, meaning and commitment, and to help them discover the inner resources that will change their world.
I believe that if you help one person be a better version of themselves, they will help others do the same. It’s a domino effect.
My mission is bold: Change the world one person at a time.
Change is hard. Facing our limitations, our feelings of inadequacy, and our belief that we may not be good enough means challenging a state of mind that impacts many of us.
In order to change, you must let go of limited thinking, and confront the behaviors that are not serving your best interests. Letting go of what doesn’t serve you is your journey of discovery.
A simple test is to ask, “Is my life working for me the way I want it to?” If not, what needs to change?
Change is not for the faint of heart. Less that 2% of the world’s population actually makes a conscious effort to change. Most of the time change happens by circumstance.
It takes courage to look yourself in the mirror and ask:
- What do I need to do differently?
- Who do I want to become?
- What will I need to do to make my life different from what it is today?
- What is the best way forward?
- Where do I stand in my own way?
- What do I need to change to live the life I imagine I want for myself?
- What does a good life look like?
We spend our lives looking for answers, but that is the opposite of what we should be doing. Imagine if you spent your life looking for the right questions. What do you think would happen?
Socrates said, “the unexamined life is not worth living.”
He believed that a conversation that stimulates ideas based on asking and answering questions was the most dynamic of all human behaviors. It is the very definition of coaching.
To make changes that stick, you must be prepared to dig deeply and find what matters most to you.
Socrates also said that “courage is endurance of the soul.”
To transform yourself, you need to be resilient and be willing to endure discomfort that occurs as part of your change process.
As I cheerfully tell my clients, “get comfortable being uncomfortable.” It’s how we change for the better.
If you have questions about how you can make changes in your life please feel free to reach out to me.