I had lunch with a friend recently and I asked her what kind of year she wants to create in 2022. She said something that stuck with me.
“When something scares me – but in that good kind of way – I used to run away from it. This year I’m leaning into it.” I loved that.
I'm naturally introverted, and doing something like launching a coaching business scares the crap out of me. I’ve been talking about doing this for over two years. I’ve taken 4 coaching courses, had a dozen clients and still get scared to put myself out there. Yes, despite having started a nonprofit and traveling around the world to work and speak publicly, it is still tough for me. Every. Single. Time.
Leaning into the discomfort.
We all make up reasons and hide behind excuses of why we don’t live the kind of life we believe we could. Or we should. It’s always easier to blame our indecision or our poor decisions on external factors - a relationship (or lack thereof), a financial situation, the weather, the political climate, the pandemic too. I do it too. Yet, I also know that something shifts deeply when you start looking within.
So why don't we believe these things to be possible for us? Maybe we don’t believe we could do something. Maybe we are hiding, too scared of what people think of us. I know this was my case about starting this business. Or maybe at our core, we don’t believe we actually deserve the thing we want. Or maybe we are too scared to ask for it and be rejected. Avoiding the sting of rejection, but never growing as a result.
I’m far from being perfect. I stumble on this one all the time, just like you. I’m just growing into it with a little more self awareness now of what has kept me trapped all along: me and my self limiting beliefs.
So for this year, what if you – and I - looked at the excuses as just roadblocks in the way of us getting to live the kind of life we dream of? What if we realized that excuses were just our mind self sabotaging, ready to keep us from the change?
That's where the real growth begins to occur - and growth is always uncomfortable.
The next time you catch yourself making an excuse for why you can't do something, I'm challenging you to have the courage and self awareness to try to look beyond that, asking yourself not "why?" but rather "why not"?
Let me know what sorts of fears you're facing down this year - I'd love to be a part of your journey and help coach you out of your old patterns and burnout. Book a free intro call with me here.
To continued growth and leaning in towards that good kind of fear in 2022!
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