“Am I brave enough?” This question runs in my head more than I care to admit. I know that a lot of people may have a hard time believing it, I do have a big personality and I do stand out in a crowd. Yet courage is something different, and it comes in different ways. To find the courage to do little things is one way – things that make you uncomfortable. For me, it is eating alone at a restaurant, a little way comes up, and I just push past it.
It’s the big ones that take the most to get through. It’s embracing the I-want-to-vomit feelings, the sweaty hands, the voice in your head that tells you to run away, that you’re not good enough and so many more things. I know these feelings intimately, and I don’t enjoy them, yet I want them. It means I am stepping into me, into what I want and working towards something I choose. When those feelings come up, instead of shifting so they go away, I step into them.
Getting comfortable with being uncomfortable
I have been comfortable for too long, now I am embracing the uncomfortable. So far this year I have stepped into it – from running a mastermind with people I didn’t really know in another city to stepping up and declaring that I am developing a course to support women who have experienced a mastectomy to move from survivor to thriver. This program is about rediscovering who they are and kicking ass in business and life. It is called One Boob Down – it’s ok if you are two boobs down. It is 12 weeks and it focuses on embracing the new normal. The voice in my head was screaming at me not to do it, and I had to put my head between my knees (it’s been a very long time since I have had to do that) before I pushed the post button.
3 Tips for being brave
This year I am choosing to embrace braveness, to wear it every day just like I do my clothes. Here are a couple of tips that I use for staying strong and being brave.
- I have a mantra – I say it over and over.
- I have a theme song. (I listen to Pink’s “I am here” on replay (thanks Lisa!).
- I tell the voice in my head to shut up! You are brave enough.
This year is my year, and I would love it to be yours as well. Contact me here if you would like to continue chatting about how to make 2019 your Best Year.