The BOLD (Deep Courage)
Dreams thrive on challenge. If there were no challenge, there would be no reason to be innovative and resourceful and daring. And dreams love it when we are innovative and resourceful and daring. Dreams require courage.
I’ve talked a lot about courage, both here and in numerous client sessions, deep conversations with friends and virtual gatherings over the last few weeks.
The deepest level of courage is reserved for just one thing—the courage to be yourself.
And your dream requires all of you—because it is your dream. And we require you to live your dream because it is what you are here to do. Go be you.
The Whisper (You Do You)
It is tempting to bend to meet the expectations of others. We please our parents or other mentors as children. We meet the expectations of our teachers. We conform to what we think our friends and romantic partners want from us. We deliver what our bosses and our employees seem to require. We navigate family, social, career and cultural expectations.
We bend and twist to be what everyone else wants us to be.
It is, therefore, an act of incredible courage to decide to follow our own guidance and be who we know we are, not just who others think we should be.
Connect with yourself on a deeper level to begin to understand yourself, your passions, your skills, your calling and your unique potential for contribution. For this, we can begin with a dive into our values.
Values are like the code in your operating system. They are the set of beliefs that you cherish, protect and obey as you make decisions and take actions. What do you believe?
I’ve been keeping a motto list for a while now to capture the phrases that I’ve discovered that I believe. They include,
- No learning is ever wasted.
- It will probably work in my favor.
- There has to be a way to…
- Interdependent in a healthy way is much better than independent.
- Sharing is better than giving.
- Barbarians never yield (and the partner belief, “I am a barbarian.”).
- The proper response to, “You’re Weird.” is, “Thank You.”
Some are funny and some are serious, but they all have an impact on how I approach new situations and what I expect will happen.
I adopted some of them deliberately. Some came from teachers and experiences. Some are of unknown origins—UIO’s—Unidentified Influencing Objects. All of them persist in my life with some degree of influence.
Some of them don’t help me but they put in an appearance when I’m stressed or distracted. They include
- The worst thing I can do is let someone see me cry.
- Whatever can go wrong, will.
- If I don’t control all the details, something will break.
By beginning to pay attention to what you believe, you can begin to Pierce the Transparency, the first pillar of the Clarity Design Cycle™. Just like a fish that can’t identify the water in which he has lived his life, we can swim in transparent messages that influence our actions and determine our outcomes. Make them visible by seeking them out and noting them down. Once you have seen them, you can decide how you want to debug your code—modify, embrace or discard.
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