Four ideas for getting past uncomfortable.

Does it matter? Does it matter that we go through life avoiding what makes us feel uncomfortable?

Yes. Yes, it DOES matter. Because the goodies in life go to those who are willing to do what others find uncomfortable. Let that seep in…the goodies in life go to those who are willing to do what others find uncomfortable.

Here are four ideas for speaking fearlessly

1. The first time is the worst time
2. Be awful and have fun
3. You are NOT your results
4. Everyone is already a winner

1. The First Time is the Worst Time

 The first time you do anything is the worst time. This is GOOD news. Could you imagine how difficult life would be if results became harder to achieve each time we tried? Got a problem with the first time is the worst time? Get over it!

The sooner we take the leap, the sooner we are on the path to success! Take the leap! The system is perfect the way it is. It’s not a system to avoid; it’s a system to embrace. It couldn’t be designed any better. The old saying IS true: The grass IS greener on the other side of the hill. So get over it!

2. Be Awful and Have Fun

Give yourself permission to be awful the first time you try anything. If it is your first time skiing, expect to fall down. If you are not falling, you are not learning. Did you know that giving a learner a cookie, a complement, or telling them a joke, shifts the learner into a positive mood and increases the rate of learning 25%? If you want to stay stuck where you are, take your mistakes and yourself very seriously. But if you want to accelerate your growth, give yourself permission to be awful and have fun learning.

3. YOU are Not your Results

Plant a seed in soil, pour a little water and add warmth, and the seed grows on its own. If it is upside down, it turns around. If a rock is in the way of its ascent, it moves around it, if dead, compact leaves block the surface, it breaks through.

Inside all living things is a will to live. It’s in the DNA. Less-than-excellent results are the natural byproduct of being alive. Every living thing does the best it can with the information and skills it has at that time.

Do you suppose the seed feels like a victim for being planted upside down? When it bumps its leafy head on a rock does it feel stupid? When it pushes the soil out of its way, does it feel guilty? Does it care what other plants and thinking? Of course not! Neither should we.

4. Everyone is Already a Winner

Every single person on the planet has already won the most important race of their life, the SPERM race! Of the 40 to 750 million little competitors only one, the winning one, became each one of us. Think of the odds. Wahoo!

But it is even more profound than that. This selection has been going on for 4.5 billion years of evolution.

And consider this. Everyone reading this is alive. I know in my heart that each of us has faced dark days, tough times, and difficult challenges. Many of us have rub elbows with death. We have handled every challenge that came our way or we wouldn’t be here now. We are made of the right stuff. We are the best of the best. We are already winners.

In conclusion

If we live our lives avoiding what feels uncomfortable, our lives become ruts. They can be comfortable, even fur-lined ruts, but ruts are nothing more than caskets with the ends kicked out.

If we want to spring out of our ruts…

1. Hurry up and Get over it
2. Be free to be awful and have fun learning
3. We are NOT our Results
4. We ALL are ALREADY winners

Remember this: if we are willing to feel temporarily uncomfortable, the goodies of life are there for the taking!! Stretch your mind. Stretch your reach. Stretch yourself. Go for it…Go for it…Go for it.

Keywords: fearless public speaking, confidence management, executive leadership, business culture, change leadership

Thanks to Jack Canfield for the idea about the sperm race.

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Michael Cushman, The Engaging Guru, wants you to master enrolling others in your truth, get the goodies of life, and change the world.  www.engagingchange.com