Your Five Seconds of Courage
When given opportunities to shine, I see so many people stepping back. Think about this in your own life recently. Were you given an opportunity to excel and you balked at the chance? Maybe someone approached you to speak on a topic you’re passionate about or someone asked you out on a date. Maybe someone invited you to an interview or asked you to be the lead on a project at work. Did you minimize your ability? Downplay your talent, your strengths—your worth? I think it’s something that is occurring all too commonly and here’s why I think that is.
One of the greatest impediments that I see people, particularly young adults and new leaders, facing is their crippling fear of failure. Inevitably, to be a successful person, failure and missteps are part of the equation. Yet we have created a culture where it has become largely unsafe to fail and it likely correlates with the spike in anxiety that we are seeing as well. Thus, we need to be reminded that it is not only safe to make mistakes, but that they are expected. While of course there are parameters to this, we need to be given the bandwidth to really challenge ourselves to ultimately grow in confidence as we spread our wings farther.
The best thing you can do is connect with mentors who are excelling in different areas of life that matter to you. Want to find a healthy and happy relationship? Connect with someone who is in a successful partnership. Find out what they do to maintain their relational success. Want to take the next step in work and you’re not sure how? Straight up ask the person who is a few steps (and perhaps a few offices) up from you about how they are rocking the workplace. Remember—people want to help you. You just have to be brave enough to ask.
Find people in your life who are saying “yes” to the opportunities that are coming their way. Minimize your time with the minimizers (those who downplay their potential and their abilities) and instead maximize your time with maximizers who are not afraid to work and ask for what they want. This does not mean that a person is acting entitled…it means that they are acting bravely and embracing the included setbacks along the way.I invite you to think about what you can welcome, rather than turn down, in your life this week. Maybe it’s a meeting for coffee, a new project or presentation, or a novel learning opportunity. You never know how your life could change from those five seconds of courage when you say “yes” to what comes your way.Keep shining,