About the middle of last year I was facing a lot of new steps in my business and it was scary. In my old career I could fall back on my experience often but in my new world there are a lot more journeys into the unknown.
I was on the phone with my coach one day and she offered out an image that I use to this day. She said she saw me wrapped in a cloak that I used to protect myself. I could totally embrace that image and could almost feel the heaviness of this black cloak as it hung on my shoulders. She suggested I needed to shed my cloak
As we were talking, I had been walking around my space. As the image of shedding my cloak settled in my mind I literally opened my arms as if to pull the cloak off and let it drop to the ground. Although the cloak was completely in my mind, I felt the heaviness begin to leave. And then came the vulnerability.
The vulnerability of not knowing if what I did would work, the uncertainty of was I doing it right, the list goes on. It was then my coach offered me another tool, my Circle of Strength. By stepping into my Circle of Strength I could tap into the courage to be vulnerable, to accept the unknown and see where things would take me.
I have shared with you in previous blogs about my Circle of Strength.
As I continued to focus on leaving the cloak behind in the coming months, I found myself stepping into my Circle of Strength more often, and I was pleasantly surprised by what happened. I accomplished so many things I had never before, I had new opportunities, and I was less likely to step back from a challenge, but instead lean forward into it.
Unfortunately I recently lapsed. Once again I was speaking with my coach and explaining how I felt unsure and stuck in the plan I was trying to create. With kindness in her voice she said, “I think you are wearing your cloak again.” I smiled as I began to shake my head, knowing that she was correct.
I had conquered so much in the six months and felt great but then found myself at a new path and at the edge of my comfort zone. Once again it was scary and filled with the unpredictable (I wish that Magic 8 Ball I had as a kid was better at predictions. If it were I would start using it again). I was back to shielding myself from moving forward for the fear of the unknown.
As we spoke, I visualized myself once again removing that cloak. Just so you know, although an imaginary cloak, it was a different cloak than I wore previously. In my mind I had shredded the last cloak into tiny pieces. Yes, I have a pretty detailed imagination. Either way, it had to go and once again, and I needed to step into my Circle of Strength.
Stepping into being vulnerable is never an easy task. It is downright uncomfortable.
But here I was again knowing that in the past when I opened myself up one of two things happened: 1) I succeeded at things I had dreamt or 2) I learned a lesson that propelled me forward for the next time.
Never when I took a chance did I find I stayed stagnant or failed, because even when things went wrong I learned things that helped me move forward. I love the Thomas Edison quote when asked about failing he said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that don’t work.” I try to keep that in mind when things don’t go as planned.
So getting back to why I found myself back huddled in my cloak – I had found myself stuck in creating my plan. I took the wise words, I has shed my cloak (this time I burned it instead of shredding it) and I stepped into my Circle of Strength.
Curious what happened? Tune in next week, same web time, same web page to find out.
