(Estimated reading time 3 minutes)

Who are you becoming?

There was a time that question would have been tough for me to answer because I did not like what I saw in myself or the future I saw in front of me. It was the thought about who I was becoming that had me taking some uncharacteristically bold steps to change the path I was on. So, I’ll ask you again, who are you becoming? Do you like what you see? Can you imagine yourself on this same path a year from now? Five years from now? Where will it take you?

My own journey started about seventeen years ago when I came face-to-face with my fear. Anais Nin said that life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage; what I realized is that fear was making my shrinking life too small. It was an even greater fear that had me deciding to make a change – the fear of what I would become twenty years down the road if I didn’t alter my path. And so, my journey beyond the shadow began. I’ve experienced the truth that each time we face our fear, we gain strength, courage and confidence in the doing (Theodore Roosevelt).

If you’ve followed my blog, you know (among other things) I’ve been working on overcoming my fear of public speaking. I joined Toastmasters ten months ago, have done my first four speeches and have taken on numerous roles in the club meetings. This week I was asked to be the chair of the meeting for the first time. I noticed something which felt remarkable and spoke loudly to me about who I am becoming. Instead of focusing on my performance in this new role, instead of getting stuck in perfectionism, I was far more interested in what I learned from trying. This is a massive shift for me – part of my version of living an extraordinary life – to allow myself to try and possibly fail, to learn, to practice and to develop my skills without the weight of feeling like I need to start flawlessly. It is very liberating.

When I think about who I am becoming now, I like what I see. I love replacing thoughts of “it’s not possible” with “why not?” I like turning my back on the coward in me and banishing the cynic. I enjoy hoping more, thinking bigger and expanding my capacity to believe. I love upgrading my expectations even if that means they go unmet. What if they don’t? I like focusing on the purpose, not on the outcome (Joie Garrity).

If you were going to think big, dream bigger and expand your capacity to believe, what would that look like? Would it change this day? How would it change who you are becoming?

If you want to overcome the thoughts and emotions that are keeping you from living your version of an extraordinary life, I would love the opportunity to work with you.