InspiredAdmin
Seeking new opportunities and shifting from one phase of business or lifestyle to another requires Agility. 2020 has definitely driven that point home to each of us personally and professionally.
Forced to flex, shift and pivot to get through 2020 caused us to work a muscle that often we leave weak…our agility.
As we move forward from 2020, creating multiple “new normals” enabling us to explore new options for our lives and work. As we flex our “agility muscle” we may need to strengthen our agility muscle before we fully use it. The desire for change or achievement or at least desiring something different is futile ground for cultivating the agility with, which we were born.
Three areas of personal development impact both our personal and professional lives to strengthen our agility muscle.
Three components to cultivate agility:
- Desire/Curiosity
We are born with curiosity, confidence, and courage. Little ones naturally reach out to the world. They risk falling off the couch even if they’ve fallen in the past. They positively respond to unfamiliar situations to learn what they offer and how they can navigate them. Our natural curiosity is discouraged by parents, teachers, and other influencers who want to protect us. Most of us learn the word NO before we learn YES. It would be advantageous to learn caution to the unfamiliar before learning avoidance or fear as little ones. Easier said than done.
2. Confidence/Courage
Although confidence and courage are natural to little ones, we often unlearned them at a young age. The good news is we can learn them again.
We unlearn natural confidence and courage through social experiences with people we trust. We learn to be prohibitively cautious and view the unfamiliar with fear when negative results from unfamiliar experiences are shared. It would also help if we learned the rewards of positive experiences also. It’s great to learn from others’ experiences.
It’s great to learn from others’ experiences.
Those lessons allow us to avoid common mistakes, but they also inhibit learning to handle challenges. The result of “figuring it out” builds our confidence and teaches us to manage our changing environments – people and circumstances- and gives us the courage to meet challenges where we find them. We are in the process of “figure-ing out” our new normal using the results of our 2020 challenge experiences. The education we gained will become part of our new capabilities in our immediate future.
3. Willingness
To “try” is what opens opportunities for us. “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink” is the analogy of offering opportunities to a person. It’s up to them to reach out and accept opportunities for the risk to succeed or fail to hang in the balance. Creating a Habit of being willing opens your growth potential. Sharing in a community” provides support when starting something new.
The risk of not knowing the outcome or the impact on you is scary. What you learn by accepting the opportunity and “figure-ing it out” is priceless when learned and can never be taken from you. This type of knowledge gained through your own experiences can’t be learned by listening to someone else’s experience. Curiosity and Confidence come with a willingness to have those experiences. With that knowledge, you can achieve, grow and live bigger than you do now.
Starting a “Workout”
Persistence is a Key factor
Success Simplified…Simple Solutions Measurable Results, Pamela Burks
To strengthen our physical agility muscle, we need to prepare our emotional agility muscle. The inner chatter that gives us confidence or gives us fear. What we say to ourselves or the recording that places in our mind when we step outside our comfort zone is where the pre-workout begins. It starts before the heavyweights of Confidence and Courage can begin.
It may be tough, but you can replace the avoidance and fear learned when you step outside your comfort zone. Following a few steps to take when you hear the emotional whine of your agility muscle telling you
- No
- Not now
- It’s too hard
- You’re not capable
Drawing again from our childhood, use the question “why” when faced with an emotional whine.
- Why not?
- Why not now, If not now, when?
- Why makes it too hard for me to achieve?
- What about this is “not” possible for me to learn, research, or do with practice?
The persistence of a 3-year-old trying to identify the reason for a boundary or barrier to reach out and accept this opportunity is the key to quieting your inner talk, emotional whine. Your Persistent questioning will provide a valid reason to discard the opportunity or “shine a light” to expose a limiting, unwarranted fear that to be discarded. Taking on the opportunity can add to your experiences and give “courage” strength to your agility muscle.
With an unwarranted fear removed and a new experience added to your life, you can approach your opportunity with a willingness to be curious, flex, shift, and pivot to make this opportunity your Success while building confidence along the way.