Welcome to Week 40 of the Authenticity@Work Leadership Tool-kit! My intention for this series is to share a quick tool each week to help you lead with more authenticity, adaptability and inspiration so we can together create workplaces where we bring the best of ourselves and inspire others. So grab a journal and an accountability partner to make these practices even more powerful for you!
In last week’s post we talked about how to get unstuck from our “shoulds” and instead find our path in authenticity.
This week we move to the practice of “Dance With Your Dream”. Most of us don’t dare to dream big. That’s because often when we dream big, it’s like inviting all our saboteurs to our own personal fear festival. They just flock ready to have a good time! Getting out of our comfort zones it is a wake-up call for the saboteurs. They show up ready to protect you (from your greatness!).
My very personal experience with this happened as I started to write this book. I started. I stopped. Several times. The saboteur voices said, “who are you to write a book? What kind of authority do you have? What if it’s no good? Who needs another book on this topic? What if no one reads it? Then you’ll just be a big failure!” I had to shift my being out of saboteur mode again and again. Just when you think you have them handled, they can jump back out.
When I had to ask others for help, the saboteurs said, “who would want to help you? Why would they even care?” When I was in saboteur mode, the asking for help I did wasn’t powerful. It was from a place of lack of trust. And as any good salesperson knows, if you don’t believe in your own product, it’s hard to convince anyone else of it.
During this process, I created an ally I fondly refer to as Audacious. When self-doubt shows up, Audacious is the ally that helps me believe that anything is possible. I just have to take the leap of faith and make a powerful ask. How I get myself back into Audacious mode is by befriending my body! I take a leap and landing in ta-da mode with my arms stretched out. Always makes me feel awesome!
I found that when I am in my Audacious mode, my energy and confidence is infectious. I make more powerful requests. People say yes more often. When we’re inspired about our dream, that inspiration is viral!
This Week’s Tool:
Try on your personal Audacious ally.
- What is a dream you’ve been putting off?
- What is the cost to you and others of putting this off?
- What is your personal audacious ally? What is your body posture for “Audacious”?
- What is one small step you will commit to to bringing your dream to life?
Discuss this with an accountability partner. Pursuing dreams important to us takes support. You’ve got it all around you. Just look and ask powerfully for it!
Get the latest resources for Authenticity@Work (this tab will get updated with all kinds of cool resources). Curious to know more about the book? Read the reviews about Wired for Authenticity here.
