Maybe rather than explaining things, I’ll tell you about my own personal journey with overcoming being timid and shy. This is a short version of a very long story :)
At a very young age, with me being the youngest of 4, I just developed this habit, this fear of just being timid. I was happy just watching everyone and not being the leader. Around my close family and friends, I was fine, but in other situations, I was just extremely fearful. My parents tried to get me to take singing lessons, but I was afraid because it was in a group setting. I went through phases during grade school where I felt
incredibly afraid of speaking up. Throughout high school, I started coming out of my shell a little bit. When I was in high school, I realized something, ‘I was funny!’. I could make people laugh. I started discovering myself a little bit more. Now, I took it just a little too far sometimes, but I was a bit of a jokester….still a bit timid.
In college, I joined the gospel choir and started singing solos. I was DEATHLY afraid, but I just thought, I needed to face this and do this. Little by little, I started taking leads in certain choir songs. Then something happened. In my junior year in school, I started writing music. It was incredible! I just started writing songs. I would work little jobs here and there and intern over the summer and I used that money to go to a studio near my college and record my music! It was the most thrilling thing ever.
After school, I spent almost 10 years heading up a band at a local church which forced me to come out of my shell even more. two to three days a week, I had to stand in front of a couple hundred people and make things happen! Eventually, we started singing at different conferences and events with thousands of people attending. It was exhilarating.
I was given a guitar on a Wednesday and was asked to sing a song with it on a Sunday!!! OMG. No lie. I went out and bought a little book shaped like the neck of a guitar. I wrote this little 3 chord song. I was so nervous singing that song in front of everyone, especially since I was playing by ear- no lessons. Wha???
I've always just been thrown into things and somehow, something inside of me 'kicks in'. I remember after singing that first song, I just fell in love with the guitar. I kept practicing so that I could write more music and I became addicted to creating my own sound. I started tinkering around on the piano too and eventually started playing that by ear!!!
Fear is nothing but a feeling. It's not real. You can overcome it by moving forward. Things seem SO OVERWHELMING, but when you step into, you realize it's totally different. Those mountains aren't so big, especially when you begin to climb them....even if you're afraid.
On the career front, I entered a path that was extremely people focused- even though I used to be shy. I started in retail buying, then in-store management and then eventually ventured out into the non-profit world. I just remember confronting so many different situations that I thought I could not handle. I never thought I could manage people. I never thought I could manage a department. I never felt like I could lead a team- but there the challenge was in front of me and it was 'Do or Die'!!!
I continued at every stage to get promoted and eventually managed a team of people at both companies I worked for. That’s when I realized something else, ‘Wow! I’m a Leader!!!’ And I was good at it. I could go further and further into it, but the short story is, there is only one way to move a mountain out of your life………FACE IT. If you’re going to face that fear, you have to do EXACTLY THE THING you are afraid of.
Here’s what you’ll find:
-All the things you’re afraid of are not that scary at all
-All the things you think you can’t do you CAN DO
-MOVING the mountain will bring you to a greater place of discovery. There’s more of YOU to release and it’s hidden in all these fears your running away from
-Lastly, you’ll discover, you are more POWERFUL, TALENTED and EQUIPPED than you could ever imagine.
Move the mountain.
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Labels: attitude, living, personal power
