Instead of listening to the noise in our head—the incessant chatter about our fears and doubts—try talking to yourself in a deliberate matter.
“This might work.”
“I can do this.”
“You’re almost through.”
While we can’t make the noise go away, surprisingly, we can interrupt the thought patterns just enough to do what must be done.
When Henry Ford launched the Model T, Ford became one of the most stable jobs in the world.
Fast forward to today, 23,000 workers at Ford could be losing their job this next year.
Let’s not pretend that stability is a thing anymore.
Those factories workers did everything they were told to do and could be suffering because of it.
Being told to follow the map, follow the step-by-step set of instructions isn’t going to bring us the safety we seek.
The world is changing. Fast. And when we are changing, by definition things are different. If things are different than they can no longer be safe.
Because we don’t know what is coming next.
Embrace instability. Embrace the unknown.
[Merry Christmas. Thank you for all that you do.]
We tend to create a lot of unnecessary friction when we criticize how someone conducts themselves.
We focus on how they are driving “the wrong way” or prepping for the meeting inefficiently.
The problem is that we are spending far too much time thinking about how to make this person be more like us. We are convinced that the way we do things is the right way to do things.
Yet, there are 1,000 ways to skin a cat but we usually tend to do it one way. The way everyone else does it though just seems too inconvenient for us to learn.
Different is not the same as weird.
Demanding compliance as an answer to improving performance doesn’t work.
If it were that easy, you could ask the addict to put their drug of choice down.
It’s easy to look at one metric and make it improve.
Consequently, other metrics will fall by the wayside.
So…
If you do believe that people are doing the best they can, then find a new metric to measure.
If you don’t, then you might want to think more deeply about the system you have set up.
Maybe the better questions to ask is:
What choice do I have?
Fear will always remind us that the odds are against us. Making it even easier to choose to run and hide.
But, we have to be clear, that’s a choice. And if you are always running and hiding, that isn’t much of a strategy either to get to places you want to go.
Perhaps, today is the day you stand up and stand out.
Make your ruckus.
“I’m not much of a public speaker.”
Really?
Did you all of sudden forget to talk?
You don’t have anything to say?
It’s easy to talk to a friend. It’s easy to talk to a couple of coworkers. Why is public speaking continue to be on the top of people’s list of their fears?
Because we are afraid to be judged. That when we say something and someone hears it, we are now on the hook.
Talking is a skill. Talking in front of the masses is another. One that can be learned with practice.
The fear of public speaking probably won’t go away. So instead, we can learn to embrace that fear. Embrace that not everyone is going to agree with what you said. Embrace that you might mess up.
But remember, the stakes only feel higher when we talk to more people. Is talking in front of 20 people really all that different from 12?
It is amazing the amount of information one can consume. Really, in any form.
Audiobooks, for example, are great but books, the regular kind, have something special about them over every other form.
Books allow us space to really think about a subject.
You can blast through an audiobook in a couple sittings. Even quicker if you decide to increase the speed.
You can’t do that with a 300-page book. You have to put in the hours. Which means you have to think about the subject even longer.
Books also don’t allow you to drive or do the dishes either.
Having time to really think about something while fully immersing yourself? We don’t get many opportunities anymore to do things like that.
It isn’t how much media we consume. Rather, it is how well we consume it.
Ralph Waldo Emerson, in his seminal work, wrote that each and every one of us has their own genius.
And…
The world will try to pull you away from your genius.
The answer then, according to Emerson, is to trust thyself.
Two words that seem so simple. So much clarity. Trust thyself.
The world continues to reinforce what we all deep down really fear. That we don’t feel good enough. That you are not smart enough, educated enough, rich enough, skinny enough, popular enough…to make a difference.
Learning to trust in yourself and in your abilities is a skill. Something that can be practiced and get better at.
Another way to say all of this is to have more faith. Faith in a future you cannot see yet. Focusing on the action of today for a better future of tomorrow.
The world is going to find a way to suppress your voice. It’s up to you to still find a way to sing.
Thanks to the internet, we live in a culture where anyone can pick their own truth.
The problem is that one truth can derail another truth.
Why?
Because of our fear.
Fear can resist the evidence of experts and science. Fear turns a rational person into an irrational one.
That is why when we encounter information or “truth” that directly contradicts our worldview, we tend to doubt the information rather than ourselves.
When we begin to shift power and responsibility to ourselves then…
Then we open up the door of possibility.
Possibility meaning, “this might work” and “this might not work”.
Consequently, when we enable the power of outside forces, we are now susceptible to the power of others.
