Hi guys! Welcome to the 12th episode of the Wildly Successful lifestyle podcast!
I hope this finds you on a good day! I know it is challenging and I am finding for myself and I have heard it from others as well that some days are so good and some are harder than others and I know under the current Quarantine requirement that it has been a struggle for most of us and that makes me think of a story…
Ok so there was this little boy and he came upon a caterpillar and as little boys do he picks him up and takes him home asking his mom if he could keep him. Mom says yes but only if you care for him and he does…one day the caterpillar climbs one of the twigs in his terrarium and starts acting funny, the boy is alarmed and calls his mom and his mom explains that he is making a cocoon and will soon turn into a butterfly this fascinates and excites the little boy and now he sits watching this all take place. Finally a hole emerges in the cocoon and the little boy sees the little life trying to struggle to break free of the cocoon. In fact it is struggling so much that the boy is worried that it will hurt itself or worse yet fail to break out. So he decides to help so he takes scissors and makes the hole bigger and out comes the butterfly except it isn’t beautiful and flying…its wings are small and not fully developed because the struggle he was going through is part of the process of forming his wings. See what the boy failed to realize is it is actually the struggle that makes the butterfly whole, it’s the struggle that forms its wings into what they need to be to flourish. The reason I tell this is because there is a huge lesson there. What are you struggling with right now?
What are you working towards right now that you are struggling? Beyond quarantine, we are all dealing with that…Do you have something that is forcing you to come up with new ways of making it work? New challenges? My hope for each one of you including me is that you have a challenge right now. I mean that in a good way. There is a reason that P T Barnum said “Comfort is the enemy of progress”. Comfort can be addictive but it isn’t going to make you grow. In order to grow you need to do something that you haven’t done before. To do something you don’t know how to do. To struggle. Let the struggle shape you. Make you stronger. Don’t run from them or worse yet quit when it gets hard. The struggles we’ve had in life have shaped us into who we are today.
So with quarantine…or any major crisis we go through, because this won’t be the last, what are we learning? How can we come out on the other side better? What changes will we make? What is the struggle teaching us?
I have noticed that it is more important than ever to have a routine and stick with it. I have also noticed that what I feed my mind is equally important as a routine. What I focus on multiplies and drives the actions I take. So what are you focused on? What is driving you each day?
What new strength is this struggle building for you?
Now is the time to take action on that dream you have always wanted but didn’t have the time or the confidence to start. Embrace the struggle and recognize that the reason something is hard is because we have not done it before! Of course it’s going to be hard! That’s how I know when I am on the right journey or path in life is when even though it’s hard there is no way I would give up. Remember from Monday’s podcast the only way you fail is if you quit or you never start. One of my mentors Tobi Fairley says you either succeed or you learn. There is no failure as long as you learn. Sara Blakely the CEO of Spanx said her dad would ask her every day what did you fail at today? Because he knew if she was failing she was trying something new. He would actually high five her for a particularly spectacular failure! I love that so much. It taught her not to be afraid of failure and fear of failure is one the biggest reasons people never start something new!
See, You aren’t alone! Fear is universal…But you are different. You are special. You are part of the Wildly successful Lifestyle team and you’re meant to do that thing you have dreams of doing. Don’t let fear of failure or the struggle stop you…let it fuel you! Ok guys I hope this got you fired up and ready to go! We can do this! Love you guys! Talk to you in a couple days!
