Stretching Myself
Do you have challenges in your life that you know you should face, but scare the crap out of you? That happened to me last week. This year I’m hosting a series of workshops with three other coaches and while I was away on business, my three other colleagues were hosting weekly book club videos. They were tag teaming and always co-hosted together.
Last week, one colleague was out of town, one was at a baby shower, and the other had co-hosted at least three earlier videos. One woman thought it would be good for one coach to pre-record a video and challenged the group to do so. That was my hint to suck it up, stretch myself, and commit to getting ‘er done, alone……ugh.
I had read the book several months ago, but was so busy while I was traveling I hadn’t gotten caught up. My portion was the last section of the book….YIKES! That’s a lot to cover in a day. I knew the gist of the book, so decided I would only worry about my section.
For people that know me well, know that was a huge stretch for me. Being vulnerable is never easy, but this seemed vulnerable times ten. After getting over challenging myself, I got to work on reviewing the book and what I wanted to cover. I worked all afternoon and late into the night. I had to record the next morning and wanted to be prepared.
Besides planning what I wanted to cover in the chapters, I also needed to determine the best place to record. Oh my gosh, if I could have recorded that process, I know it would have been hysterical. I wasn’t sure how to record using my computer and didn’t have time to figure it out. I also didn’t have a tripod to use for my phone. I somehow needed to Macgyver the phone in order to record.
When it was all said and done, I taped the phone to my computer (using blue painter’s tape….hahaha). Once I figured out the logistics, all I had to do was record. Easier said than done. I can’t tell you how many do-overs I recorded. Thank goodness one of my team members called and after telling her about my multiple retakes, she said, “It doesn’t have to be perfect.” Those few words eased my mind and I was ready to get back to recording.
Her permission for it not to be perfect was just what I needed to plow through the chapters. Once I finished, I knew there were three or four legitimate mistakes, but I didn’t care. It felt good to challenge myself and succeed.
Stretching myself is something I need to do more often, without judgement or perfection. Are you stretching yourself to do something that scares you? Or does fear step in? Challenge yourself to do something you’ve been dreaming about; then feel how awesome it is to find the courage you knew you had along.
xoxox…..Sheryl