Come As You Aren't
Personal growth is a really difficult balance of being yourself and growing beyond the person you are now.
Just be yourself.
That’s sage advice, because being anyone other than who you are is difficult.
And yet, that’s what growth is. It’s difficult.
Growth means you’re leaving behind something that got you here. The analogy of the caterpillar to butterfly is overused. So think about this: the toddler had to give up crawling. Now, as an adult, you know that you can crawl. You also know that except for very rare circumstances, that won’t serve you.
One of my favorite quotes comes from Emerson who said that the mind once stretched by a new idea can never return to its original dimensions.
You wouldn’t want it to, would you?
So what if you attempted something new?
You probably won’t be great at it right away. It requires you doing something you’re not used to. If you’re learning the guitar, your fingers don’t naturally fall into the formation to make the chords needed for the change of sounds. If you’re learning a foreign language, you are learning to use your mouth in a way that you’re not used to.
And if you’re up-leveling your life, you will take on new responsibilities that you’re not used to. That’s growth.
Be deliberate about it.
Acknowledge what got you here.
Recognize that your next big up-level comes from showing up as you currently aren’t.
Stop looking at what stops you and start looking at what it would mean if you did.
It’s your time. This is the week that most New Year’s resolutions fall by the wayside. That’s okay, resolutions are usually made as passive wishes. It’s time to get deliberate about what you want the rest of this year and two or three years out to look like. Who do you want to become? What do you want more of or less of in your life?
Come as you aren’t and set the stage to make that happen!
With a few seats remaining for my April mastermind, you might find that NOW is a great time to check that out. Set the stage for your future by stepping into something new.
See you here next week!
= Wayne =
And if you’re curious, you can get the details about the retreat here: