Who are You: Frog or Ferrari?
Facing the blank page, I ask my deepest heart what it wants to share with you. What is the best support or gift I could possibly offer? Many times I feel like I’m supposed to write about very pragmatic, spiffy tools or techniques as an “app” for a busy professional life for “success, fulfillment, leadership effectiveness.” All of that has its place and I’ll continue to share relevant value.
Today, I am compelled to dig deeper, reach higher for why I am here, what moves me to want to inspire and equip you to become your Best Self.
There is a life force in you that’s like a Ferrari that wants to be let out of the garage. It’s the part of you that’s never been wounded, does not know limitation, does not need to be coddled, and can’t really be corrupted. It’s so alive– a creation imperative, inspired impulse, heat-seeking missile that wants to keep moving, not coast or get stuck. It must grow, build, express, give & receive. It loves to innovate and co-create with the same life force in others.
It’s the part of you that signs up for growth edge learning, seeks “right tribe” companions to help you be a better person-leader-inspired human and experience real joy. It wants to come out in movement, innovative business ideas, new solutions for funding or sometimes, just fun. It wants to dance with life, being all in.
It wants to connect and create great relationship communication & collaboration. It might stir as a song in your heart, game-changing solutions to important challenges in your business, or in the world, and whatever else wants to emerge! It’s non-judging, and constantly creating from an infinite well. It somehow includes incredible patience and healthy pushing, compassion and calling you (or others) on B.S., calling you forth.
Let’s call this your Inspired Self. You may call it other names. When we let this be in the driver’s seat of our lives, it’s guided by an awesome inner GPS toward the right actions at the right time, responding in each moment for the greatest possible good.
So, why aren’t we all waking up inspired and co-creating this amazing life?
There are zillions of books, courses, workshops, articles that will tell us what will help. We can take assessments to tell us what color, number or type we are. We think we have all these unique problems when we really all only have one.
What keeps getting in the way? You also have a counterforce inyou that does NOT want you to wake up inspired, change, grow, be in joy or make a difference. It wants to cling to what it will “con” you about as being comfort, security, pleasantness and prosperity.
Being able to spot this inner con artist, catching it at its game changes the whole game.
Let's call this inner part of you the Ego Con Artist. One of the ways this con gets us is default patterns, fears, habits, desires that we are not fully aware of. It’s like that boiling frog story– bit by bit we check our to-do lists, operate in cultural norms, not questioning unexamined assumptions enough. We don’t realize we are slowly boiling ourselves to death, or perpetuating lukewarm compromise, living alife smaller than we are meant to lead.
Knowing the Truth of this Inspired Self is your key to absolute liberation- all the freedom, love, joy, true wealth, better lives, better business, better world we long for. Specific outcomes include more innovation, positive impact and sustainability in your leadership, better team meetings, progress in the evolution of work cultures, and your own work more aligned with your gifts & fulfillment. You know-waking up inspired, feeling effectively on purpose, generating healthy profit and falling asleep grateful.
So, this is our deepest and most pragmatic choice- Ferrari vs. Frog. What is your daily existence feeding?
Try this:
Spy on yourself. Really notice how the default frog tendencies may be showing up.
Do you check email each morning (and that begins to kick off the busy-ness) or start your day with a conscious morning ritual and inspired priorities?
Play with asking how your Inspired Self would relate to something vs. the ego con artist (that clings to conforming, wanting to be liked, and a million other masks it wears). There are specific exercises we do in Inspired Leadership Edge work to help us identify these different “drivers” and make that smarter choice more and more.
To get you started, have fun with the Spy on Yourself game proactively for a week. Set up a reminder (phone or other device) to Pause and ask, Which part of me is motivating this thought or behavior? Then notice outcomes and aftertaste.
Then share with me the "data" you're more aware of, and let's create the best next step to fuel your inspired leadership growth. Real Prosperity, Joy, Impact- stuff like that sound good? :-)
Of course, this is just scratching the surface. Yet, if all you get from reading this is a bit more curiosity to observe yourself- that will begin alchemy in your life. If you let it!
Iwish you all the best and would love to hear any thoughts, how you experience this, questions, requests, suggestions for fueling all of us to let our true potential out, make a difference and enjoy the ride of our lives.