We have all had the moment when we are struck with fear as we are asked to complete a task that is quite foreign to us.
The requester says,
“I have faith that you can do it.”
“I believe in you.”
All very well for them to say but this task is quite unknown. Fear and doubt cloud your mind and build a barrier one negative thought after another. Your protective brain kicks in with some familiar stories.
“You can’t do this. Remember when you were little, and you failed?”
“What knowledge have you got? They just want it done because they can’t be bothered doing it themselves.”
“Remember how you felt after the failure? They said thanks what a good job. But you know it could have been better. They were just saying that to be nice”
And so, it goes on until the excuse brain chimes in,
“Hey we can short cut this situation with some excuses of why we can’t complete the task. Take a sickie. Say you have COVID. Use the snowed under card. They have worked in the past.”
This story is like a rerun of the self for filling prophecy. You get uncomfortable, the negative voice begins, and you don’t complete the task. Which means you miss out on the opportunity to learn and grow.
The brain is constantly in protection mode. It is programmed to keep the system and its structure away from harm. Even when the harm is not physical.
Could you imagine the consequences if Henry Ford listened to the fears of his inner voice back in 1913? “You can’t build an assembly line? It has never been done before? Who are you anyway?
The modern-day protective voice is actually saying:
“This is going to get uncomfortable.” And like being uncomfortable on the couch, you adjust your cushions, positions and perspective until you are comfortable. Once this is done, your knowledge has improved of how you like your couch arranged.
Life begins when uncomfortable starts.
Think of the person you will be after delivering the completed task!
This is the time to take a new challenge, apply known skills, ask specialised people, research past proficiencies and grow to be comfortable.
There was a stage of our lives when riding a bike seemed like a bridge to far. Balancing was not a known skill set. But someone said,
“I have faith that you can do it.”
“I believe in you.”
And you tried. Fell. Cried. And tried again and the sheer joy of when you conquered your comfort zone, was greater than riding the bike.
Leading a Team or Leading Yourself both place you in the “Uncomfortable Zone” more times than you like but reversing the self for filling prophecy and growing through being uncomfortable, accelerates your growth and confidence in new adventures.
Like Henry Ford, he would have been constantly curious of the process he was about to build. Asking questions of himself and of others. He didn’t have all the answers, but someone did.
You are at liberty to answer your greatest critic,
“Why can’t I do the task? I have enough knowledge to work it out.”
“Where is the evidence? There is no evidence because this is a new task. No comparison.”
“Who will I be if I find the answers? A person more knowledgeable, more connected and more in power of the decisions they make.”
The answers are the positive side of growth.
When you are uncomfortable, be curious and ask why. Because at the end of the adventure is more comfort with a better view.
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