Your time is best leveraged when it’s spent working on the things that will move you and your business in the direction you want most. You not only feel great about the tasks you’re working on, but you also feel great about the impact your work is making on others.
Since I was about eight years old, I’ve struggled with not wanting to be in the spotlight and living life incredibly small – at times, even invisible.
For twenty years, I played the victim role.
Not being responsible, not making decisions, and ensuring at all costs that I wouldn’t have to speak up was my focus.
My huge breakthrough
In early 2014 everything changed: I had a huge breakthrough after attending a transformational training.
That same year, I took a huge stride: I started showing up in a whole new role. My focus became being a strong and confident individual.
This was a conscious choice I made. No one gave me super powers, and I didn’t receive thousands of kind notes from others telling me how wonderful I am. In fact, I heard a lot of quite the opposite.
Using what I had learned about myself through that transformational training, and taking the lessons I’ve been taught by others, I made a conscious choice to start showing up exactly how I wanted to live my life.
Guess what? As soon as I started showing up that way, I started feeling that way.
Shifting your focus
My focus shifted, and as a result, my entire life shifted.
Everything that I put out into the world came back to me from those I was surrounding myself with, and for the first time in as long as I could remember, I actually felt those things: strong and confident.
As a result, I started to see massive changes in my life.
I started stepping into the spotlight through things like:
- Being featured on others’ podcasts;
- Speaking engagements; and
- Launching my own podcast.
I enjoyed every second of it, and putting myself out there helped me realize how much knowledge and experience I have to share, and further more, how big of an impact that can have on others.
Facing doubts and fears with recognition
But after I had tackled my challenge of putting myself out there and being in the spotlight, I started to wonder: is this where I’m supposed to be?
Doubts, fears and everything in between came crashing down on me, and I started to second-guess whether or not what I had to say mattered.
Luckily, I know recognition is the first step to breaking through limiting beliefs; as soon as I recognized what I was thinking and feeling, I gave myself the opportunity to choose how I would respond to those thoughts and feelings.
As I continued moving forward, despite my doubts and fears, I discovered something else. Through a lot of brainstorming, thinking, talking, and sharing with others, I discovered what it is I’m best at.
Embracing what you’re best at
Learning to embrace what you’re best at is important, and while it doesn’t mean everything has to suddenly change, it will lift a weight off your shoulders when you know how your time is best spent.
Once I realized what it is I’m best at, I started working on projects that, while still challenging, called on skills that are almost like second nature to me. And so while I worked towards accepting – at its core – that what I’m best at doesn’t necessarily lend to being in the spotlight (not all the time anyway), it can still make me feel strong and confident.
Turns out, it was just a matter of shifting my focus.
Associating the skills I use in the backend with strength and confidence was a new thing for me. Ten years ago, being in the backend meant I was playing small.
But now I see how a variety of skills can represent whatever you want them to, as long as you’re making the progress you want in your business and life.
It was through this experience I’ve realized the true power of what it is we choose to focus on.
The mind is everything. What you think, you become. ~ Buddha
3 Ways to find your strengths
1. Ask
Ask the 5 people you’re closest with: “What do you think I’m best at?”
What’s a recurring thing or similarity in what they tell you?
2. Brainstorm
Brainstorm for 30 minutes on the things peoples come to you for the most.
What do people always as for your advice about?
3. Reflect
What are the things that come naturally to you?
Don’t let the curse of knowledge keep you from discovering what it is you’re best at!
