DAY TWO: I AM ENOUGH
I have goals. I have dreams. I have aspirations. I have little whispers in my spirit. I have flutters in my heart. I have glimpses of my future. I can see a moment inside of a huge vision. I see others living their dream. I hear others telling me I can do it too but...
Am I really prepared enough?
Smart enough?
Wise enough?
Pretty enough?
Do I have enough?
Am I brave enough?
Am I credible enough?
Have I struggled enough?
Have I cried enough?
Have I suffered enough?
Have I given up in the past enough?
When I look in the mirror, do I believe I am worthy ENOUGH for the life, the dreams, and the purpose I feel inside of me?
PAUSE. Think. Look in the mirror. ARE YOU ENOUGH? WHY NOT? Many times we get so caught up in an invisible checklist of criteria based on what we have seen others do, what others have had to go through, how long it took someone else, or the credentials that someone told us that were required; that we abandon, abort, and deny our most precious gifts. It brings tears to my eyes when I look into the eyes of a person that I love, admire, see such greatness in, such beauty, and such strength; yet they only see what is missing...Not enough. Not yet. Not time. Not now.
Leslie Briscoe was our special guest for the cocktail party on Friday night of the Leadership Summit and she handed out gifts to each leader that was present. We had to randomly choose a gift from the bag. One of the inspirational gifts said “SOMEDAY is not a day of the week".
As I shared intimate moments with leaders who were each amazing in their own right, I saw courage, beauty, strength, and enormous purpose. However, with pain being real, with disappointments and distractions being real, and with limited time being real in our lives, many leaders were simply stuck in the VIEW of the past. Stuck in the day to day management of life. Now once you get fed up enough with putting everything and everyone above yourself, you reach a point in which you sacrifice. But then here we are...AM I ENOUGH?
What is so powerful about reaching this obstacle or hurdle, is if we saw this as an obstacle course on a journey towards your truth, is that when it is a MENTAL obstacle, you have complete control. Stick with me here. See, when we really pause and think about it. The MOMENT you choose to see something different in the mirror, the moment you see the courage we see, the moment someone can help you shift your view to your strength, and you literally DECIDE that you ARE WORTHY, that you ARE ENOUGH, and that no one you admire is any smarter, capable, less disappointed by others, less faced with distractions, but instead simply living in a NEW VIEW, a NEW DECISION, a NEW MINDSET, you literally begin to change your life. INSTANTLY. Now you have turned on a new street, a new path, a new way of living…mentally. The questions shift from AM I CREDIBLE ENOUGH or SMART ENOUGH, to what step do I take first? What step do I take next? Where can I go to surround myself with people on this path? What resources are available to guide me along this new path. Because the reality is, it is not until you first SEE and BELIEVE that you are worthy, that you will begin taking ACTION steps on the path.
Only then are you bold enough to know that any mistakes you make will NEVER define you, because the very people that you think will be watching and laughing if you fail, are secret admirers. Why? Because you are out there! 'You are in the arena', as Brene Brown would say! You are living, you are back in the game! How can you make a touchdown if you aren’t on the field? Have you ever watched an athlete miss a pass, get tackled before a touchdown, over and over and over, yet eventually they become the most valuable player? WHY? Because many times, it's not the person sitting in the stands saying what should happen or waiting until they are ENOUGH, but it’s the people who decided to get on the field and allow the field to be the TEACHER.
Trust and believe that you learn EXTREMELY different lessons from watching, studying, preparing, and researching, than you do when you are on the field, so to speak. Imagine another year of wondering versus a year of trying a few small endeavors to actually begin living this dream.
Varian Brandon is a leader that I think is so powerful that she could change women across the world. I admire her transparency in being a past Fortune 500 C-Suite Executive who admits being a TYPE A female leader who did not lead with emotion and really didn’t like getting emotionally close to people. That wasn’t what she was taught it took to be successful. We shared an intimate conversation about this in Jamaica, months before I even knew there would be a Summit. During the Summit, I asked if she would give us our marching orders as we locked arms together and prepared to depart.
THE SECOND STEP
In 1974 Philippe Petit, a Frenchman, street performer & high wire artist, carried out a feat that no one had done before or since. He walked between the twin towers at the World Trade Center on a high wire more than 1300 feet in the air.
Conventional wisdom tells us that the first step is the hardest, but I invite you to consider that the second step is actually the hardest.
You see as Philippe took the first step, although hard, he still had one foot securely planted on the rooftop of the building. He still had the opportunity to step back and not go.
He still had the opportunity to surrender to uncertainty & doubt.
He still had time to abort the mission he had been planning day & night for the previous 6 1/2 years.
It wasn't until the second step....that he knew he was all in.
That there was no turning back.
That it was either do, what he knew he could do,
what he had trained to do, what he had planned to do......or DIE!!! (literally).
It takes courage to take the first step, but it takes your full commitment to take the second step.
So for us as extraordinary leaders who were at the Summit, with all the excitement and enthusiasm that environment created, my call to YOU is to take the second step.
UNTIL YOU BELIEVE AND DECIDE THAT YOU ARE WORTHY AND THAT YOU ARE ENOUGH...The first step, the second step, your new view, your new life...will be there, inside of you, waiting to manifest. It is my hope that you will see your power, your essence, and your strength, when you look in the mirror.
Someone, somewhere needs a gift, a story, a dream that is still inside of you and the past, which may have scared you, was actually the bridge that you survived to help someone else cross over one similar. As Lorea Sample reminded each leader, "YOU ARE ENOUGH, because you are still here."
Continue reading more about NEW VIEW for the next seven days as our CEO, Tierra Destiny Reid, shares thoughts from the heart on what it felt like to experience such magic and power.
Day Two: I Am Enough
Day Three: Trust
Day Four: Faith
Day Five: Power of Knowledge
Day Six: Fear
Day Seven: Success