Photo courtesy of Luis Deliz and Flikr
“Fear is peeing your pants.
Courage is doing what you’re supposed to do with wet pants.”
– An anonymous drill sergeant
I’ve just started posting content on LinkedIn, so I thought I’d give you a taste of the kind of thing I’m doing there. So without further ado, here’s Getting Out of Your Depth (Or “How to succeed by throwing yourself into situations where you don’t know what you’re doing”)
I was nervous.
It was 1997, and I’d just moved to London.
I’d managed to get a job working for a technology consultancy, and I felt like I was out of my depth.
Because I was out of my depth.
It was my first stint at being a consultant, and I was starting to realise how much I didn’t know.
Our offices were on the top two floors of Centrepoint, a skyscraper on the corner of Tottenham Court Road and Oxford Street in central London.
So I did my best. I watched and listened and learned.
I “did” courage. I said “yes” to things I would have been more comfortable saying “no” to.
I made mistakes.
I was criticised. More often, I criticised myself.
Sometimes I looked silly. Sometimes I didn’t. I kept taking action and learning and growing.
I was terrified of public speaking.
I decided to get better at it. So I experimented with public speaking while feeling terrified.
I got better at it.
I was walking past Centrepoint today when it suddenly struck me:
I couldn’t have dreamt back in 1997 that I would be living the life I have today.
But I owe it at least in part to the “me” who was willing to get out of his depth back in 1997.
And that’s the thing. While I was often worried, anxious, and insecure, there was one thing I knew for sure:
Sometimes the only way you grow is by getting out of your depth.
So how about you? What are some of the possibilities you could bring to life if you get out of your depth?
If you like this and want more of it, follow me on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/jamiesmartclarity
Big love
Jamie
Jamie Smart
Sunday Times Bestselling Author, Speaker and Executive Coach
PS The Annual Certified Clarity Coach Training Programme starts this weekend. If you don’t want to have to wait another year before you do it, you can find all the details and get your application in here: https://www.jamiesmart.com/clarity-coach-training-sh/
PLUS: Whenever you’re ready… here are 4 ways I can help you get the clarity and results that matter to you:
1. Hire me to speak at your event
If you want an entertaining and impactful keynote speech or breakout session for your conference, offsite or town hall meeting, click here https://www.jamiesmart.com/book-jamie-to-speak-about/
2. Join the Profitable Coaches Group
Join the Profitable Coaches Professional Group and connect with the growing community of like-minded transformation professionals who are passionate about exponentially increasing their grounding, impact and their livelihood. You can join for free at https://www.jamiesmart.com/profitable/
3. Join the next intake of Project Glasswing
We’re putting together a new practice-building case study group at Coaching Package Power. Stay tuned for details… If you’d like to work with me and my team on growing your practice… email Nikki at info@jamiesmart.com and type “Project Glasswing” in the subject line.
PLUS: check these out :
Get your free Profitable Coaches Scorecard book www.JamieSmart.com/scoreca
Listen to the Results Mindset Podcast www.JamieSmart.com/resultspodcast
Listen to The Profitable Coaches Podcast www.JamieSmart.com/pcp
Read the first 2 chapters of my Sunday Times Bestseller RESULTS: Think Less, Achieve More www.JamieSmart.com/instantresults