I want to do amazing things!
People who are motivational speakers never miss a chance to tell you about an amazing thing that they have done. It’s sort of part of their job description right? They are there typically to tell you about an amazing thing they did or something they overcame. The end result is that you feel that you also can overcome things in your life too. If they really did their job then by contrast the thing that you have to overcome is very minor by contrast. My interview with Mark Black is another example of this concept.
Now there have been a few things in my life that I have accomplished that I was absolutely terrified and doing. And those things you could say are a bit on the amazing side too (I talk about this a little in the Alchemy for Life: Formulas for Success book.
But like so many other podcasts I’m just going to tell you the opposite. So instead of grabbing my pom-poms and telling you how you could be amazing and accomplish amazing things and move outside of your comfort zone I am instead going to tell you how you can do all these things without moving outside of your comfort zone.
And do you know how we’re going to do that? Training wheels.
Conceptual Training Wheels
It was the same way that you learned to ride a bike, right? You may say that when you really learned to ride the bike it was when someone just shoved you and you had to pedal and make it work. You pedaled feverishly because you were terrified of falling over. And again that goes back to what most people say about “just do it” That’s true but before that you hopefully got to Putz around with the bike with the training wheels on it. Guess what else in life also works that way? Pretty much everything.
Again I’m speaking to you from the perspective of somebody who has plunged himself into the fire time and time again. Usually out of necessity sometimes out of circumstance and sometimes just because of horrible luck.
So with that perspective in mind I can tell you that almost anything can be accomplished with the age of training wheels.
Whether it’s nurture, nature, or genetics, women seem to get this more than men. I won’t get into the societal limitations of why men don’t because that’s another podcast.
My point is that there are a lot of things that women do for the first time but they bring a friend or did you want to group or the join a friend. Want to go speed dating? You’ll see most women show up with a friend and I just doing it on a lark while the men show up alone and terrified.
I could list for you all the groups that women are lucky enough to have and be allowed to have that support this concept of training wheels. But let’s just talk about individual examples.
Examples of metaphorical training wheels
Listen in to get some examples to get your gears turning, and some helpful homework that just may make you consider that you can do something you’ve always wanted to, and still remain in your comfort zone. Cheers!
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Mark Bradford is the author of nine books, both fiction and nonfiction, including the clinical psychologist-endorsed Three Voices as well as the award-winning trilogy The Sword and the Sunflower.
Mark Bradford developed a system to achieve goals, manage your energy and understand and strengthen your path – it’s Alchemy for Life™.
He writes, coaches and speaks on the subject. For more information, tips and tricks, like Mark Bradford on Facebook, follow Mark Bradford on Twitter.
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