A few days ago, a former client called me and told me that their leadership retreat – which was meant to be in person – had been cancelled at the last minute due to the pandemic. They needed to go virtual and wanted a guest speaker last minute. She wanted me to present to her whole management team in Europe on a topic I hadn’t done prior.
“Of course I can. I will find the time in the next few days to research, craft and rehearse it.” My brain told me it was rushed and my schedule already full, but I couldn’t let her down.
Little did I know that I would have a serious reaction to the 3rd booster shot, and my daughter would get sick for 2 days after that, needing my constant care 24/7.
I was left with some hours prior to the event to do it all, start from scratch and deliver on my commitment. “Don’t do it. It’s too hard. You’ll never deliver on time. You will only embarrass yourself. Call her and cancel. She will understand.” That’s all my brain could say, over and over.
If I would have listened to my brain alone, I would have just quit. But I couldn’t do that. I couldn’t let my former client down and I couldn’t let adversity get in the way of my showing up, doing my best, trying at the very least.
At times when I need to push beyond what my mind tells me, I focus on my gut. My gut is brave and courageous and shares with me messages of strength. My gut is my coach and my cheerleader, always encouraging me to be and do better, inspiring me to overcome my own mental limitations.
“You can and you will. You have some time now, so instead of wasting valuable time and energy worrying about quitting, you can use that time to do some deep focused work and see what you are capable of achieving.” I love my gut’s voice. It is often scary, but with time I’ve learn to trust it. I know it means well, and it wants me to get out of my own way.
“I CAN DO THIS AND I WILL” I tell myself. And almost instantly, I feel a lightness and a surge of energy that has me recalculating inside my head the process that I need to follow to complete and deliver on my commitment on time, and to the level I am used to when I can afford more time and energy.
That’s it. I sit down, I start from the beginning, and I only allow myself to focus on the step that I am working on right now. I notice I am somehow far more focused and efficient than normal. I feel weirdly energized and completely absorbed with my work and, before I know it, I have managed to complete it all with some hours to spare.
As I rehearse, I can’t stop smiling and feeling proud of myself. I don’t quite understand how I was able to pull myself together and get it all done in a fragment of the time I would typically invest in a similar project.
Going through this made me realise that your attitude determines your success or failure. It makes me wonder how many times I’ve said no or can’t in the past, and what the cost was of not showing up and proving that I was capable of so much more than I gave myself credit for.
I wonder what would be possible for all of us, if we just dedicated a bit more time listening to our gut, instead of blindly following our mind’s commands.
This morning I woke up to the nicest feedback from my former client about my contribution to the event. In it, she tells me about how they loved my energy and style of presentation, what a difference it made for the team, how it enriched their discussions on the day, and how they were able to incorporate some of their learnings into their new strategic roadmap moving forward. I can’t stop smiling, feeling grateful and blessed to have the opportunity to serve and impact others positively.
It makes me reflect on how easily it would have been to give up, and how I would have felt if I had just said no instead.
I wanted to share my story with you so that if you want to turn your cant’s into cans, you too can seek out the messages from your own gut, because we all have them. All you need to do is to focus on your gut and ask questions – you’ll be surprised just how quickly the words of encouragement come up.
Just know that your mind doesn’t always have your back. It is wired for self-preservation, keeping you safe and stuck in your comfort zone. For those times when you feel unable to aim higher or reach further, know that you have other resources within you to help you go beyond what you think you are capable of.
To your success,
Isabel
Isabel is an experienced Peak Performance Strategist with over 20 years of international work experience holding senior positions within the hospitality industry in countries around the world, as well as Executive and Leadership coaching, mentoring and training. She specializes in high performance strategy, leadership development and building organizational culture to help leaders and their teams learn, grow and succeed. Isabel is passionate about helping empower business leaders with the mindset, performance, skills and strategies that they need to get ahead. More available on www.isabelvalle.com
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