How Being Vulnerable Sets You Free

I belong to quite a few Facebook groups.  Each has a different focus. And yet, there is a common element: sharing knowledge.  Occasionally, someone will be fearless, and describe a challenge they are experiencing.  Ask for help.  People love to give suggestions and opinions when that happens.  One thing I've noticed, though.  The opinion- and advice-givers rarely ask for advice themselves. They want to appear confident and in control.  As one poster put it recently, "I don't do vulnerable." 

I'd like to invite that poster, and anyone else who's unwilling to be vulnerable, to step outside their comfort zone. Being vulnerable sets you free.  Here's how:

How Asking Yourself this ONE Question Can Change Your Life

How many times are we sure we know what another person is going to say, or how they will react? How many times are we sure we know the outcome of someone's statement, or how a certain situation will play out?  Most of the time?  And how many times does that certainty paralyze us?  Fear uses this technique to keep us in our comfort zone.

I'm going to teach you a question that, when you ask it to yourself, will change your thinking. This question will give you the courage to take that risk that you've been avoiding.  Permission to move out of your comfort zone.  Permission to open up new channels of communication.  New frontiers.  Permission to see situations, and people in a different light.  

Sound good?  Let's continue.

Only One Core Fear? Really?

There's so much talk about fear lately.  On the Internet. In magazines. Newspaper articles.  Among friends.  Everyone's saying how fear is holding you back.  And how you need to push through that fear to move toward your dreams.  Your wishes.  Or even your life's purpose.  

Yet, it's left up to you to define what it is that scares you.  Perhaps you're led to believe that a different fear rules Every. Single. Situation.  That each time you feel stuck, it's a different fear you have to face.  To accept.  To move past.  I challenge you today to think differently.

You *Are* Good Enough

I'm under the weather, and choosing to give myself a day off.  Wanted you all to know I'm thinking about you, though.  You're good. You're great.  You're fantastic.  You've got this!

7 Steps to Get Yourself Out of Your Comfort Zone

Do you want to get out of your comfort zone?  Are you sure?  Because, let's face it, our comfort zone is, well......comfortable.  Safe.  A place within which fear keeps us safe from the unexpected  consequences of stretches, risks and (gulp!) dies.

Ah, but stretches, risks and dies are where the magic happens.  Where we learn our true capabilities.  Where anything is possible.  Where we begin to feel our freedom. Where we fly.  Yet, fear tells us not to take those risks.  "It's scary out there!" fear says, "I can't guarantee your safety.  Stay here with me.  Stick with the known." And yet....we yearn.  To be more.  To do more.  To find our purpose.  To get our needs met. To live our dreams.  And we can, by taking the following steps:

The Power of Procrastination

Some of us procrastinate more than others. For example, I set aside time to write this post much earlier today.  It's now 10 hours past that time, and I'm finally starting.  Many, many articles have been written about why we procrastinate and how to stop procrastinating.  But what if procrastinating is good for us?  What if maybe, just maybe, procrastination is a gift we give to ourselves?  A gateway to a proactive behavior instead of a self-defeating one?

How to Find Gratitudes in the Midst of Tragedy

There is always, always, always, always, always something to be grateful for.  Sounds trite, doesn't it?  And yet, if it were truly possible, what might happen?  What might you see that you had missed while being stuck?  What missed opportunities might you have taken advantage of?  What feelings might you not have repressed?  How might your life be different?

There have been times in my life when I couldn't find a single gratitude.  When my fiancé committed suicide.  When I saw my 15-year-old daughter's face and description on missing child posters.  When my husband told me he was divorcing me.  When my new love was left in a coma after a traffic accident. When my house burned down.