Early in your life you were told things like; think before you speak up and raise your hand before you talk. This was enforced over and over again, until you conditioned yourselves to not speak aloud; until you had fully internalized what you wanted to say.
Even at this point, sometimes you might internalize and then choose not to speak. If we asked why we had to do this, we would give an answer like; we could hurt other people’s feelings, or we were told that there was no such thing as a stupid question, only to have everyone laugh the one time you did ask the question.
Now how on earth could you have any big impact on the world if you were questioning your thoughts; if you were questioning everything you ever felt you could improve in this world?
We then transitioned through and got to a point where we were told to trust our gut, or told to say what we were thinking, but for many of us it felt so strange after being told not to for so many years.
I am writing today to tell you to speak your mind and trust your gut. Be brutally honest. Be so honest it makes people uncomfortable. Be so honest it makes you uncomfortable.When someone else is brutally honest to you, thank them. Remember, we don’t get better by living in our comfort zone. We have to become comfortable being uncomfortable. This is where the true growth happens.How can you do these things you ask?
- Trust your gut. It will take practice. Work at trusting whatever comes up. If you have a bad feeling about something, trust it. Believe you have found what you are looking for, trust it. If you believe you know best, you just need to start listening to and trusting you.
- Be brutally honest with yourself and others. If you don’t like something, speak it. If you want to see change, drive it. If you want to make a change, commit to it.
- Commit to being uncomfortable everyday. Put yourself in those uncomfortable conversations and those uncomfortable events. People always say “well that’s just not me”. Its not you, at this moment in time, because you have never chose to do it.
- Thank people who have been brutally honest with you. These people are hard to find. Listen to them. Thank them for their time. Then move on and improve, continue to grow.
When we do these things, we make ourselves vulnerable. It is one of the main reasons why we never do it. We don’t like to admit that we don’t have all the answers. But here today, commit to bettering yourself. Expose yourself to the uncomfortable truth. Let down your walls that you have built up. Find the people that will assist you on this uncomfortable journey. Break down barriers and set new aspirations.
Who knows, you may just change the world.