Before we get started, let me tell you a little about who I am. I am a real person just like you; filled with strengths and scars trying to make the world a better place. So I know what’s like to have the title of this blog resonate in not so pleasant places. Although I am a tenacious life-long learner, things haven’t always been easy. For a variety of reasons, which you will discover as you read my writings, I married for the first time at age of 43 to a man who was truly worth waiting for. I have two step-daughters, and most of the time we like each other!
I am the founder of MetaspireConsulting.com, creator of BusinessCoachingOnDemand.com and SuperVirtualTeams.com. I am a leadership coach, mastermind leader and experiential speaker. I suspect you’re a lifelong learner too because you are reading this blog. But before we get further acquainted, I want you to know my hope is that as you continue to read you will feel inspired to take positive steps toward living your life more fully and in harmony with your legacy as a leader.
My life is so good today. I am very grateful for all of the coaches, therapists, “adopted” family and mastermind leaders who made me who I am today. Without that work, my husband and I wouldn’t be happily married nor would I love my clients so much and be living my legacy. However, things weren’t always that way. I used to think that only people who were born with money could make money. I used to think maybe I did something bad in a previous life so I couldn’t be successful.
MEMORIES
In fact, one of my earliest memories is unsuccessfully trying to stop my father from hitting my sister. She ran upstairs. He chased her. I screamed for my mom to stop it. She said, “If you want him to stop, you tell him.” I ran up the stairs screaming, “Stop!” like a broken record. When was he finished, I offered her my teddy bear. She refused. As tears ran down our cheeks, my chest felt frozen. I didn’t know what I was feeling but it wasn’t good.
Now I know it was my first experience with the feeling of helplessness. Yet I felt a power within myself rising up which said, “There must be something better than this.” This “Voice” is what I call the Leader Within, God or our Intuition. Some call it our Captain, our Pilot, or our Higher Self. Whatever you call it, this is a part of us we are born with and our connection can develop over time.
On the other hand, I learned when I was younger, I learned not to bother asking for help because if you want something done, you have to do it yourself. For years I argued that clearly the stork dropped me in the wrong house, the gift here became a strong value of self-reliance. As time went on I clearly remember the spring of 1976, I was about seven years old. It’s a cool, crisp ordinary day and my parents’ arguing is getting louder. I look down and notice my brother’s football uniform lying on the carpet. I reach down and pick up the helmet and try to pull it on. This padding is comfy even though it’s slipping a bit. My parents’ voices are dimmer. It’s PERFECT!
I imagine I could wear this helmet every day and it would protect me from random acts of family violence. I didn’t want to take it off. I am not sure why my mom had such a hard time understanding that. I still think that it was a good idea. You see as children we are automatically aligned with our values of imagination and resourcefulness. Our values are important because they are like SuperPower Guideposts that help us listen to our Leader Within. However, at this point I began to forget what I really wanted and I learned to check the boxes my mother had set out for me just to get by.
My checking the boxes continued even when I was accomplishing big things in business. The point is no matter how old we are, we need to get back to our natural state of imagination and resourcefulness. These values are what we need to listen to when we are in transition, have big decisions to make or are goal setting. When we know our values, we are more closely aligned with our Leader Within.
Making it Real for you:
- What’s one of the first impacting memories you have?
- What did you believe about yourself at that time? What did you believe about the world around you?
- What do you believe now? How strongly do you believe it?
- What are you willing to do or not do based on the belief of your choosing?
- What do you know about your Leadership SuperPowers?