On Thursday, I taught the first classes of the courses I will be teaching this quarter at the University of Denver. The course is designed to prepare students to study abroad. Many of them will be going to countries they have never been and to and many will go to countries where they do not speak the native language well.
Since they all have chosen that studying abroad is something they desire to do; they have, consciously or not, chosen to step into the unknown and to put themselves in a situation that will likely be quite uncomfortable. As that was the case, I chose to begin my classes with improv games – purposely to get them to be uncomfortable. In the first activity, students had to think of an action that illustrated something about their personality, perform the action and state their name. This isn’t easy, especially for young adults. Everyone, no matter their age, thinks about what other people might think of them and how they might look stupid. Here I was asking them to do something that put them in front of their peers and to do something that might make them look silly. And I was encouraging them to own it. Own your action and your name. Be bold and confident. When you do something unusual with confidence, it doesn’t seem as unusual. But, the thing is, you have to continue to step into the discomfort, which means stretching yourself and changing how you see ‘scary’ challenges, aka desires.
This is true outside the classroom as well. You may not be preparing to study abroad, but you may be wanting to take your business to the next level, or break a new level of income, or transform your relationship with your significant other. No matter what you may be stepping into, it is unknown. It can be scary. You might look silly. People may judge you. And the more you can do it anyway, with confidence, the more all of that won’t matter.
What is it that you’ve always wanted to do or change about your life? How long have you wanted to make this change? What are your fears about it? Are you tired of another year going by and you still haven’t done that thing? That thing that’s been calling you, over and over?
It takes a big leap in order to make a big shift and it starts with a big decision.
Imagine what it would be like to have support in making that big decision and the tools to help you continue to walk the path that leads you to incredible fulfillment, abundance, and love. Imagine having the confidence to make big leaps, again and again. Imagine being so decisive that you make decisions quickly, you take aligned actions consistently, and you speak your truth boldly.
This is your year. It’s time to jump.