Are you one of those people who loves to be in front of the room, or does it terrify you? I was DEFINITELY in the terrified camp for a long time. Like a long, long time. I would wake up in the middle of the night for weeks leading up to whatever I was going to be presenting, my heart racing, thinking about everything that could possibly go wrong. And then the day came to present, and I was a nervous wreck. I jumbled my words, was self conscious, and felt like I needed to memorize whatever I was going to share. There was NO WAY I was going to be able to just talk naturally in front of the room without a script.
And then, someone gave me a pretty powerful piece of advice.. it's not about you. Instead of getting so wrapped up in my own anxieties, a light bulb went off that allowed me to recognize that it would be so much more effective & enjoyable for my audience (& me!) to be focused on them instead.
Make it less about you and more about them. Shifting my attention in this way was huge. Can I tell you how incredibly freeing that is!? Seriously. Try it y'all. Life will be so much easier and better for you and those around you.
Want to know a secret? I totally have adopted that mindset for social media, too. Up until this month, I had ONE post on my personal Instagram. ONE. And it was published in 2014. By my husband. You know what else? My husband created that account for me. Even crazier? My little sister created my Facebook account back in 2006 (which was part of how I met my husband later that same year, but that's a story for another day, haha).
I am getting uncomfortably honest about this because for the longest time, I struggled with something that seems SO easy to others. I just didn't feel like sharing, didn't know what to say, was worried about putting together the *perfect* post, it just felt like too much. And wasn't fun.
(Quick sidebar. An interesting fact for y'all.. I recently heard Alli Worthington mention in a podcast that scientifically, we can avoid becoming depressed by our social media use when we actively engage. Which I was not doing for YEARS. Do you struggle with the same thing? I would encourage you to start by actually 'liking' and commenting on posts as your first baby step (rather than just doing a quick scroll through!), and then start posting your own stuff! And of course, put boundaries in place for yourself! I downloaded the Moment app on my phone to keep me in check.)
But then, I thought about you all. I thought about the mission of Grace Space Christian Coaching. I thought about my mission to help you courageously say yes to your God sized dreams. And I can't do that if I never share. I had to let go and step into the discomfort.
And you know what, I just posted my 100th post on Instagram. So guess what? I'm going to celebrate it! You may have hundreds or shoot, thousands of posts and are laughing to yourself. And hey, that's okay. But you know what? For me, this is big! I am caring more about inspiring you all that being comfortable and hiding, which is easier. As Marianne Williamson said, remember that "your playing small does not serve the world."
And you know the glue that holds it all together? Yeah. God. Thank you, Jesus. For my power is made perfect in weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:9) I realized lately I was feeling incredibly stressed. And it was because I had the weight of my world in my shoulders. Let's do ourselves a favor and - say it with me, friends! haha- let go and let God.
Ready to take your next big leap? Let's talk!
So much love to you all <3