Some time ago I participated in a coaching program led by the incomparable Pamela Slim. It was a guided excavation of our life experiences and skills in order to more effectively leverage them as building blocks for our future.
The course was within a group environment but all of the work was individualized. We were each given the same assignments to complete and then bring back to the forums and group. By sharing our work we were also learning to articulate with clarity what we had confirmed as our personal beliefs about ourselves and our vision for our lives.
Before examining our body of work, the initial focus was on our roots: our core values and beliefs. But there was an additional caveat. We also explored and shared their genesis and evolution. We can take a myriad of assessments that will help us identify and define core strengths. While those can tell us who we are now, what is often more compelling is an understanding of why or how we came to be that person. There is a critical connection between belief and skill.
Examining the source of a belief can be powerful work. It can help us explain something that drives us that we’ve never been able to see before. It can help us let go of beliefs that no longer serve us. One of the key lessons in this is that only those beliefs that are the product of our own conclusions create true change. Everything else is just a temporary persona we’ve taken on and does not reflect our true selves.
Kyle Wilson, long time business partner and friend of thought leader Jim Rohn, recently shared this quote from him with our Lessons from Network community: “Be a student not a follower. Gather all the information, then make sure what you believe and decide is the product of your own conclusions!” I clearly remember the first time I heard Jim Rohn teach this. I was listening to one of his recordings while driving to see a friend. It spoke to me with such resonance that I stopped the car to listen again; and then again. It remains what I consider to be one of the most important entries in my personal journal and a core element of my own life philosophy.
When we take the time to know ourselves and take responsibility for our personal beliefs it enables us to embrace the incredible person that we are. It is then, and only then that we can tap into our unlimited capacity to grow and expand. It transforms our entire landscape of opportunity.
Find your roots. And then let them show! Allow yourself the gift of some magnificent obsessions around what matters to you and your role in the world.
When you do, you will also find the passion you need to live today like you want tomorrow to be. Live well.
