5. F A I L U R E S
L O S S E S
AWKWARD MOMENTS
‘ W E I R D N E S S ’
S H O R T C O M I N G S
6. F A I L U R E S & L O S S E S
A failure is an event, not a person
Experiencing failure means you’re trying
The most famous were 1st famous for failing
http://www.onlinecollege.org/2010/02/16/50-famously-
successful-people-who-failed-at-first/
7. F A I L U R E S & L O S S E S
Everything happens for a reason
Some doors are better off sealed shut
A loss is God’s way of saying to us
“Trust me, I’ve got something better”
http://www.inspiringthots.net/movie/truth-of-failure.php
8. AWKWARD MOMENTS &
‘ W E I R D N E S S ’
You’re an original
Your “tribe” fully
identifies with you
Awkward moments
make you human -aka
relatable
9. SH O R T C O M I N G S
Work to our advantage when we quit comparisons
and focus on complements
The other half of the puzzle to our dreams
Allow us (and others) to work in “our genius”
10. E M B R A C E Y O U R
F . L . A . W . S .
Fully Living and Always Willingly Showing Up
Real people aren’t perfect
Perfect people aren’t real
Without Your flaws, you wouldn’t be You
11. Waste Nothing- Part1 (contd.)
Use your FLAWS to help you:
Learn, grow & improve
Trust God
Connect to Your “tribe”
Find support and build teams
12. Plan a Plan That Works
for YOU
Leverage your strengths AND your “flaws”
Work In Your Genius
Use YOUR stuff - the tools in YOUR toolbox
Understand Your Innovation Style
13. HOMEWORK
Complete the assessment located at the link below
from the “Innovation You” website:
http://innovationyou.com/assessments/individual
Print out the results, review them & take notes, and
be prepared to discuss during coaching call
14. HOMEWORK(contd.)
Use your book “Life Lessons from a Dreamer” to
complete the following:
Review your compiled list of provisions from the Module
2 homework, then read Chapter 7, ‘Dream Wide Awake’
(pg. 134) and complete the questions therein
Read and complete the questions from Chapter 4, ‘Love
Yourself…All of You’ (pg. 63-69 and 85-89)
Concerning losses - those missed opportunities and doorways that seemed to be wide open for others, but not for you.
Well, and I know this is NOT new, but it makes it no less true. EVERYTHING happens for a reason.
Sometimes that reason is because we caused it to happen…so, some losses are the results of mistakes we make. But, again, if you take the approach to not beat yourself up about it, and instead embrace it for the gifts in disguise that these moments hold, you’ll truly benefit from taking time to reflect and asking yourself “what was I learning?”
Other times, you’ll realize that the lesson in the loss was because some doors are truly better off sealed shut, meaning that they were NOT AT ALL what you honestly wanted or needed for your particular journey. We can’t always initially see this, but hindsight is 20/20, and these truths become crystal clear on the back end, as long as you don’t give up. That’s when you find that some losses are simply God’s way of saying, “Trust me, I’ve got something better.” And being that God is the ultimate provider and provision when it comes to your dreams, you really can’t get any better than that.
Let’s move on to those Awkward Moments and what I like to refer to as our Weirdness.
These are the instances when you feel like you stand out like someone who wore prom attire to a backyard barbecue.
This is a big issue when we’re growing up…coming through junior high, high school…but the reality is that sometimes we get stuck back in that era, and keep allowing those embarrassing and shame filled messages to keep repeating on loop in our heads and define who we are today. Well, I’ve got a message for you…YOU ARE AN ORIGINAL. EVERYTHING ABOUT YOU WAS INTENTIONAL AND ON PURPOSE…EVERYTHING!!
Embrace it! Stop trying to hide it or run from it. Wear your so called “weirdness” like a badge of honor. Step into who you are, showing up for the world every single day as who you were meant to be…not some watered down, altered, camouflaged version of who you think you’re supposed to be.
Why is this a must? Well, if you intend to successfully connect with your tribe – that audience that was designed specifically for your gift, product, service, or message – You have to be YOU because those people FULLY IDENTIFY with what you’ve got. Anything less than you being 100% will cause a disconnect.
Your authenticity is what draws them to you, and allows you to serve.
And as for those awkward moments, they are simply a part of the human experience. Everyone has them, and because of this, they make you relatable, which in the business world translates to approachable. When you embrace these by being brave enough to share the stories of these instances with others, you tend to create far more loyal connections and networks than when you try to pretend otherwise.
Finally, we’ve come to our Shortcomings. Those areas where we could potentially use some improvement, or plain old help.
Shortcomings can be touchy, as negatively focusing on them tends to drive comparisons. I believe this to be a waste of time, because as I mentioned previously, everything about you is intentional and on purpose…so what you showed up with is exactly what you are supposed to have and bring to the rest of the world. The part that we often miss when we look at our shortcomings as a bad thing as opposed to embracing them is that everyone else showed up with exactly what they were supposed to have, as well. So, instead of comparing ourselves, we should be out searching for our complements.
This is how strong teams are formed, which is so interesting, because the feedback that I get more often than not from people pursuing their dreams is that they don’t have enough support. The truth is, too much time is being spent on trying to find people who are just like us to rally around our ideas as opposed to people who bring to the table the very things that we need to make our ideas whole and fully effective. Our shortcomings are truly just the other half to the puzzle piece that completes our dreams.
Some of the best coaching advice I’ve received is to allow people to work in their genius. When you embrace your shortcomings for what they are, you open up the door to allow people to do just that.
In summary, when we Truly Embrace our flaws – our failures, losses, awkward moments, weirdness, and shortcomings - what we are actually doing is fully living and always willingly showing up. We are using our Courage to positively change the things we can by taking full advantage of the human experience for all that it has to offer, and giving it back our perfectly imperfect best. We are accepting the fact that real people aren’t perfect, and perfect people aren’t real…they simply don’t exist. But we do, and we are real people, and without our flaws, we wouldn’t be the intentional and on purpose beings that we are. That we were intended to be.
Understand that God knew exactly what He was doing in creating us…He did not make any mistakes…and just as He continues to waste NOTHING by providing us with the experiences to develop us into stellar dream chasers and catchers, WE shouldn’t waste anything EITHER, Including our flaws.
Use your flaws to help you learn, grow and improve. Allow them to bring about an increase of trust in God’s plan for your life. Leverage them to enable a solid connection to your tribe, guide you to your support systems, and build strong teams focused on the same goals.
Treat every experience, even the so called “bad” ones, as if it was your favorite dish and make sure to Clean Your Plate.
I’m going to close out by emphasizing that in your preparation, plan a plan that works for you, and prepare your mind accordingly.
Albert Einstein has a famous quote that says ‘Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.’
So Know who YOU are, and get extremely comfortable with that. Leverage your Strengths AND you flaws to your best advantage. Remember that EVERYBODY is a genius, so learn to work in yours. Use YOUR stuff – the tools that are in YOUR toolbox – because they are going to do the best job at helping you to achieve YOUR dreams.
Understanding your unique innovation style is a definite key to maximizing your personal tools, which leads us to the homework for Module 3…
The first part of your homework for this section of Module 3 is to carefully and thoughtfully complete the individual assessment on the “Innovation You” website at the link provided, print out the results, review them and record any useful or meaningful insights, and be prepared to discuss it during next week’s coaching call.
The second and final part of your homework will require you to use the book “Life Lessons from a Dreamer” to practice some self-reflection. First, I’d like for you to review your compiled list of provisions from the Module 2 homework, then read Chapter 7, ‘Dream Wide Awake’ which begins on (pg. 134) and complete the questions therein.
Next, you’ll follow that up by reading (pg. 63-69 and 85-89) from Chapter 4, ‘Love Yourself…All of You’, and completing the questions on those pages.
This concludes part 1 of 3 for Module 3 on PREPARATION
Thank you, again, for tuning in, and I look forward to our time together during the coaching call next week Thursday!
Until then, take care
