The first time I heard it, we were wandering around the Pacific Science Center with my 3 ½ year old grandson, Caleb. He spotted a yellow lab. The owner invited Caleb to pet the dog while she explained, “My dog has a soft coat and soft ears.”
Caleb nodded sagely and added, “Yes, and I’m going to get old and die.”
After a brief moment of shocked silence, the dog owner smiled and quickly moved on. We, the weird family accompanying this tiny sage, agreed with him that he would indeed get old and then die and did anyone want popcorn?
This weekend I spent a 3 day retreat with 75 kickass leaders in the transformational industry: coaches, healers, and energy workers. We shared best practices, dug deep into our personal awakening, and discussed what it means to be a conscious business owner.
During one particularly insightful masterminding seasons, our group discussed the discomforting aspects of risk taking. One of my partners remarked, “What the hell!, We are all going to die one day anyway!.”
I flashed back to what Caleb said. This little boy with his whole life ahead of him. What I wish is that he has lots of adventure, fulfilling experiences and love. But, like growing a business or trusting a stranger that says it’s ok to pet her dog, that all requires taking a risk.
You can build your biz to a certain point and stay safe in your comfort zone. Maybe that means only finding clients by word of mouth and avoiding social media. Or just looking for clients on Facebook and never venturing out of your house. Or sticking with the tried and true methods you learned from a great mentor while hiding a unique, remarkable, perhaps magical talent.
But as they say, “If nothing changes, nothing changes.”
And that’s ok, if that’s what you want.
But for most of us, there comes a time when we must step out of the box and risk. Growing requires us to finally offer a webinar or to hire help. It asks us to stand up proudly and say “I can help because I have this special sauce which is me.”
We do it feeling not quite ready, not quite sure. We don’t understand fully what to do or how to do.
It’s that edge that brings us fully alive. We find ourselves standing on the cliff ready to step off, not knowing if there will be an invisible bridge or we will spout wings, or if we will fail miserably sprawled on the stones below.
In this aliveness is an energy, a quickening that quivers with excitement. An opening that allows the universe to enter and bring with it unconditional support and love. It awakens in us a deeper genius that draws the clients that are ours to serve.
Always when we continue to take risks, to grow, to try new things, to be bolder, we are rewarded.
The only choices you have, my friend, are to stay in the place you are now or to take a risk and grow. Do the thing that frightens you. Take a chance. Be Bold. Pet a strange dog with a soft coat and ears.
Holding the vision of your next big risk,
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