The Art of Leaping
Today I want to share with you a concept I teach in my Playing Big program for women, which starts in just a couple weeks. Registration is happening now – click here to learn more.
A while back I started to notice a particular kind of pathology in myself and in the women around me.
We were
over-preparing
over-researching
over-analyzing
waiting waiting waiting
before
sharing our ideas & launching our projects.
When I listened to these women talk about their waiting, and when I listened to the internal monologue about my own waiting, I heard fear.
fear of not being ready
fear of the work not being good enough
fear of one’s very self not being good enough
If you look very deep underneath your impulse to wait, to prepare more, to hold back — you’ll find the belief that by sharing your voice freely, without planning or control, you could “make a fool of yourself.” You could be met with painful criticism. Judgement. A lack of love.
That’s true. You could. And I’m sure in the past you have.
But honey, there was nothing wrong with you or what you had to say. The problem was out there in the culture — a culture which remains blind to the gifts that each human being has to share, a culture that has made up stories about our not-enoughness, a culture which judges people who then pass on that painful judgement to others.
We’ve got so much to unlearn. We’ve got so much to reinvent.
This video is about leaping — the antidote to the waiting. Leaping is a very specific kind of action, defined by four qualities outlined in the video.
If we are going to help bring the world out of the mess it is in, brilliant women (that means you) need to leap.
Watch HERE.
I invite you to come over and check out Playing Big. I’ve crafted a six month journey to teach you the tools and skills that are most powerful in helping women play bigger. CLICK HERE to learn more about Playing Big.
“I was advised to do Playing Big by my boss and many people have noticed how my confidence has increased at work. Many, many, thanks”. —Playing Big Participant
“As a result of Playing Big, I published a book, got a new website up, moved beyond some old energies of inner critics, and stopped caring so much what others might think of what I’m doing.” —Playing Big Participant
Thanks Tara! I love being on your email list. Your encouraging words help me keep growing and not give up the faith, and inspire me to uplift others in my life.
Please keep doing what you’re doing!
Hi Tara:
I leaped a couple of months ago and sent you the blog to “get my stuff out there”! Very productive and creative energy-wise.
Maybe your readers would like to check out:
http://jkdesignspot.blogspot.com for themselves?
Thank you, thank you for your inspirational reminders….
Tara,
Out of all of the dozens, hundreds, thousands of blogs out there (and probably a good deal more than that)aimed at helping women do the work they were born to do, yours speaks most deeply to me. Thank you for this; as usual, you have an uncanny knack for giving me the right thing at the right time to help me move forward.
Tara, I feel as though you are writing directly to me in this post. I hoped over here having hear my friend Lynn mention you several times in her updates and I’m glad I did. Your warmth and encouragement is most welcome at the moment and not because I don’t leap…I always leap and that is why I have a successful business…but because I also always feel those same things that would keep us from leaping. I just do it anyway. I will be popping by more often to see what you have to say and what you are up to, and look forward to the day I can share with you that I can leap and perhaps not have to also experience all those nonsensical anxieties at the same time…lol. Work in progress as they say… So glad to have found you. Have a beautiful day! Cheers ~Norma
Tara, yes I did it. I took a leap. I actually did it a few days before watching this video, but that is close enough in my book (and you did say that women follow the rules too closely, right?)
I made my first offer. I created an e-course that people can sign up for (for free) and my goal is to find like-minded people that are interested in how to create an international career and get feedback on what they want to know or experience, as relates to this topic. This way I can tailor my work into something that’s truly useful rather than a collection of whatever I feel like saying.
Thank you (and thanks to Eric’s book) for giving me ideas on how to run a test that feels like an extension of what I’ve been doing and a response to needs I’ve heard over and over, rather than (1) adopting someone else’s vocabulary and pretending it’s mine or (2) doing nothing.
I have noticed that people approach me differently now that I’ve made this offer. I’ll run this test until the end of the year (I also have a zillion other things on my plate) and see what I come up with.
Thanks again!
P.S. Here’s the link, in case any of you are interested: http://www.leslieforman.com/how-to-create-your-international-career/
Thanks Tara for encouraging us to to take that leap and let our voices be heard in the world. You are doing a good thing!
Tara, Thanx so much for sharing your brilliance with the world.! You are such an inspiration and I find your word of wisdoms “right on time” for me as a women in transition, trying to determine my new direction. God Bless!
Tara, You really heat the sweet spot for me. Maybe sweet spot is the wrong word. It’s the spot where I feel weakest. This post rang a bell. I’ve been working on a project for a long time that I want to turn into a book. First I want to send out articles to build a following. I keep telling myself I’m not “there” yet, not an expert, so why would anyone take my articles? Therefore why bother?
I like what you’re doing. You’re appealing to the part of me that needs confidence. I’ve read tons of self-help books as part of my project, and I think your approach is more meaningful for women than a lot of them.
Aloha Tara!
I interesting timing, I went to bed with a feeling that I had lost my dreams, my vision, my passion. Feeling I was doing my work yet something felt lost.
Well it was not lost but smothered by being under someone’s wing verses flying myself!
I have nothing more to say than if this post, your assignment and the comments above have spurred me on this much I will have to sign up for your course.
Breathing better already!
Mahalo, Gina
I can relate to being over prepared. I had a pattern of doing course after course (some of them degrees), but never moving to action. I am now starting my own business, and aiming to keep acting directly towards my goals without getting sidetracked by taking on training that is more detailed than I actually need. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE learning, but for me now is the time to love ACTING. Yes, that includes posting comments on blogs that resonate with me!
Lovely post! Just came across your blog through http://www.mariashriver.com. As I am on the eve of my new website launch, I feel supported by the words you wrote. Wonderful reminders.
“Look before you leap” for me means…looking into my heart for guidance and clearance to jump. For often if I look at the external circumstances, I’ll wuss out and wait, cause things don’t “look ready”. But “ready” to the heart looks different than “ready” to the mind. Peace…Kellen