“It’s an empty flight”.
One of the best things you can hear when you’re about to take off on an 8.5 hour flight from Heathrow to Chicago. It’s even better when you’ve just done an 11 hour, overnight flight from JHB.
They are about to close the doors and I’m the only person in my row.
Against the bulkhead.
I like this.
The flight over to Heathrow was crazy busy, they always seem to be, but I feel very rested. I kinda half remember us taking off, I have a blurry memory of telling the air hostess that I’m not gonna have any dinner and when I woke up my Garmin said I slept for more than 7 hours.
I also need to check up on the new Nootropic tablets I took just before the flight cause damn… I feel amazing which is quite unusual for a BA flight out of JHB. I also listened to a sleep soundtrack, which is kinda like melodic, musical white noise which seems to have worked pretty well.
When I woke up this morning my brain started going into work and ideas mode and the goal is to work and create on this flight, from Heathrow to Chicago, which is about too take off.
First part of my work list for this flight is to wrap up this week’s, slightly different and shorter than usual, newsletter so here goes.
Two phrases for you to think about.
Get out of your own way.
You know what you’re good at.
These are two phrases which I have been ruminating on for a while now.
The first one is going to be a big part my my focus – personally and from a coaching point of view – as I move into 2023.
The second one is something I truly believe we should all be asking ourselves and a question that I think most of us know the answer to but are afraid to say it out loud. Let’s start there.
You know what you’re good at.
Yes you do.
You might have a gut feeling about it. When you do it. Or think about it. It’s the thing that makes you feel like there’s a little bit of magic to it.
It’s the thing that, when you see it or do it, feels the same as when you fall in love with someone and that makes you want to turn to someone else and ask “do you see that person?”
There’s a really good chance they’re not gonna see what you see but it’s not going to change the way you feel about them.
Mix into this though the difference between a job a career and a calling. A job it’s something you do because, quite often, you have to.
A career is the arc of your life’s work and the way it changes and grows based on who you are as a person and how you navigate the world of work.
But a calling. That’s different. A calling is when you know that this is what I’m supposed to do. For most of us it’s a feeling that comes and goes and something we choose not to pay attention to because we feel we’re not good enough. Or that’s just a silly pipe-dream. Or that we don’t deserve to do that thing that lights our soul on fire.
You know what you’re good at. Not because someone told you but because when you do that thing, you just know this is something you could do and do well.
But, and I have written about this many time in the past. Many people out there are scared to level up. Many people feel guilty when they get selfish about what they want from life and when they start working towards those things.
Which brings me to the other thought I shared above.
Get out of your own way.
Do you know what the biggest thing is that’s holding you back right now?
The thing that fills you with fear and doubt and uncertainty and even arrogance and false confidence?
That thing is… you!
In order to get better at life, grow as a person, start that business, quit your job, get fitter, work on your mental health, build your brand, make more money, work on your anxiety and other mental challenges, deal with past trauma, be a better person… you need to get out of your own way!
Sometimes, more often than we’d like to be reminded of, we are standing in our own way of feeling better, less anxious, more motivated, more focused or happier.
Deep down I think you know this to be true.
Getting out of your own way.
It’s going to be one of the foundations of a performance coaching program I’m working on for next year and a personal mindset I have already started cultivating and will be doubling down on from this point on.
It’s something that will make a difference to every single one of you reading this.
It’s the one thing we all need to become aware of, become comfortable with and make peace with.
Are you ready to look in the mirror, admit to yourself what you want and what you’re good and then get out of your own way?
It’s hard, very very hard.
But the moment you do that, your life will change, I promise you that!
That’s about it for this week.
See? I told you it’s a different, shorter one this week.
Depending on how the next few days in Chicago and my first few days in Iceland pans out, next week might also be the same, shorter version of the newsletter and I will then wrap up the last one for the year, with some personal thoughts snd reflections on the past year as well as some predictions for the coming year.
Before I let you go, and instead of a quote for the week, one last question for you to think about.
Whatever your answer is to that question, imagine – seriously think about this – the change you can affect in your own life and the lives of people around you if you were to combine some of those…
I apologise. I need help.
I love you. I need help.
I was wrong. I need help.
Get it?
Right, time for me to make the tough choice between a chicken casserole and a vegetarian pasta and then get stuck into some work and maybe later on a movie.
Will be back next week but until then stay safe, get out of your own way and don’t forget to be awesome!
