Did you know that you are already amazing? Before you do or achieve anything at all – you being the human being that you are is already amazing. The chances of you, the unique human being that you are, even being born – is amazingly and infinitesimally small. Imagine all the vast oceans of the world, and somewhere in that 1.37 billion Km3 of water there is one, single, tiny turtle swimming around. Now imagine across those vast seas, somewhere on the immense 361 Km2 of ocean surface there is one tiny rubber ring floating around, and when that one tiny turtle comes up for air it just happens to pop its head straight through that one tiny rubber ring. That’s how amazing it is you are here. That’s how amazing you are. One amazing human being.
Even though you are amazing, I bet it doesn’t always feel that way. I imagine it can sometimes or often feel like the world is happening to you, squeezing you, stressing you out and overwhelming you. Like you are spinning on a hamster wheel, going faster and faster with no idea how to slow it down or climb off? Like you are nothing but a series of work tasks, routines, stresses, responsibilities and expectations. Very far from being in touch with your amazing-ness. Like you are no longer even in touch with being a human being at all.
The world and work can increasingly feel like a high-speed carousel where we just keep going and keep going, fuelled by adrenal stress and an automatic sense of necessity. From here we can live in a state of almost permanent anxiety or worry and feel completely disconnected from our deeper selves, deeper relationships or a deeper sense of purpose.
When it comes to being a great leader, a great team and a great organisation, your starting point is vital. And starting from a place of humanity, integrity, connection and well-being is the very best launch you can give yourself, your teams and your business to help you thrive. When it comes to great leadership, making a strong impact, relationship building and public speaking, it all starts with you, your state, your well-being – with you the human being.
So many of us have become shaped by the cultural conditioning we received growing up. Conditioned to be good, to be nice, to be strong, to be powerful, to be the best, to be the winner, to be successful. This can mean we can move further and further away from ourselves as human beings in a good relationship with ourselves and with others. It can mean we begin to mask and pretend – trying to be what we feel we should be, what we think others expect of us whilst hiding what we are really feeling. So…
How about trying to be real, to be human, to be whole, to be happy…to be you?
In order to live a full life, maybe it’s time to put your full self back at the centre of your experience. To get off the crazy wheel, even if only for a moment and to get back to choice. To remember you are not a machine whose only task is to keep running, to keep producing, or to keep achieving without ever stopping or questioning the process. You are not just a leader, you are after all at heart a human and so are all of your very human colleagues and very human customers.
At the heart of every great leader, of every great team and every successful business are amazing human beings who help each other grow, create, and succeed. While many of us can become consumed with tasks, results and performance – at heart we are all human beings. Human beings with hearts. It might just be time to reconnect to that heart in order to live and lead with more meaning, magic and moments of connection. To truly live and lead as a human being. Or for us at 4D – to live and lead as a full 4D Human Being. The more human you are the more you will be able to lead, present and do business in a way that people truly want to engage with.
Over the next few weeks we are going to explore four ways to think about stepping off the wheel and getting back to living and leading from heart, as a human being with choice!
- Get HONEST
- Live and Lead from HEART
- Stop HIDING
- Get some HEADSPACE
Remember you are already amazing – and…you will be an even more incredible, impactful and inspirational 4D Human Being and leader when you start – from the heart.