What’s your destiny?

“Stretching yourself is not about being over-stretched or taking on too much; stretching yourself is about your personal growth.”

To be a successful leader of the future, having skills in being innovative, adaptable  and able to change quickly is more vital than ever.

It’s essential to keep up with the pace of change and although we may wish for days gone by, and how things used to be, to keep up as an effective leader, you will have to stretch yourself and work smarter.

Our ability to respond to the ever-increasing rate of change is dependent on our willingness to grow.

We will look at what stretching yourself really means, what might holding you back and provide some practical tools to try out for size.

If you view life as a circle, most of us live inside that circle where everything is comfortable and familiar. Occasionally, we might be forced outside of the circle by unexpected circumstances.  The brave among us might take a moment to look around at this new and scary landscape. But mostly, we scurry back to the safety of our circle.

Occasionally, we might be forced outside of the circle by unexpected circumstances.

The brave among us might take a moment to look around at this new and scary landscape.

The key to achieving personal growth, is to step outside of that circle and keep walking.

For some, this is harder to do than for others, and there are many things that may cause us discomfort and resist stretching ourselves.

What discomfort might you be facing?

• Do you fear the unknown, as it might be worse than what we have now?

• Do you fear failure and looking bad in the eyes of others?

• Do you fear success, as it will require more of you?.

• Do you have limiting beliefs about what you ‘should’ do and ‘can’ do?

• Do you feel deserving?

• Are you concerned about offending other people?

• Are you unable to imagine how truly amazing life could be?

• Do you think it will require resources we don’t have?

The reality is that all growth involves some level of discomfort.  Yet whilst discomfort is short-lived, the growth is forever.

When we stretch ourselves, we look back and realise that it is our challenges, not our comforts, that make us stronger, wiser and better.

How can you start to stretch yourself?

Consider the following suggestions, and think about how you can adopt these into your life:

1) Read something different from what you normally read. 

If you love to read history, occasionally read a book of fiction.

• Pick up a tech magazine, even if you’re far from being a techie. Read the comics, or the opinion page, or a biography, whatever is different from what you usually read.

2) Spend time with people that are not like you. 

Stretch yourself by surrounding yourself with many different personalities and interests within your friendships.

If you’re an introvert - find some extraverts.  We tend to be more attracted to spend time with people who think like we do. By spending time with people that think and act differently to us, gives us an opportunity to grow and view things from a different view point.

3) Move forward on something with uncertainty.

This will be a challenge for some and easier for others.  The fact is, we rarely have all the answers when making decisions and the surest way to stretch yourself is to take a new risk on something.

4) Attempt something you’ve never done.  

Take a sensible risk and try to do something beyond what you think you can do. The more different from you it seems, the greater the stretch!

Take a new class, even though you’ve been out of school for years.

Learn a language or to play an instrument. Take up photography or baking.

Try to do a home repair that you’ve never attempted before.

5) Spend more time on opportunities than on problems. 

Problems tend to weigh us down and discourage us whereas opportunities challenge and encourage us. Yes, fixing problems can be exhilarating for some of us, but fixing a problem gets you back to the start, compared to finding new potential for growth.

We are not able avoid handling problems, but we can discipline ourselves to focus more energy towards advancement rather than repair. Try it out – you may find that some of the problems you thought needed so much of your attention no longer do.

6) Schedule time to dream. 

Dreaming can quickly become a lost art in a life of routine and repetition. We can get so caught up in systems, routines and processes that we fail to imagine what is yet to be realised.

Try to schedule a few hours a week of blank calendar time and shut everything down to think and dream.

Maybe take a walk or read.

Always try to think of something new.

7) Stay physically active. 

There are numerous studies that indicate we stretch our mind when we stretch our body. So, the more you stretch your body, the more you stretch your mind.

To Re-cap

You now know how stretching yourself will benefit your personal growth, and you have a number of approaches you can adopt or try in order to stretch yourself beyond what is comfortable to you. Now ask yourself…

• Have I ventured outside of my circle recently?

• Can I now identify what made this uncomfortable?

  • Was it fear of the unknown, success or failure?

  • Was it your own limiting beliefs on what you can do or deserve?

Taking Action

• What will be your first action in stepping back out of the circle?

• Will you try reading something different or spend time with different people?

• Will you take a risk or attempt something you’ve never done before?

• Or will you schedule time to dream?

I would love to hear what techniques you try!

Do you want a hand discovering what your made of? Give me a call and let’s start creating a good stretch that brings out the best of you!