Who am I to…

SPEAK ON SOMETHING I HAVEN’T “MASTERED”?

I just finished reviewing slides for a presentation I’m giving next week on burnout. To ensure my handouts are actually helpful, I go through my own presentations and fill them in for myself.

I am presenting on how to prevent burnout in service roles, while being in the “high risk” zone in my own service role.

This froze me in my tracks because, “Who do I think I am to present on this thing I’m not perfect at yet?!?!”

But this time it only took about 45 seconds before all my practice kicked in. I felt the fear and insecurity, but quickly recognized it as the flag indicating I’m in reaction.

I paused, and started into my own practice. I put my hands on my heart and solar plexus, took a few deep breaths, and tended to the fear and insecurity (as this point in my practice, I just need to be fully present with myself and say a few reassurances that I believe). Then I reconnected with why I do what I do and why I love it so much.

It was immediately clear to me that my own lived experience of default behaviors leading me to a high-risk-of-burnout zone, and my living practice of combatting that, is exactly what qualifies me to speak on this topic.

It would be impossible to count the number of times burnout got me. What matters is that it’s rare now because I learned and implemented practices that help me see it coming, do something about it, and avoid it.

THE “WHY” MATTERS

Had I not soothed my nervous system and connected to my why, I may have made a big mistake like changing my whole presentation, smashing too much information into too little time to overcompensate for my insecurity. (Definitely not a real life example…) Then I would have missed my beautiful opportunity to relate to and provide realistic, implementable tools to beautiful helping humans who need and want them.

I choose to keep doing the work myself.

I choose to share my journey without needing to be perfect.

🌿To your journey and mine… let’s assume we’re the exact right person to do [whatever it is we are holding ourselves back from doing]!