Suspend the need to know HOW.

As you brainstorm methods and tools, your mind will likely go into a pattern of asking “Tell me How!” If the mind can’t find answers on how to do something, it will automatically conclude “It can’t be done,” ask “Who do you think you are?” or “None of your results support this!” You may even tell yourself that none of the people you know do this, and other BS (aka “belief systems”). Any time when we try to do something new, our minds will not recognize it and it will act in the protective mode of a “terror barrier”. 

Here is the growth law that is like the law of gravity (it’s there whether we like it or not, whether we agree with it or not): 

The growth happens only outside of our comfort zone. It happens only when we step over our fears [our terror barrier], our sense of uncomfortable, of taking risks, of trying and failing.

I learned that the most successful people are not immune from fear, but they trained themselves to become comfortable with being uncomfortable. They became very good at operating with butterflies in their stomachs. They’ve developed a habit of not going into “How” during the envisioning or discovery phases. Instead, they start with the biggest dream, and say “I may not know right now HOW to do it, but if I spend 5 minutes a day, asking myself how, I know I will come up with a solution. Right now, I will suspend my desire to know How and I will instead Think Big.

This is one of the skills I want our kids and ourselves to develop into an automatic habit. 

Later on, I’m going to dive into it, and give you a few simple tools and sketches that you can share with kids of any age or with your team to begin building the skill of “being comfortable with being uncomfortable.” This alone has made a huge difference for my family and for me.

Thank you for being part of this community. I look forward to learning and growing with you.

In partnership to help our kids and ourselves become unstoppable!

Maria Feekes

Think Big. Start Small. Act Now!