The Habits Have It - Your New Secret Weapon
I learned in my late 40’s that, well, I like to punch things. I should probably be more specific. I like to punch bags. And put a wicked beat pumped at full volume and my pageant training goes right out the door.
In fact, the first sports injury I ever had was a result of a kick-boxing class where I lost my cool on the bag as I was processing something that today I don’t even remember. I felt empowered, energized and ready for more.
Exercising became a commitment I made to myself. And as noble as that sounds, forming the habit of showing up took some serious commitment. But the feeling of surviving the boxing bag and beginning to see results was just the incentive I needed. A new habit was forming. I finally found my exercise jam and it was amazing!
I may have gotten misty-eyed when my orthopedic surgeon told me to find another sport.
What’s fascinating to me is that although I never played sports, my trainer described me as “athletic”. Maybe that had something to do with my tom-boy tendencies or the fact that I’m wired to take a tough workout as a personal challenge (set something impossible in front of me and I’ll find “possible”). Not sure but very late in life I’ve become fascinated with what it takes to be a great athlete - at any level.
Womensrunning.com reports the nine habits of highly successful atheletes: http://bit.ly/2MZuRvZ. And I think we can learn a lot from dedicated athletes about what it takes to rock a vision.
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
This may not look like much to anyone else, but this stance right here was about me taking my power back. What will your power pose look like?Whether you like your work-outs in your dreams or you are hitting the gym every day, here are my secrets to how I’m rocking my vision.
THERE ARE NO SHORT-CUTS
But first, let me tackle one thing that is implied by the list but needs to be called out.
There are no short-cuts to rocking your vision. You can read the books, take the classes, listen to the podcasts and set up the LLC. The truth is that rocking your vision is done one ste, one day, one conversation at a time. It often takes long-hours, rejection, being misunderstood, figuring out the hard way what isn’t your strength, making avoidable mistakes, saying yes to too much, disappointing people you care about as well as people you don’t know (did I mention long-hours) and more.
There are no short-cuts to rocking your vision. You can read the books, take the classes, listen to the podcasts and set up the LLC. The truth is that rocking your vision is done one ste, one day, one conversation at a time. It often takes long-hours, rejection, being misunderstood, figuring out the hard way what isn’t your strength, making avoidable mistakes, saying yes to too much, disappointing people you care about as well as people you don’t know (did I mention long-hours) and more.
Because - true story - in the five years I’ve been in private practice, I’ve experiened all of that and more.
Discouraged yet? THAT was a test. On a scale of 1-100, how did you do?
If you’re still committed - even after reading that - then I know you can rock your vision. You’re up for it.
I’m confident of that because I was up for it and didn’t realize that most of what I wanted started in my head and in the habits that formed out of that mental space. I have a thriving business that has exceeded my vision and challenged me in ways that I would not have volunteered for had I known what was coming to get me here.
Here’s the good news - you don’t have to belong to a gym or ever want to run a marathon to tap into the habits of athletes who challenge themselves daily in ways that most of us are just happy to read about.
No successful athlete (the ones we read about in newspapers, the ones who reach back to make an impact in their communities, the ones who overcome insurmountable odds to get back to their sport) leaves success to chance. They are intentional, they surround themselves with others who are like-minded and they push themselves out of their comfort zone - not as a cute thing to do, but as a hard-earned, work-it-out-when-noone-is-watching series of habits.
When I work with female leaders and entrepreneurs, I ask three powerful questions that I want you to answer. Take a moment and write out your answers:
1) What do you want?
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2) What do you really want?
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3) What’s it costing you to stay where/how you are?
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4) What are you willing to do to make progress?
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At Rock Your Vision we kick-start the year with a full day masterclass designed to help productive women imagine and visualize what it means to rock their vision - long term, but most importantly, in the 12 months in front of them.
We design a powerful, thoughtful vision board experience to help each woman visualize and set her intentions around what’s most important to her. Think it’s fluff? Don’t listen to the critics (who by the was are, well, wasting time being critical). Setting your intentions through visioning, journaling and shifting your mindset are practical, powerful and inspirational ways to draw motivation from your inner bada**.
I agree with fellow executive coach and former neuroscientist, Tara Swart who says: looking at images on a vision board primes the brain to grasp opportunities that may otherwise gone unnoticed…And if you look at it right before you fall asleep every night, the images will be imprint even further.” (https://cnb.cx/2FlmPt6).
THE TRUTH WILL INDEED SET YOU FREE
Whether rocking your vision involves taking on more responsibility, retiring, starting or growing a business, starting a family or going it solo, moving across country, becoming a foster parent or anything in between, the sooner you establish habits that help you know the truth - about yourself, about those closest to you and about your environment - the sooner you will begin to see your way clear about what it means (and what it’s going to take) to rock your vision.
Often we don’t want to know the truth because the truth hurts. I get it. So does developing muscle but the benefits of the habit of exercise - even moderate exercise - produce amazing, life-changing results. Even establishing one habit every few months can significantly increase your productivity. What one habit can you begin working to form?
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In 2010, telling myself the truth meant accepting a corporate role that was bigger than I had ever done but I was also prepared to do. My truth: I was playing it safe because I have always struggled with even the appearance of failing at something.
In 2013, telling myself the truth meant resigning from a job I loved, to do a job I didn’t feel capable of - being my mother’s fulltime caregiver. In the same year, I continued with the truth-telling by seeing a counselor to help me process my grief as I knew my sweet momma was preparing me to let her go. My truth: my grief was too much to bear alone. I needed support.
In 2014, telling myself the truth meant that I needed to open myself to the idea that I had the chops to start and grow a business. My truth: I was playing it safe.
If you told yourself the truth about rocking your own vision, what would you say? Write your answer below.
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WHAT HAPPENS EXTERNALLY FIRST HAPPENS INTERNALLY
Your vision starts in your heart. Bringing that vision to life begins with what’s in your head.
Self-doubt is normal but if you let it master you, you will stay in your comfort zone and play small.
Negative self-talk is common and you aren’t common. You’re commited.
The foundation of what’s in your head is built from what you believe. And belief is formed not just by what you have experienced and value, it’s also formed by what you “renew”/practice in the way of your thoughts and words.
Think that’s mumbo-jumbo? Have you ever seen a pro-athlete walk into the stadium with headphones and a steely gaze? That athelete is 1) filling his/her mind with inspiration and affirmation in the way of music, podcasts or other mental fuel 2) protecting what is allowed to enter his/her audio/mental space.
What can you learn from that practice? How are you protecting what’s in your mind (including what you are saying to yourself)?
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ME, MYSELF AND I DOES NOT A TRIBE MAKE
For many years I thought I was an extrovert. It took managing a team, having kids and running a business to realize that I am an ambivert - I’m an introvert with extroverted capabilities when the circumstances require it.
So it won’t surprise you that early in my business, I tried to do everything by myself. As my business began to grow, I quickly realized that my ideas only took me as far as what was in my brain that day, and my level of efficiency was subject to how long I could keep all the balls in the air.
Whether you hire a coach, or join a tribe like the Rock Your Vision Masterclass Community, find a tribe of like-minded people who can help you create space for yourself, encourage you when needed, hold you constructively accountable when needed and help you flesh out that idea, plan or dream in the year to come.
Karen Hilton is retained executive coach, speaker, organizational strategist and Vision Coach, based in Atlanta, Georgia.
She founded Rock Your Vision as a way to equip and inspire professionals and entrepreneurs to do life on their own terms.
Rock Your Vision will help you get clear about your best next steps while leaving fear, excuses, mistakes, and confusion behind. Ready to Rock YOUR vision?