A Leap of Faith
2024 is a Leap Year and the Leap Year got me thinking about other leaps, like leaps of faith.
A leap of faith is when you do something, even though you are not sure it will be successful. You launch yourself into the unknown. It can be super scary because we don’t know for sure how it will turn out, but it can also be super exciting. And it’s a great way to grow.
The things I feel are big leaps of faith for me, might be things you do every day.
For example, public speaking always felt like something that was just not for me. I would listen to others speak and think, ‘I could never do that.’ Just the thought of it made me feel nervous! You, on the other hand, might spend your whole day speaking to large groups of people. I admire you if you do!
I got to a point at work some years ago where I needed to provide training to a large group. It was scary.
I could have written the presentation and asked someone else to do it, but I knew that avoiding the issue wasn’t right. I had to do it myself. I knew the content inside and out so I was the best person for the job, but when it came to presenting it, I was nervous.
The good thing was that before that, many opportunities presented themselves to speak in front of small groups and I was volunteered (voluntold?!) for them. I was nervous, but I did it.
The groups got bigger and more senior each time. Soon I was volunteering myself to speak in meetings (even when I didn't need to) and by the time the training came around, I was still nervous, but having taken those smaller leaps of faith, I knew I could do it.
The small leaps of faith got me closer to the big one and once I’d done the big one, I felt elated. It was a huge deal for me - I had put myself out there. It took courage. It took feeling the fear and doing it anyway.
The more things we do that push our boundaries in that way, the more we realise how much we are capable of and the more confident we get about taking other leaps of faith. In short, it helps us to grow.
Whatever your own personal leap of faith involves, make sure you’re not comparing your chapter 1 to someone else’s chapter 20.
What do I mean by that?
When I used to hear people speak, I didn’t factor in at the time that they had probably been speaking in front of large groups for many years.
They had made many mistakes before I got to hear them speak, they had no doubt been nervous in the beginning and they will have picked up tips and tricks along the way.
Some of them may even have had coaching on how to speak effectively.
I was witnessing the result of all of that time, effort and practice. I was looking at their chapter 20 and comparing it to my chapter 1. In other words, I was putting myself under a lot of pressure to immediately be good at something I hadn’t really tried yet.
Wherever you are right now is just right and the perfect place to start. We are all capable of greatness but we all have to start somewhere.
Decide what you want and go for it, take the leap!
Wishing you every success,
Amy 💜🤟