Today I did something that I haven’t done before. Now this may or may not surprise you!
I have never done an Instagram Live. A friend, client and owner of not one but two amazing businesses contacted me this week. I love doing celebrity Human Design blog posts sometimes, and she saw my most recent one which was of Britney Spears‘. We’d also done this client’s Human Design together about a year ago and she felt it really resonated. She also happens to be an epic human who knows I’m currently promoting a Human Design for Business webinar and she invited me to join her on an Instagram Live talking about all of the above. I told her I’d love to!
When she asked me how familiar I was with doing Insta Lives, I told her I’d never done one.
I actually haven’t done a Facebook Live for a very long time either.
And do you want to know what I’ve realised about both of those things? I was listening to past beliefs, experiences and stories about how dreadful I am when I go Live.
You may not know that I used to be terrified of public speaking. I had dreadful social anxiety and got so nervous that I couldn’t think of what I wanted to say- I was just thinking about how badly I was doing and how I could escape. I would want the ground to literally swallow me whole (I know that’s such a cliche, but it’s exactly how I felt). It. was. AWFUL.
Although now I’m a gazillion times better (truly), some things are still holding me back. Like why wouldn’t I go Live on insta, where I hang out every day; where share stories and behind the scenes most days and share the reality of my life not just the pretty stuff?
The truth is, I was still scared to. Even more than that? I’d talked myself into a convenient truth: I don’t need to do that. I can do things my own way.
Well, yes. And no.
We all know Insta likes you to use ALL the features- ignoring Lives isn’t great for our friend ‘The Algorithm’. But part of me doesn’t care that much about doing things just to keep the algorithm happy.
I also have a channel (natural strength) that connects my spleen to my throat. That means I’m really great at speaking my intuitive insights in the moment. It’s one of my coaching superpowers. When I ask a client permission to share something that’s coming up for me, even though it might not land, it almost always does (I’m talking 99 times out 100).
Sharing my intuitive insights Live is a great way to connect and speak what’s coming up for me so that it lands powerfully for others. Even better when it’s a joint Live where someone is asking questions, because then I get to use my Strategy: Wait to Respond. Ding, ding, ding!
The funniest part is that I’ve done radio segments that are obviously Live and going straight out to their audience and I absolutely LOVED it.
And wouldn’t you know it- doing the Live was so much FUN (one of my top values). It was also easy and I didn’t get anxious at all. I got to share what I’m so passionate about in a way that just felt easy and natural. Let’s just say I had a ball.
So I’m reporting back to let you know:
- I’m always a human first and a coach second. I catch myself with my own BS sometimes, have a little chuckle at myself, and then work out what needs to change.
- I am not that terrified, anxious person any more. Whatsoever! I have changed SO much (because you better believe that I have done everything involved in ‘doing the work’ to make sure I’m not. I didn’t just wake up one day feeling amazing! But- I was still subconsciously telling myself those stories and believing that ‘I’m no good at going Live’. (There was also that one time back in maybe 2020 that I couldn’t work out how to get off a Live. For about 20 mins. It wasn’t ideal haha).
- I’m SO ok to make mistakes these days. I mixed up a couple of things on the Live (one because it was a question about a celebrity blog (Olivia Newton-John in case you’re wondering) that I did back in March and couldn’t recall the details off the top of my head. No biggie – I just commented the correction into the comments afterwards. And two, something else wasn’t as clear as it could have been- nobody else probably had a clue). Wow. Just wow. (In my head, I’m saying that in my 15 yo son’s voice when he’s so unimpressed by something. So read that wow bit like big. flipping. deal. Because HELLO, yes, I’m human. Shocking I know.
I was originally only sharing this story with my newsletter list because I like to keep things real on there. Then I thought maybe this will help you too. I hope so!
It’s so easy to not consciously realise the progress we’ve made and to underestimate ourselves. I wonder what area of life, work or business you’ve made progress in that you haven’t even realised. Or where you’ve outgrown your current beliefs, stories and assumptions but that hasn’t translated into your behaviour yet.
As we head into the end of the year it’s such a great time to reflect on where you may have grown, changed and transformed, as well as where the challenges still lie. You might find it helpful to adopt a new belief, affirmation or mantra to go along with this new up levelled version of you. I think I’ll go with ‘The way I show up Live is authentic, relatable and passionate’. How about you?
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Tags: Mindset Coaching
