You know those times when you need to initiate a tough conversation and you're kinda sorta dreading it and avoiding it?
One of my old mentors once told me that you just need to move through what he called “sweaty five-minute conversations” to get to the other side of clarity and resolution.
Most of us avoid the challenging conversations because we aren’t willing to endure those few minutes of discomfort. I definitely used to avoid them. Now, I remember that Speed Is a Force then I WOOP it, chant “Bring it on!” + “I’m excited!” and jump in.
It’s become a really powerful practice for me as I've mastered it over the years.
But here’s the funny thing. Once upon a time, I needed to have one of those “sweaty conversations” with that mentor of mine.
Guess how it turned out?
It was, by far, LITERALLY, the worst conversation I’ve ever had in my life. HAH. Seriously.
I kid you not.
As Campbell said, when you dare to go after bliss, there's always the chance for a fiasco. :)
Here’s how Campbell puts it: “The hero journey is one of the universal patterns through which that radiance shows brightly. What I think is that a good life is one hero journey after another. Over and over again, you are called to the realm of adventure, you are called to new horizons. Each time, there is the same problem: do I dare? And then if you do dare, the dangers are there, and the help also, and the fulfillment or the fiasco. There’s always the possibility of a fiasco.
But there’s also the possibility of bliss.”
So, today’s mission, should you choose to accept it: The next time you find yourself avoiding a challenging conversation, see if you can recognize the fear and then get to work on it with one (or more) of our growing array of tools.
Perhaps you can remember that your infinite potential exists on the other side of that fear and chant “Bring it on!!” to yourself.
Maybe you can practice Active Love on the person who's currently stressing you out.
I’d definitely recommend you WOOP it! Wave the wand. Create your Wish. See it going perfectly. Experience the benefits. Then anticipate the obstacles and make your plan to deal with them.
Then, if you feel that now’s the time, jump in and move through those few seconds/minutes of sweaty palms and make it happen.
You’ll win or you'll learn. :)
P.S. I know for a fact that if I had that challenging conversation of a decade ago today it would have ended so much better. But I never would have gotten to where I am without the pain of that fiasco. And so it is. 😃