Be Authentic and Remain Open to Inspiration

I have been reading and listening to Perry Marshall for quite some time now, especially his “Guerrilla Marketing for Hi-Tech Sales People” and he always shares great stuff. So of course when I saw the subject line in today’s email “The #1 Enemy you will conquer in your life is SHAME” I immediately clicked to read.

This was Perry’s email

THE most powerful destructive force in the human race is shame.

There is nothing that holds any of us back more than the fear and terror that others will judge us and reject us as not good enough. Not measuring up. Not feeling worthy.

That’s a big enough challenge when you’re a regular guy or gal, paying the bills and being married and raising teenagers and whatnot. When you’re an entrepreneur and everything you do takes a risk of being accepted or rejected, when there are no guarantees of anything, you experience everything 2X.

My friend Dan Mack of Mack Elevation Forum sent me this TED video. It’s one of the best descriptions I’ve ever seen of how we either embrace or avoid the real stuff of living; how we either fling ourselves into the full experience, or else medicate – and numb ourselves to life itself.

This gets to the heart of why some succeed and some fail, even when given the same tools and the same education. The #1 enemy you will conquer in your life is your fear of shame. Rise up, stare it down and face it.

I had never heard of Dr Brené Brown before but boy did her story resonate with me. I talk a lot about standing out and being authentic and I am convinced that we could all be that much more fulfilled in our lives if we were courageous enough to ask for what we wanted and stopped settling for less than we deserve. After listening to the brilliant presentation I went to Dr. Brown’s blog and there I met Karen Walrond, an original Trinbagonian and in an interview with her she summarized the essence of fulfillment like this –

‘What are your greatest creative barriers?’

My own head. Even though I’ve been writing and shooting full-time for about 2 years now, it’s still sometimes hard for me to think that perhaps I should have stayed in the corporate life that I’d built for myself prior to being a writer.

Then I remember how miserable I was and how happy I am now, and I feel worlds better. <—— This is EXACTLY what I’m talking about! 🙂

Check out Karen’s book…