Leverage

It's interesting to me how things manifest themselves in clusters.  On three occasions today the word leverage came up in unrelated conversations.  When that happens, as I've been told, there's a lesson to be learned.  

Leverage is one of those ambidextrous words that's both a noun and a verb.  One can have leverage, and one can leverage.  It means to employ a device to gain some sort of advantage.  As depicted above, one can use a lever that pivots about a point to help move a heavy object with considerably less force.  In other words, it's a principle one can employ to get something unstuck.

Digression alert:  Stuck is another good word.  Babies are the master of maximizing the few words they know.  A friend's daughter, when learning to speak taught me this.  If she wants out of the car, "stuck".  If she can't yet get her own feet out of her shoes, "stuck".  Having a hard time on the toilet?  Stuck again.

Many of us feel stuck in some way, and often it's our beliefs that are keeping us there.  We tell ourselves things like "I'm too old" or "I can't do ______ because I'm not ______ enough."  Just fill it in with whatever your dysfunctional tendencies tell you.  Regardless, the best way to leverage yourself unstuck is to spend some time reflecting on all the pain and loss that belief has caused in the past, is causing you today, and how miserable your life will be in the future if you keep holding onto that belief.  THEN you get to replace that belief with one one that is empowering.  

Personally, one of beliefs I held that was limiting me was that if something I'm creating isn't perfect, then it's not worth presenting to the world.  This belief was keeping me from progressing in different areas of my life.  A friend of mine who works in production also shared perfectionistic tendencies.  He recently told me three words that changed all that: Just ship it.  Or in the case of a blog post, just hit publish.

Warmly,

Bryn