“I had a mentor who looked at things from a different angle. He gave me all the rope to do the same.”
“My older brother is twenty years older than me. He saw a career path for me long before I did. A few weeks later, I heard an ad for that program on the radio. And I started a new career.”
“My wife supported my career change. Walking away from the pension and the benefits. She helped me choose the business we’d build.”
“My mom co-signed the mortgage on my first house. More than a decade later, when I sold it, she handed me an invoice for $35,000. Years of support. Fixing my truck. Helping get my business off the ground. She would do anything for me. And make me accountable.”
There are a handful of questions that change the energy in a room. This is one of them.
Who believed in you before you believed in yourself?
What a rewarding moment it is, to see people dig into the files of their memory to pull out the person.
I think back to early in my career when I didn’t think I knew much of anything. One of my first bosses, Nolan Berg, gave me responsibility I hadn’t earned yet. I got the chance to prove myself. And out of that, came the confidence to do more, take on more, step one more layer out of my comfort zone. Here I am today, still benefiting from that early chance he took on me.
One woman picked herself. She grew up in incredibly difficult circumstances. And she had a voice inside her that said she was built for more. And she did it.
What have you accomplished knowing someone believed in you? Even if that person was you.
How have you done the same for others?
Belief runs the other way too.
What happens when your inner voice says: She’s not ready.
He’ll never change. I’m not the kind of person who…
Every expectation is a prediction.
It’s blue car syndrome. Buy a blue car, and you see them everywhere. Decide someone doesn’t make the grade, and you see it everywhere. And they see it too.
What if someone important believes you’re capable of less than you are? What if that someone is you?
You’ve felt what it was like when someone saw something in you that you couldn’t yet see.
I hope I’ve been that person more often than I realized.
And I shudder to think of the times I may have unintentionally done the opposite.
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Each week, I share something I’m learning, living, or working out in real time. It’s part storytelling, part reflection. I hope there’s something in it for you too.
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