I met Leanne in an online workshop. We live in opposite sides of the planet and work in different sectors. But we both do a lot of work and writing about change. In the workshop, everyday there was an activity we needed to do, post our work, comment on other people’s work. We would often comment on each other’s work helping improve it. Later we connected on Linkedin.
A few months ago she wrote a post about New Year’s Resolutions. And how many of us failed to stick to them within a couple weeks of 2020. She posed the question “why not start again?” It was a simple post, but it has stuck with me all year.
There are a number of key commitments in the past 12 months I’ve let slide for a whole host of justifiable reasons. And yet my answer to her question is “shame”. I have felt deep shame for not engaging in certain communities, for not doing various things. Shame has held me back and ever since reading Leanne’s post, it’s been niggling away at me.
Starting again feels good, but also remains scary. But starting again is part of change. Change, in people and in organisations, often stalls. First attempts are never perfect. Change occurs when we ‘get back on the horse‘ and try again. We all know this instinctively and yet we heap all sorts of negative emotions (shame, guilt, anger, etc.) on ourselves and others when it doesn’t work. We don’t have to do this.
Every good story you have read has a challenges the hero or heroine has to overcome. No believable hero or heroine gets it right the first time. Why do I and we expect ourselves and our teams to be different?
So yes, we can start again. There’s no shame in it. So today I’m proud to announce I started my podcast again. Episode 1 of Season 3 can be found here. Have a listen and share it with others who might enjoy it.
What do you need to start again?
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