How a Jellyfish Can Make All the Difference – Finding the Courage to Try Again
This week, I have to begin with a story – one that I feel as though many of you will relate to.
When I was 10 my family went to Hawaii. It was one of our first “big” trips. It definitely beat the 12-hour car ride to visit relatives – our usual vacation. I was beyond thrilled to be staying at a hotel on the beach.
As soon as we got to the hotel my sisters and I changed into our swimsuits and went wildly running into the ocean. We were happily dancing in the water, when suddenly a child next to us starting screaming loudly, “I got bit! Something bit me!”
I immediately looked into the water and saw a giant jellyfish swimming away. I silently noticed how beautiful it was for a moment while my sisters high-tailed it out of the water, shouting at me to follow them.
I was horrified by the whole scene and slowly came out of the water, much to my chagrin. I’ve never been much of the “sit on the beach and tan” type.
I eventually went back into the water. My sisters didn’t touch it for the next three days. Whenever I went into the water, I was cautious, anxious, and always waiting for something to go wrong. And it ruined the trip for me. I was totally exhausted by the time we went home.
I was reminded of this story when one of my clients told me about her experience with her assistant. She had hired an assistant three years ago. The experience had been awful. She lost $3,000 training her and then watched her struggle through tasks that did not get done. Since that day, she had been trying to do everything on her own. The “assistant jellyfish” had stung her – and she wasn’t going back in the water.
However, she was exhausted, burnt out and losing hope day by day.
I told her my story about the ocean. She asked me how I made peace with it, because I love the ocean today. You can’t pull me out of it no matter how many jellyfish exist there.
I told her that you have to keep your eye on the bigger picture. For me, the benefit of the big picture was being able to enjoy the water. Yes, there were dangers within it, and thing could go wrong – but the bigger benefit of feeling relaxed and free in the water always won over the dangers.
I told her to remember the bigger benefit – the benefit that someday when she found the right team member, she would be able to rest her mind and have more free time. Both of those benefits far outweighed the costs of going through the pain of finding team members.
She agreed. It took three hires for her to finally find a team member that worked for her, but she did it. Today, she’s happier than ever.
What are you avoiding in your business because you got stung by a jellyfish? What parts of your business need to re-examined from a place of love instead of pain?
Have you given up on seeing clients one-on-one because you had a client complain?
Have you decided never to work with a coach because the one your chose didn’t help you?
Have you given up the hope of ever finding the right support team?
Have you decided that going to networking events isn’t useful because the first three you went to were awful?
Take a moment and ask yourself. What am I avoiding in my business because I have experienced pain or been hurt?
Then ask yourself. What is the bigger benefit for me if I try it again?
Go back into the water. You just might be surprised at how good it really feels.
Let me know what you are willing to go back and try. I love your comments!
