Top 3 Ways to Get Comfortable Being Seen
This may comes as a surprise to you but growing up I was a follower. A black sheep of sorts, but one that definitely did all I could not to stand out or make a scene. I was introverted, sensitive and quiet. Just the thought of public speaking made me break out in a massive sweat!
So, how did I go from sweaty wall flower to speaking on stages, and having over a million YouTube views?
It all started with... go go dancing!!!
I’m not going to go into the full story about my go go dancing days (ask me later).
But what I will share with you are my Top 3 Ways to Get Comfortable Being Seen:
1. Start Expressing - Writing/speaking.
My favourite thing in the world was (and is) sitting at a buzzy cafe in the morning and writing on fresh pages of paper. Just thinking about it makes me close my eyes, my lips starting to curl into a smile, as I think about all the strangers around me having intimate conversations, or writing their most private thoughts, or creating a brilliant article to be published soon on a blog or in a magazine. Not to mention the smell of coffee… don’t even get me started on the smell. You can write about anything you feel inspired by or called to without attachment to the outcome! Eventually you’ll get more and more comfortable expressing through writing. From there you may or may not want to bring in clearer focuses and call to actions.
2. Decide to Show Up.
I’ve done hundreds of teleseminars, workshops, trainings and interviews. There was a first for each, and I found it easier to break down the big scary goal into smaller actions I could commit to along the way. Before speaking on stage in front of hundreds there was smaller workshops, and before that there was youtube videos (2 of them got more than a million views each!) & live streams and before that it was audio only online teleseminars and interviews.
Each step made it easier to take the next, it also gave me something to celebrate and build confidence. But, I had to show up and decide to take those steps, even though each of the firsts was scary and uncomfortable. Over time each one got more and more natural.
Step by step you’ll get there if you so desire. Commitment to showing up and doing the work no matter if it’s uncomfortable, will always be beneficial.
The thing that helped me the most in showing up and staying committed to taking each of those first steps?
Support and safe containers. I made an effort to find containers for growth and small, intimate groups where I could practice visibly sharing myself and my message BEFORE sharing it out with the world. Just knowing I had that safe space to show up and be seen, heard and accepted gave me the boost I needed to take each of those first, second and hundredth steps!
3. Surrender.
When I started my business, I boldly claimed that speaking on stage, being that visible was not for me. I’d build my business from the comfort of my couch and cafes, please and thank you. ( sound familiar?)
And, I did. I built it, and I built it good! But, I had to honour the tug to have the message I was being guided to share, to be shared in a way that would reach more people, and in a way that’d stretch me once more. I had to trust the guidance. I had been expressing myself more than I ever could have imagined, and yet my soul was calling me to let even MORE flow through me.This was met with BIG resistance at first. But, I knew I needed to surrender and state that I was open to being a yes to this, despite the resistance. Once I fully decided to surrender, THAT'S when things clicked and my body said, “Yes! I can do this, I’m ready for this.” The opportunities started flooding in immediately. Your desire to be seen is there for a reason, when you make the choice to lean in and surrender to it, you’ll become more and more comfortable being seen.
I share my story in hopes that if there’s ever been something that you’ve sworn off, due to a bad experience, someone telling you that you suck, or because you thought it wasn’t for you – BUT, you know that your soul is calling you to do it… remember a Living Richly Woman honours her soul.
Honouring my soul has taken me from sweaty, wallflower to a fully expressed, multi six figure business woman who has spoke on stages across the world and has had over a million YouTube views.
If I can do it, I KNOW you have it in you to experience your unique, RICH expression and visibility too.
