The Key to Claiming Your Magnificence

A little over a decade ago I was on my way to start my new volunteer position with Doctors Without Borders in Mexico. When I applied for the position I met with a lot of resistance.

There were people who were worried I wasn’t qualified, and plenty of people who thought it could simply never happen. Some of these people were happy to share those doubts with me. I, however, refused to join their ranks.

I believed I could do the job and I wanted it more than anything else at the time. So I put together a plan for how I would tackle the role, applied and convinced the panel (some of whom were understandably skeptical) that I, a midwife with no public health degrees, could perform the work they needed done.

I had faith that if I kept taking the next sensible step, which included taking advice from people who had more experience than me and getting people on my team who had the skills I lacked, I would get to the finish line. And I did, even if I also made quite a few mistakes and learned many lessons along the way.

Here’s what I now know for sure: Each of us is magnificent and inherently brave. Yet too often we keep our gifts tucked deep inside because we’re afraid to step up and shine brightly. We think no one will notice or care about our gifts. Or we’re afraid we’ll fail and look like a fool.

When I took my job with Doctors Without Borders in Mexico I had to pack up my comfortable life in the United States and move to a part of the world that had no running water or electricity.

I had to move to an area where the indigenous people and the Mexican government had spent centuries locked in deep-seated conflict. I had to give up the job I trained for and held for years to do a job for which I had no experience.

Bottom line: I had no real idea what I was doing, and I knew it at the time. But I believed I would figure things out.

My desire was so strong that I took decisive and inspired action, and where before the voices of self-doubt kept me stuck, choosing a path and taking action allowed momentum to take over.

When that happened I had little time to indulge in self-doubt or fear because there was work to be done. So I got on with it.

Based on that experience, getting myself to act on my desires regardless of my fears is now a part of my daily practice of living magnificently and bravely. I’ve learned, essentially, to just get started.

And really, if you want to feel the same freedom from self-doubt, starting is the most effective remedy.

Here’s the really cool thing, though: any time you take action and do the work you’ve set out for yourself, you’re not doing it alone. The Universe also starts to conspire on your behalf.

You don’t have to take my word for it. Listen to what WH Murray, a Scottish mountaineer and author of The Scottish Himalayan Experience had to say:

This may sound too simple, but is great in consequence: Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way.

It wasn’t until I was sitting in the airport in Amsterdam (where the Doctors Without Borders headquarters of my project was located), about to board my flight to Mexico City that I suddenly wondered whether I would actually be able to adjust to life in such a foreign environment. (Did I mention there would be no electricity or running water?)

Would I really be able to do the job I’d signed on to do? But even in that wobbly moment, I knew that I would find a way to manage.

Why?

Why was I so certain?

There are lots of reasons. And none of them are because I’m braver, more talented, or smarter than you. Because I’m not. I promise.

I’m scared of public speaking, and of parties with people I don’t know, and of difficult conversations when I might disappoint someone.

But over the years enough people have asked me where I find the courage to make my bold choices that I’ve realized: I’m not braver than anyone else, but some of us forget how brave and magnificent we can be. 

In addition, I’ve come to see that my path through life has equipped me with certain tools that help me make the daily decisions that add up to a courageous life.

I can see how my experiences have taught me to have faith that everything will be okay, and, most importantly, that even when everything is not okay, everything is actually okay. And those experiences told me: you’ll do fine.

I’ve been getting really curious lately about how I came to acquire these tools, because I want to share them with you. Because I want to offer them to anyone whose self-doubt is getting in the way of their good work in the world.

And so I’ve learned that we can positively reinforce our own courageous choices by taking time to notice them, recognize them and actually give ourselves credit for them.

So today – please take a few minutes to write down three things you’ve done in the past month (or year) that took courage.

Write them down to remind yourself how brave you already are, and how close you are to finding the little bit of extra courage that will help you do the thing that you most want to do, but think you cannot.

And then make a habit of stopping to notice the small (and large) ways you are choosing to be courageous every day.

You are brave and magnificent. Now give yourself some credit.