Daring Greatly

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
Theodore Roosevelt

This quote means so much to me. Not just as a coach but as a human being. We all fail over and over again. One of the things this quote does for me is that it reminds me to only listen to the critics who matter. If you are not in the arena getting your ass kicked then your feedback doesn’t matter to me.  We all get our asses kicked when we are going for goals or things that most people do not have the guts to do. When I became a coach I didn’t know what this journey would be. At first I thought it would just be a way to get a discount and maybe break even on my supplements. I NEVER thought it would be a career. That was for other people. I had a job. I didn’t want to be one of THOSE people who bothered or annoyed other people to buy stuff from me.

On the journey of coaching I discovered many things. How to deal with failure, how to deal with success, how to communicate, love and express my feelings and MORE. Coaching continues to teach me things about myself. The journey is priceless. I see people come and go in this journey. I love the connection and relationships that are formed through coaching. We all have a sense of love and belonging. We all want to feel like we are enough and that our lives matters. I know without a doubt that I was meant to take this journey. I was meant to get my ass kicked so I can help others with their failures.

Every failure makes me stronger and makes me more grateful for each lesson learned. Every team member who shows up with a black eye for more receives my humble gratitude for their work. They get their asses kicked too and keep helping more. The mission is too important to let a few failures keep us for helping others.

I dare greatly. Do you?