Are you BRAVE ENOUGH to suck at something new?
When there's a lesson I gotta learn, I need to hear it, see it, read it, surround myself with it... otherwise I tend to conveniently forget what my "work" is.
Which we all know is SO MUCH EASIER!
We want our lives to be different, but we don't wanna do the work to make it happen. Why? Because doing the work is risky. It takes guts. It takes a new way of thinking and acting and being in the world. And that can be scary!
Like the time I was PUBLICLY BODY SHAMED for having "big legs" when I was trying on a dress at the thrift store. Or the time a gal came up to me on the playground and said, "I can see your butt", because my dress had gotten tucked up under my backpack, and my undied-ass was RIGHT THERE, for all to see.
On the other hand, these kinds of experiences can be downright AWESOME! Exhilarating! Empowering!
In fact, whenever this kind of stuff happens to me, my BFF Molly will say to me, "Stasia, why do all the good things happen to you!"
This cracks me up because it's SO FAR from the usual response I get when I share an "embarrassing" experience with someone.
I mean... if YOU were told your legs were "too big" or your butt was exposed ON THE PLAYGROUND, would YOU feel like "the lucky one"?
Probably not.
But here's the thing... Molly and I TRULY BELIEVE that there's no growth inside our comfort zones, and we are full-on ADDICTED to growing.
We count ourselves lucky to see the signs that remind us we are standing on our GROWING EDGE, because we know THAT is where the magic happens. And the MAGIC? Well, that's exactly where we wanna be!
It's SO easy to look at the highlight reel of someone else's life and think that they are living some charmed life, full of rainbows and unicorns.
But, truth is... and you KNOW this in your heart... rainbows and unicorns ONLY exist in the MAGIC found outside of your COMFORT ZONE.
So... just for funsies, I thought it'd be FUN to tell you about a few of my personal highlights from this year:
I hopped on a surf-board for the first time EVER, got pummeled by waves for 5 days straight, and couldn't stop shaking because I was so gripped by FEAR
I caught the most epic wave EVER on my very last run, and felt like a total badass
I did my first EVER keynote in April, and it flopped so badly, I walked off the stage
I did a second keynote later in the year, and it felt so GREAT, I decided that I'd like to add keynote-speaking to my repertoire
I did a live public radio interview, and it went so poorly, I cried in the studio
I did a second radio interview later in the year, and was told by the DJ that I was one of his TOP 3 radio interview guests EVER because our mojo was so strong
Do you see what PRECEDED every success? Struggle, difficulty, and discomfort.
As Liz Gilbert puts it... "If you want something enough—whatever it is—then you don’t really mind eating the shit sandwich that comes with it.”
Do YOU want to feel alive, vibrant, bold, brave, confident and passionate?
If your answer is YES, then I wanna know what you're willing to do to CULTIVATE THOSE FEELINGS in a practical, hands-on, every-day, rubber-meets-the-road way?
Are you wiling to try something new? Take some risks? Feel like a beginner? Are you brave enough to SUCK at something new?
That just happens to be the title of my latest keynote address, and I'll tell you what, there is NO MAGIC if you're not willing to suck. The courage to be a beginner, to fall down, to NOT KNOW HOW to do something in order to LEARN something new, is precisely where the magic lies.
We all LOVE a good story about resilience, grit and overcoming. But here's the thing that we sometimes forget... inherent to all of those good INSPIRATIONAL stories is the FACT that someone found a way to stay in the game, in the face of failure, folly and fumble.
Listen my friend, you can't keep doing the same ole humdrum things and expect different results.
This is true in your life AND in your closet.
You can't keep wearing the same ole clothes that make you FEEL humdrum about your body, your potential, your very LIFE, if what you're longing for is something bigger, something BRAVER, something that makes you feel gritty, resilient, and revel-YOU-tionary!
You gotta get out of your comfort zone. You gotta try new things. You gotta be willing to not get it right, knowing that THAT is the exact moment you're gonna learn something wicked valuable.
See these three photos? In the photo to the far left, I was wearing a sweater and a denim jacket over a dress for the first time EVER. It didn't really work, so I studied the photo, and realized that the sweater was wayyy too long, and the jacket was wayyy too big. With my data collected, I headed to the thrift shop and bought a cropped sweater and a fitted denim jacket... and can't you just SEE the difference!
I had to do it "wrong" before I got it RIGHT.
And do you know how I felt in all three photos? BRAVE. Bold. Scrappy. Resilient.
CHANGE doesn't happen when you keep doing the same things, wearing the same clothes, thinking the same thoughts, and feeling the same way.
CHANGE happens when you choose one small, doable, outside-your-comfort-zone thing... and you do THAT THING for 21 days or more.
If you’re feeling like you’re ready to CHANGE how you show up in the world, then Style School might just be your ticket. It is 35 days worth of changing your clothes, with intention, support, guidance… and FUN!
It's powerful. It's life-changing. And you'll never be the same.
You just might end up a goofy growth junkie like me and Molly... where you laugh in the face of difficulty and adversity, and you say BRING IT ON... cuz you love the MAGIC!
xo
Stasia + Molly
Do you have a friend who celebrates your brave moves with you, and helps you laugh off the "fails?" Someone who's doing "the work" right alongside YOU? A partner in crime? A sister in arms? If not, you'll meet her in Style School, which is exactly where WE met!