Trombone Player Wanted & The Call for Being Yourself.

The first time I was introduced to Strengthsfinder was back in 2009ish. I remember how shocking it was to learn that only 2 out of 10 people got to play to their strengths at work. How could that be right? I spent so much of time rebeling against what everyone thought I should do…and I was on a mission to do work I loved every day.

Fast forward a decade and I found myself in a business I hated, doing work I didn’t love…well I loved a small sliver of it but the rest I hated. I became one of the 8 out 10 and I worked for myself. I wondered how I ended up in that place especially as an entrepreneur. Wasn’t the whole point of working for myself is to do work I love that is based on my strengths?

The reality is I freely gave my power away. I settled. I say yes when I knew in my heart and soul it was a big old NO. I was going through the motions…but I wasn’t really living. I outsourced my thinking. I shrank myself down to make others feel comfortable.

I look back on that decade-ish of my life and am bombarded with lessons, wisdom, experiences and themes that I still don’t think I’ve realized the impact of….

I wonder why we betray ourselves. I wonder why we outsource our thinking. I wonder why we trust others more than we trust ourselves. I wonder why we fear our individuality rather than embracing and loving it.

And it made me realize just how early our culture wants us to start to fit into a mold.

It makes me sad. I don’t want to be like everyone else. I want to be the most pure expression of the person I am supposed to be.

For me that light within me grows stronger and stronger. My power. My strengths. My very being. It’s honestly almost like magic or the force. It’s hard to describe.

I am on a mission to live in a world where we know who we are and unapologetically show up as that person day in and day out.

We work to our strengths.

We honor ourselves.

We trust ourselves.

We embrace the uniqueness and strengths that make us an individual.

We embody our power.

We never settle when we know we are meant for more.

We imagine the grandest possibility and then sprinkle on some more.

We believe in our strength.

We follow our gut.

We each even just a smidge more day by day become a little bit more of ourselves. More comfortable in our being. We honor that what makes us each unique and approach difference with understanding. With compassion. With curiosity.

I imagine a world where we adults don’t have to “do the work” to get back to ourselves.

I imagine the entrepreneurs I support launching, creating, building businesses that actually bring them joy and freedom.

I imagine a world where we each make the impact we are designed to make…

And piece by piece we each make this world a better place.

Because we own who we are.

So if you can, I invite you to peel back the layers of who you think you are “supposed” to be and embrace the possibility of who you are.

I want you to come home again to who you are in every thing that you do.

I want you to live in a world where any dream is possible

I want you to challenge the thinking of how you should do things and think outside the box.

Hell throw the box away.

So if you are that trombone player or the one who craves order or the rebel or the artist…

EMBRACE it.

Stand Tall. Shine. Expand. Find strength. Let us see you. The world needs you.

For you. For me. For all of us.

Because if each of us could just be a little more us…think about the possibilities that creates.

Jamie

P.S. If you want to see the video that inspired this post check out Trombone Player Wanted