Being Vulnerable and the Power of Vulnerability - Magic Moments in Life

Owning our story can be hard, but not nearly as difficult as spending our lives running from it. Embracing our vulnerabilities is risky, but not nearly as dangerous as giving up on love and belonging and joy, the experiences that make us the most vulnerable. Only when we're brave enough to explore the darkness will we discover the infinite power of our light. My God, I love that quote by Brene Brown. It's like she looked into my soul. Now listen, being a better communicator can be difficult. Trust me, there are many times I completely jack it up. But that doesn't mean that we shouldn't keep trying to better ourselves in this area. So if you're a leader, a speaker, or a human that has to communicate through the day. Wait, isn't that everyone? Yes. Yes, it is. But all kidding aside, if you have to communicate each and every day, then these communication tips will help you get better. With each and every tip, you implement around vulnerability. Today, we're going to talk about implementing the ability to be vulnerable into your communication tool belt. But first, what is vulnerability really? I mean, it's not some lofty, unachievable goal, as many of us have thought through our life. However, it will take some work to implement it throughout your life. There were many years where I lived guarded, had put up a wall, was hiding things from others, and even might say, hiding things from myself. And then I learned the magic truth about vulnerability. But before I get into my story on vulnerability, I realize you may have never stopped and actually looked up what the words being vulner or vulnerability are. So here we go. Vulnerability is the quality or state of being exposed to the possibility of being attacked or harmed, either physically or emotionally. And I know you might be thinking, wow, that sounds fun, George. No, I agree. It really doesn't sound like fun at all. But it is. But more on that later. I get it. It Being vulnerable is not the sexiest thing to aspire to have in your life, but it's what will unlock the magic moments of your life. Now listen, it doesn't matter if you're stepping on a stage, entering a boardroom, or even your kitchen. When you embrace being vulnerable, you'll unlock magical moments of your life for yourself and the others around you. So you might be wondering, how can you be more vulnerable? How can you start to break down those walls? Well, you know me. And here are two easy ways to get started on this journey of vulnerability. First, expressing yourself. Whether they're sentiments of disappointment, sadness or anger, or sentiments of caring and love, all are ways to Be deliberately vulnerable. In other words, don't mute or muffle your life. Don't mute or muffle yourself. Don't mute or muffle anything. Live life boldly and express yourself knowing that some people will love it. And, well, some people won't. But guess what? You were put on this planet, this earth, for those who will love it. Second, start allowing yourself to share important elements of your personal history. Doing so will help you develop deeper emotional connections and greater intimacy with others. And, might I add, with yourself. You see, for 25 years, I ran from the fact that I was a high school dropout. But now it's front and center. It's who I am. It helps the world understand. Just another little piece of what makes me special, what makes me. Well, me. So stop hiding those special pieces of you that make you exactly what the world is looking for. And you might be wondering how did learn this lesson of magical moments in life? Through vulnerability, through being vulnerable. Well, the first thing I had to realize was the problem. But let me explain the problem. We all think that we need to be squeaky clean. We all try to hide all the chinks in our armor. We pretend we don't have any battle scars. The problem with that is it's a lie. We're lying to others. And most times we lie to others so much that we start to believe it. And then we're lying to ourselves many times without even knowing it. Which is weird when you're lying to yourself and you don't know it. You see, most of us don't see that those battle scars, those cheeks in our armor, are actually the moments in life that when we embrace them, unlock the magic moments. It's only when we can be vulnerable with ourselves and vulnerable to others that we will unlock some of the key factors of living a happy and impactful life. You know those magical moments that I keep talking about over and over and. Okay, maybe several times. But check problems, lessons learned. So the second thing that needed to happen was a conversation. At least in my life, maybe in yours. You see, we were sitting at the Cheesecake Factory, waiting on our food. Now, for context, the we in this scenario was Marcus Sheridan, Tiffany Kovain, and myself. We were chatting about my upcoming keynote. And actually, let's be completely honest for a second, not only my upcoming keynote, but at that point in my career, it was my very first keynote. So in my mind, it was pretty dang big. It was a big deal. And as we were chatting, Marcus said these words. You have to start your keynote with the fact that you're a. And let's pause for a second. You already know the answer to the story. But those words, those words that were about to come out of Marcus's mouth, I had been running from those for 25 years. I had found several ways to sidestep conversations about it. I had lied about it, and if I'm being totally honest, I was ashamed of it. And it is one of the things I wish I could erase from my past. You see, those words were, I'm a high school dropout. And Marcus wanted me to start my very first keynote by sharing that fact. Are you kidding me? I told him in so many words that he was out of his mind, and he asked me to think it over. Then he said these words that I'll never forget for the rest of the days that I live on this earth. George. It's only when you embrace vulnerability do you reach the magic moments in life. A couple months later, I found myself on stage. I'm nervous. I can feel my sweaty palms and the shaking of my hands as the person finishes introducing me. I hear myself asking myself, are you really gonna do this, dude? Really? I hear the words. Ladies and gentlemen, George B. Thomas. I let the applause settle. It's getting quiet, so I click the clicker, and my first slide comes up. It's a black background with white text, and it simply reads, I'm a high school dropout. There's laughter. I tense up, and my mind starts telling me this was a stupid idea. I then say, I. I'm a high school dropout. There are slightly fewer laughs this time, so I say it one more time. No, really. I'm a high school dropout. It was at that point you could hear a pin drop. I go on to tell the story of my math teacher telling me in front of the class that I'll never amount to anything. And the fact that I believed them. Within months, no matter what my parents said, I was a high school dropout. The rest of my keynote was about marketing, sales metrics, and being human. People leaned in and tuned into every word that I. I said. It was amazing. But was it magical? Kind of. But what happened next? Sure was. You see, I finished and the crowd applauded. I stepped off stage, and people started to come up and say how great it was. A couple even jokingly told me to never do that again and explain how awkward they felt after they realized the laughter coming out of their mouths was not in jest. But then one lady came up to me and she thanked me for my story. She explained that she really connected with my math teacher, telling me I would never amount to anything. I politely thanked her, but I think she realized I didn't understand how much she connected with my story. So she continued, no, I don't think you understand me. For me, that was my mother. I stood there in disbelief. We then chatted for 20 plus minutes about family, forgiveness, moving on in life, and so much more. But I kept thinking her mother and I kept thinking as she walked away, I realized this is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I wanted to use the stage to impact people's lives. And I knew that being vulnerable, vulnerable was the only way that it was going to get done. Being vulnerable in the communication you see the power and vulnerability is that you have to be you. You have to be authentic. In today's modern times, humans are hungry for people who are comfortable in being authentically themselves. But that's probably another video in itself, to be honest. Back to vulnerability. Vulnerability rips off the masks we wear. Vulnerability makes us look inside ourselves and bandage the wounds that may have been left open for years. Embracing vulnerability allows us to stop running from something we may see as a mistake and realize it's simply a life lesson we have now learned. And because we've learned it, we can move on. My challenge for you today is to find that thing or things that you've been running from, to embrace it and find a way to share it with the world. Now, do you have to share it from the stage like I did, or from a YouTube video like I did just now? No. Sure you don't. As a matter of fact, you may share it with one person at a time or a few friends. Friends at a dinner or around a fire. No matter when or where or who. Leverage your ability to be vulnerable to reach those magic moments in your own life. You see those moments in time that seem unbelievable. They are achievable if you're willing to have unbelievable vulnerability as you move forward towards your best life ever, you might be wondering, how can you embrace vulnerability? Well, there's five things that I lean into and I think that you can pay attention to when embracing vulnerability in your own life. Ask for what you need. Be willing to expose your feelings. Say what you want, express what you really think, and slow down. And be present in the moment. Be present in life. Hey, I'm curious. So let me know and the rest of the community know, what have you been running from? And maybe how long have you been running from it? What can you do today? To be more vulnerable and show the world how awesome you really are. Let me know in the comments below. So as you move forward, make magic moments in life by expressing your yourself owning your story. As Bernay Brown says, don't give up on love and belonging and joy and impact the humans around you in a positive way. In the meantime, continue to change the world one good action at a time. Keep building your influence and impact. Grow at least 1% better each and every day and focus on building a life beyond your default. And hey, guess what? I'll see you in the next video. Sam.