Success Comes From Vulnerability

Welcome to A New Life podcast with Pamela Jean, where it's all about empowering women to empower more women. Get ready, friends, to create a new life. And here is your host, Pamela Jean.

Hello, my friends, and welcome to this week's episode of A New Life podcast. I'm Pamela Jean. You are your host for today. I guess I'm your host every day since it is my podcast. Although I have some great interviews coming up. Oh, my gosh, I can't wait for you to hear them. Some of these incredibly successful, amazing women I have coming on. You guys are going to be so excited. So I guess you'll just have to wait for those. But I've got some great, great interviews coming up. Well, welcome to another episode. I'm so glad you're here. I'm going to give you a little bit of a warning. Today's topic might make you squirm just a little, but I promise it's worth it. We are going to talk about how success comes from vulnerability. Yes, you heard me. Success can come from allowing yourself to be vulnerable. The very thing most of us try to avoid, right? Nobody really feels comfortable being vulnerable. If we're honest. It does take some time. But if I told you that embracing vulnerability could be the key to unlocking your true potential and achieving the success you've always dreamed of, would you consider allowing yourself to be vulnerable? So grab a cup of coffee, find a cozy spot. Let's dive in. This is going to be a good one. So the first thing that we want to do is understand vulnerability. When we talk about vulnerability, what comes to your mind? Just stop for a second and think about vulnerability. What comes to your mind? Or maybe you're getting a physical reaction to it. Maybe you're feeling a pit in your stomach. But what happens to you when you think about being vulnerable? For many, it's a sense of weakness, exposure, shame, guilt. But we've been conditioned to see vulnerability as a flaw, something to hide or overcome. But reality is, if we allow ourselves to be vulnerable, it can unlock the most powerful tool in your journey to becoming success successful. Whether it's about your business or your relationships or your families, being vulnerable is going to set you up for a new level of success. Many of you probably have heard of Brene Brown. She is an amazing, amazing author. She is a leading researcher of vulnerability. She did a whole research project on vulnerability and she defines it as uncertainty, risk and emotional exposure. It's about showing up and being seen, even. Even when the outcome is uncertain. And wow, that's Scary, right? Vulnerability is about being real and authentic rather than perfect. I would encourage you to check out Brene Brown's TED Talk on the topic. It is so good. I think I've listened to it probably about 35 times. It's so good. But think about some of the most successful people that you know or admire. Chances are they faced moments of vulnerability in those situations, same places that you probably do. It's not about being weak, it's about being brave. It's about having the courage to be yourself and show up fully despite fearing judgment or failure. And I like to point something out to you that perhaps you've never thought of before. But there are two things. You have faith and you have fear. You can't see faith, you can't see fear. There's nothing to fear. You can't see fear and you can't see faith. But if you focus on faith, you have a good outcome. If you focus on fear, you have a bad outcome. So why wouldn't you focus on faith, knowing that you're going to have a good outcome? So think about that and really step into the place of show up fully. Even when you don't know what's going to happen, you don't know what the outcome is going to be. I want to point out the connection between vulnerability and success. How exactly does allowing yourself to be vulnerable lead to success? First of all, vulnerability fosters connection. When we allow ourselves to be vulnerable, we create genuine connections with others. Whether it's personal relationships or professional settings, business or pleasure, whatever it is, people are drawn authentically. They really appreciate. People appreciate it when someone is real and relatable. This connection builds trust, which is honestly a cornerstone to success in any field. You have to have trust. You have to have trust in business, you have to have trust in relationships. But when you allow yourself to be vulnerable and show up real and relatable, it will elevate your levels of success in any field, in any realm. Secondly, vulnerability drives innovation and creativity. We're more likely to take risks and think outside of the box when not afraid to fail. Innovation comes from a place of openness and curiosity. If you don't allow yourself to be vulnerable, you are going to short side yourself on creativity and innovation. You know, think about it. If you know Thomas Edison wasn't up for making the light bulb for us, how different would our lives be today? Think about that. Can you imagine how many people looked at him like he was crazy when he was trying to create the light bulb? The third thing is that vulnerability builds Resilience success often involves overcoming challenges and setbacks. When we embrace vulnerability, we are better equipped to handle failure and bounce back stronger. Period. That is absolutely 100% truth. The last thing about vulnerability I want to talk to you about and how it relates to becoming successful is that vulnerability increases and enhances your leadership skills. Great leaders are those who lead with empathy, authenticity and courage. They inspire and motivate others by showing that it's okay to be human, it's okay to make mistakes, and people can learn from that. Vulnerable leaders create a culture of openness and trust which is totally going to drive success for their team or organization. If you have a leader that pushes their thumb down on everyone and everything around them, that's not going to create a successful team or organization. But if you can lead vulnerable, create that culture of openness and trust with your team, you are going to drive so much success and be an innovator of success, which is so super exciting. So some practical steps to embracing vulnerability are Acknowledge your fears. Number one, you know, acknowledge what you're afraid of. Acknowledge the fears and insecurities that hold you back. Write them down. Say them out loud. Share them with a trusted friend or a coach. Recognizing that fear. Fear is the first step to overcoming it. What I have really found is sometimes the dread of facing something is worse than the do. Once you face the thing you're dreading, the do part of it is like, oh well, that's kind of a no brainer. So face your fears, understand what they are and write them down. I talked about self compassion in a segment a couple weeks ago. But be kind to yourself and remember that vulnerability is a strength and not a weakness. Treat yourself with the same compassion that you would with a friend. Take some small failures or I'm sorry, don't take small failures. Take some small risks. Start with small acts of vulnerability. Ease your way in. It's like stepping into a cold swimming pool. You just get in and get to your ankles. Then you get to your knees and then you get to your waist. Go in small. Take small steps. Share your ideas in a meeting. Ask for help when needed. Express your feelings to someone you trust. Each small step will help build your confidence and resilience and help you overcome the fear of being vulnerable. Embrace failure. You know failure is part of success. Period. Failure is part of success. You cannot have success without experiencing failure. So instead of fearing and dreading failure, anticipate and accept failure. Because without failure, you will not succeed. The lessons to reach levels of success will only come to you. Through failure. So anticipate failure, look forward to it, because then you know you're learning something that's going to help you grow. Reframe how you think about the failure and embrace it. You have to have some support. You have to have some people in your corner. Your coaches, your mentors, the people that can really, really help guide you. Make sure that when you're asking for accountability and you're asking for that support, make sure you find a mentor or a coach or a friend whose values align with yours. Because if you're seeking counsel or mentorship from someone whose values don't align with yours, it will not be a good fit and you potentially will lean back into vulnerability or your anti vulnerability and not have the progress that you really want and deserve. The next thing is be present, practice mindfulness and stay present in the moment. Vulnerability often comes from worrying about the future or dwelling on the past. If you just stay, keep your head right where you are. Don't look in the rear view, don't look up the road. Just stay right where you are and stay present and be fully engaged. So I want to share a couple of stories of some people that I think are just insanely successful. And I want to share those stories with you because I think we forget that each of us at one point or another fear being vulnerable sometimes. Fear of, I don't want anyone to know this secret about me or about my family. I don't want anyone to know where my inadequies are. You know, there are, we all are the same. Even famous, wealthy elite people have the same insecurities that you do, the same insecurities that I at one point did. And it's just important to understand that you, you can have all the money in the world and you potentially will still have those feelings of low self esteem and no confidence. We all know everyone listening knows Oprah Winfrey, right? Oprah's journey is a testament to the power of vulnerability. She openly shared her struggles, including her difficult childhood and personal failures on air. For how many years did she have her TV show? But her willingness to be vulnerable has just created millions and millions of people to follow her and love her and created the biggest fan base. People connected with her because she allowed her vulnerabilities to show. She didn't hide them, she embraced them. So if Oprah Winfrey can do it, you, my friend, can do it. 2. J.K. rowling before she came the household name of J.K. rowling, she faced so many rejections and challenges. She often spoke about her Struggles with depression and fear of failure. Same as you and me. Her vulnerability in sharing her story has inspired countless of other people and fans that contribute their success to listening to her by just following in her footsteps. You know, she didn't start her writing career or become famous, a famous writer till, you know, at her midlife point, really. But if she hadn't leaned into being vulnerable and allowing those things to be known, her success today would look a lot different. My last uber successful person I want to highlight is Elon Musk. Elon is known for his bold vision to take risks. He also is open about his failures from the early struggles of Tesla, the challenges faced by SpaceX. Musk's vulnerability in acknowledging the setbacks and continuing to push forward has really been the key factors in his success. Can you imagine if the first time a Tesla car failed and he quit, where would he be today? He didn't quit, but he looked at that failure as a pathway to his success. And look at him now. Okay, so friends, as we wrap up, I want to talk to you a little bit about embracing vulnerability in your life, in your own life. I want to leave you with a powerful reminder that embracing vulnerability is a lifelong journey. It's not something that you do once and then you move on, but it's a practice that really, vulnerability requires intention and effort. But I promise you, my friend, the rewards are immeasurable. The relationships, the connections, the success that you will have by allowing vulnerability to be part of your everyday life is really important. You're going to open yourself up to deeper connections, greater creativity, increased resilience, and honestly, authentic leadership and friendships. You create a foundation of true success based on authenticity and courage. And I challenge you to take one step towards embracing vulnerability today. Maybe it's sharing a piece of your story with someone, taking a risk that you've been avoiding, or simply just being kinder to yourself. What could you do to be kinder to yourself? Whatever it is, know that you're taking a powerful step towards your success. Oh, my gosh, isn't that amazing? Take a powerful step towards your success. So, friends, I'm gonna wrap it up right here, but thank you for joining me today. I hope this episode has inspired you to see vulnerability in a new light and embrace it as a powerful tool for your success. Definitely check out Brene Brown's TED Talk, which is, I think it really. If you just googled or put into TED Talk and did a search, Brene Brow Brown vulnerability, it should pop up and listen to that because it's just so good. It is very enlightening. I hope you enjoy that. But remember, my friends, true success comes from being real, brave and willing to show up despite the fear. Remember, you can't see fear and you can't see faith. Why not lean into faith. Give that a try. I hope you enjoyed this episode. Please share it with someone who could benefit from it. And as always, I love hearing from you. Send me your thoughts, questions and stories of how you have embraced vulnerability in your own life and the difference and changes that it has made. I would love to hear from you. And I read every single message that I get. I read each and every one of them. Until next time, my friends. Make it a great day.

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