Mind You: Make changes in your life to ditch fear

IT SEEMS to be all about women this week, what with International Women's Day on March 8.

Being involved can lead to more confidence and courage. Picture: RyanKing999

IT SEEMS to be all about women this week, what with International Women's Day on March 8 and its theme, Be Bold For Change, and from March 6-12, Queensland Women's Week and its theme, Be involved. Lead the Way.

I don't know about you but such calls to action can feel daunting to some women. Let me explain what I mean.

If we consider being bold as "showing a willingness to take risks; be confident and courageous", then I suggest the same attributes would be useful for "being involved and leading the way" and yet, as women, we often take fewer risks as we get older, hold back on taking action and let others lead us.

Many women struggle with confidence and feel less than courageous in the modern world.

And when those qualities are weakened or missing then we may feel more threatened by change and hold ourselves back.

Whether it is judgment, failure, success, rejection, loss (of freedom), getting hurt or feeling inadequate, fear can be a powerful deterrent and it may be easier and feel more comfortable to stay where we are.

To me, making changes, being involved and leading can feel overwhelming when we are not used to it and it comes back to gradually applying these things in your own life first:

• Changes don't have to be major; often it's the small changes that create great results quickly.
• Being involved could be as easy as joining an interest group or club, volunteering for your favourite charity or just offering support to someone who needs it.
• You don't have to be in a leadership role to lead the way; we are all leaders through the way we behave and treat others, the way we choose to live our lives and demonstrate acceptance, tolerance and resilience.

Those around us will be influenced by that and you may inspire others to do the same without realising it.

So this week, how about we focus on supporting all of the women in our lives to feel a little more confident and courageous by inviting them to try something new with us?

Ask your mother, stepmother, sister, daughter, BFF or other significant woman to experience life a little differently with you. Go somewhere you've never been, do something you've never done.

Just because it's all about women this week doesn't mean that we should ignore the men in our lives.

They are often (quietly) our greatest supporters and advocates and would welcome a happier version of us. Just one step may lead to change, increased confidence or greater courage.

Rowena Hardy is a facilitator, performance coach and partner of Minds Aligned.

Originally published as Mind You: Make changes in your life to ditch fear