Vulnerability - Necessary For Growth and Connection

I was thinking about vulnerability this morning. How are you with vulnerability? For me, it used to feel like a layer of my armor had been removed and I was left feeling exposed. When I have felt vulnerable, it’s been due to stepping out of my comfort zone. Or, sharing a truth about myself that those around me might not yet have known. It’s exposure. It’s rawness. It’s not sure about putting it out there. But, at the same time, I look back at Brené Brown’s work and I’m reminded that being vulnerable leads us back to connection. You need to have vulnerability for truth, for courage, and for connection. I then do a check-in with myself - what about this made me vulnerable?

It’s that sharing. That not knowing how it will be received. I then ask myself if I am doing this for myself or am I doing this for others? If I’m doing it for myself then what others are thinking about me doesn’t matter. And, if I’m doing it for others then I need to re-evaluate why I’m doing this for someone else and not myself.

I bring this up today because I’m looking at how much things have changed in such a short amount of time. Many of us are doing such different tasks, different jobs, or different roles then we were just a year ago. This is leaving many feeling vulnerable.

When we are vulnerable, some react and act out. Others retreat and go within and isolate. It is good to know what your pattern is as it impacts your relationships - whether it is the relationship with yourself, your personal relationships, or your networking or work relationships. It all connects and interweaves. If you’re feeling vulnerable and you lash out, then you are keeping people at bay. You are keeping them away because you don’t want to deal with that (or don’t know how). If you are isolating and retreating then you are also keeping people at bay. Either way, you aren’t getting the results that you want. When we keep people at bay by shutting down, or acting out, then we are turning off our ability to make a connection. When we put it out there, it’s like we are dipping our toe in the water then we retreat real fast so that connection isn’t there.

Vulnerability is not something that has been usually accepted in our society. It has been viewed as a weakness, viewed as too much, or sharing too much. This is changing. Vulnerability can help us grow. It can help show that we are real and it can help be a catalyst for change.

I encourage you to keep practicing your vulnerability just as I am with mine. Look at how you play it out. Are you comfortable being vulnerable because you are doing it for you - even if it is uncomfortable? Or, do you lash out or do you retreat? Look at your pattern and see how you respond. How can you make a shift so you can keep staying on the path to take care of you and be your authentic self?

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Are you ready for the transformation of stepping into your own power? To increase your self confidence, improve your leadership skills, and stop self sabotage? To break free from the messages you have received on how you are supposed to act, look, think? If so, I invite you to schedule a call so we can discuss how you can step into your own power through individual coaching. I currently offer individual 3-month and 6-month coaching packages. All packages begin with a 90 minute first session. Each session thereafter is for 60 minutes. We meet the first 3 weeks of each month. The link to my online calendar is here - I look forward to connecting with you!