Latest / Impact Ready / 187. Make the First Move

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187. Make the First Move · Impact Ready

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  Welcome to Impact Ready, a show dedicated to helping you elevate
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  your impact in the world. I'm Steph Safra, your host.
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  Let's explore the power of showing up with intention and
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  energy each day. This is for those who seek to
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  make life truly meaningful. Get ready for impact.
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  Hello everyone, welcome to the show.
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  In this episode today I want to talk about an idea that I've
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  been putting into action a lot since the beginning of the year.
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  And it's very connected to my mantra for 2026, which is finish
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  line. It's all about getting projects
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  across the finish line, about not procrastinating on things,
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  about the sort of just do it energy.
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  And today the topic is about making the first move.
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  I've been having this conversation with a lot of my
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  one-on-one coaching clients. Many of these folks are people
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  who are managing other people. They either have a team or
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  they're a founder of their company or they're at a level of
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  leadership where they have a lot of responsibility on their
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  shoulders. And it's something that can
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  happen in those situations. A little bit of analysis
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  paralysis as we could call it. There's just so much to consider
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  when you have a lot going on. And this is true for anybody who
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  has a lot on their plate, no matter what their role is, what
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  their work is. But this analysis paralysis can
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  keep us out of action. It creates inaction.
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  We're in our heads. It can also have us making
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  assumptions or getting stuck in beliefs about things that might
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  not even be true. So this idea of making the first
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  move, it's really about assertiveness.
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  It's about getting out of your head and getting into motion.
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  And the more that I've been thinking about this, the more I
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  find areas in life to apply this idea.
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  You can apply this idea to telling somebody how you feel.
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  Maybe it's in a platonic relationship where you want to
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  set the record straight or you want to create an agreement of
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  some kind. Maybe it's in a romantic
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  situation and you're waiting for somebody to make the first move.
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  Why wouldn't you just make it? You know we all create these
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  rules for a situation when it could really just be simple.
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  Say how you feel and take the initiative.
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  You can also apply this rule to a work setting.
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  How many times do we hold back when we know we have something
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  valuable to offer in a work setting?
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  It happens all the time. And why not just make the first
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  move? For example, give your input in
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  a meeting. Say what you want to say to a
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  colleague in a productive, compassionate way.
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  Of course, make it known that you want your name thrown into
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  the ring for a promotion. This could apply to a marriage.
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  You could make the first move more often.
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  You could apologize first. You could take ownership of
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  something first. You could step up and do the
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  work first, whether it's taking out the trash or doing the
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  dishes or just making an appointment that you both been
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  meaning to make. There's so many areas of our
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  life where we could be more assertive, we could be more
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  direct, and we could make that first move.
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  And the reason I think this is important is because
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  assertiveness is a key skill to not only being a great leader,
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  but also creating life you want. Assertiveness leads to action
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  and action beats anxiety. Ultimately, this kind of level
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  headed assertiveness can cut out a lot of the drama or problem
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  energy in our lives. It also helps us get a lot more
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  done in a shorter amount of time.
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  And as one of my mentors says, success loves speed.
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  There's so many areas where we could stop dragging our feet.
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  We could stop putting things off and remove some of the drag on.
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  What we could create for ourselves.
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  And what so many people do, oftentimes just habitually, is
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  instead of taking action and making the first move, they'll
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  do other things instead. They'll do other things instead.
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  They'll do things like complaining or bitching or
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  making excuses or blaming other people for why they can't make
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  stuff happen in their life. They'll choose other projects.
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  They'll do menial tasks instead of important tasks.
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  They'll scroll. They'll choose to think about
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  something that is a little bit easier instead of doing the
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  heavier lift. It's really common.
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  There are so many ways that we avoid making the first move and
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  another thing that gets in the way of us making the first move
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  is our own expectations. We have so many expectations of
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  things in our life and especially of other people.
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  We expect other people to step up and do the work first.
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  We expect somebody else to say how they feel first.
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  In a relationship, we have expectations of our partner and
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  what they should be doing in the House.
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  We have expectations of our colleagues and the amount of
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  work that they should be doing on a project or on your team.
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  Our own expectations of so many different things get in the way
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  of us creating momentum in our lives.
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  Do you see how important this is?
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  Our own expectations are standing in the way of us
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  creating momentum in our life. Damn, when I really started to
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  get that, it made me very eager to start making the first move.
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  And it really does create a change.
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  Do you want to get healthier? Make the first move don't wait
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  for somebody to tell you what to do.
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  Go out and find the information you need or go out and hire the
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  person that you feel like you need to help you.
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  Do you want to have more experiences in your life?
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  Then book the travel don't wait for someone else to inspire you
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  to go travel. Pick a place on the map and go
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  there. You want a new job, start
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  finding ways for you to create opportunity in your life,
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  whether it's getting a promotion, maybe it's working in
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  a different industry, it's interviewing, it's pumping up
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  your CV, whatever it might be. But it all comes down to that
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  idea of making the first move, being assertive.
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  Now, I'm not saying there's not a time and place for being
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  thoughtful and taking time with decisions or the action that you
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  think you should take. Of course there's a time and
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  place for that, but it's way less time than you think you
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  need. Most often we tell ourselves
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  that we aren't making a move because we just need to think
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  about it, or we just need to figure it out a little bit, or
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  we need to wait for the right time.
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  But the reality is we already know what we need to do, we just
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  aren't doing it. So this episode is a bit of a
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  call to action. And the call is to get out into
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  your life and start making those first moves.
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  Give the compliments. Tell people they're doing a
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  great job. Be direct with your boss, take
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  initiative in your home, step up and take some of the load off of
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  your partner. Call the people who need to be
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  called. Make the decisions that you've
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  been putting off. Make the first move and see what
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  unfolds for you. I bet that you're going to feel
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  a lot more momentum in the next couple of weeks if you put this
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  practice into place. I know that this is true for
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  myself. I've certainly been in
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  situations where I haven't been making the first move, where
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  I've been procrastinating or making excuses.
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  I've been there myself. It's a human thing that we do.
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  But when you have this awareness that assertiveness can be an
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  asset, it's really hard to ignore it.
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  And when you have the knowledge and you're not moving on it, at
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  that point, it's kind of on you. So today is Monday.
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  And for the rest of this week, my challenge to you is to start
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  looking at different areas where you could start to make the
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  first move and see what kind of momentum you can create for
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  yourself. I guarantee it's going to start
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  getting really exciting for you. So thank you for being here and
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  for listening. And as always, thank you for
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  being ready to Impact. Thanks for listening to Impact
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  Ready. I hope today's episode inspired
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  you to own your impact and recognize that you are powerful.
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  By elevating our energy and awareness, we can create
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  exponential change in this life. If you enjoyed today's insights,
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  share them with a friend and subscribe to the show for more.
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  I truly appreciate you. Thanks again for being here.