Latest / The Humanistic Leader Podcast- Dr. Craig Nathanson / Show Up Anyway: The Power of Small Actions

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Show Up Anyway: The Power of Small Actions · The Humanistic Leader Podcast- Dr. Craig Nathanson

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  Welcome to the Humanistic Leadership Podcast, and I'm Dr. Craig Nathanson.
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  Today, I want to talk about something that we all experience.
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  It's those moments when we simply don't feel like showing up.
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  We don't feel like exercising. We don't feel like creating.
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  We don't feel like having, you know, the difficult conversation.
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  We don't feel like working on our goals.
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  We don't even feel like getting started. And yet many times the quality of our
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  life is shaped Not by the days we feel inspired But by the days we decide to show up Anyway,
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  I've learned over the years that motivation is Is often overrated.
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  You know, action creates momentum, and motion changes emotion.
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  Sometimes the hardest part is not the work itself. The hardest part is just beginning.
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  For me, one example is my daily stretching and core exercises.
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  I've had some, you know, back issues over the years, and my wife,
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  Natasha, has really helped me understand the importance of, you know,
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  strengthening, stretching, and taking care of my body.
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  And the interesting thing is this. Almost every day I can find a reason not
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  to do it. Maybe later. Maybe tomorrow.
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  Maybe I'm too busy. Maybe I'm too tired.
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  And the exercises only take about 20 minutes.
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  But once I begin, even five minutes into the routine, I'm always glad I showed
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  up. My body starts to feel better.
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  My mind becomes calmer.
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  And another small promise to myself gets honored.
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  And that's an important phase for me. Another small promise to myself, as I said, gets honored.
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  I think many of us, you know, understand or underestimate the emotional power
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  of just keeping those small promises to ourselves.
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  Take a quiet moment and ask yourself, what is one small thing I keep avoiding
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  that I know would help my life?
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  Maybe it's a walk. Maybe it's rest. Maybe it's writing. Maybe it's reaching out to someone.
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  Maybe it's finally beginning something meaningful What would happen if you simply
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  showed up for 10 minutes?
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  As I've gotten older, I realize that showing up consistently is connected to
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  another important idea, vision.
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  Where are we trying to go with our life? When I was younger,
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  there were periods in my life when I was doing work that really didn't connect to who I was becoming.
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  And, you know, during those years, I spent a lot of time visualizing the kind of life that I wanted.
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  Not perfectly, not in every detail But I imagined, you know,
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  meaningful work Freedom,
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  creativity, teaching Helping people grow Having deeper conversations about the
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  life and leadership As I've gotten older, I've continued to polish that vision You know,
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  trimming it, modifying it as needed Refining it And what's interesting is that,
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  you know, much of that vision Slowly became the life that, you know,
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  I'm living today Not because life was easy, not because everything worked perfectly
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  But because direction matters And I think we should think about our life as an open canvas You know,
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  before we begin to paint We need to spend time understanding what we want to create,
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  And many times, the life we eventually build begins quietly Through those repeated
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  moments of just showing up So ask yourself now What kind of life am I slowly painting?
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  Does my daily behavior align with the future I say that I want?
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  What is one small adjustment that would move me one step closer toward a more
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  meaningful and joyful life?
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  Years ago, I also began to realize that achievement by itself was not enough for me.
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  I can complete those projects, attend meetings, reach my objectives.
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  But eventually, I began to ask myself a deeper question. Does my work feel meaningful?
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  That question changed my life.
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  For me, it slowly moved the direction towards teaching more,
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  writing, coaching, speaking, and building ideas around human growth and humanistic leadership.
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  And maybe that's another important reminder. Sometimes showing up is not only about discipline.
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  Sometimes it's about listening carefully to what your inner voice has been trying to tell you.
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  So today, if you don't feel like showing up, remember this. You don't need to
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  have everything figured out.
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  You do not need to feel perfectly motivated.
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  And you don't need those dramatic changes.
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  Sometimes growth just happens quietly.
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  One walk, one page, one workout, doubt, one conversation, one thoughtful moment,
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  one small promise honored.
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  Sometimes the life we want is built slowly through the moments we decided just
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  to show up, even when we didn't feel like it.
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  This is the Humanistic Leadership Podcast.
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  I'm Dr. Craig Nathanson. Thanks for listening.