What can we learn from our proudest moments?
“Values are like fingerprints. Nobodies are the same, but you leave them all over everything you do.”
Elvis Presley
Last week, we delved into crucible moments to uncover powerful clues on our core beliefs and personal values. Now, let’s explore another key milestone in every life story:
Proud moments of personal leadership!
Or put simply, proud moments when we navigated a difficult task. Times when we were at our best in the face of a challenge.
In a similar process to our Early Happy Memory task (Exercise 1, Chapter 1 of the Mojo Mindset Course), there’s great power to be found in returning to a proud moment, and identifying the key words around this particular memory. This could involve a time where you overcome a setback, or perhaps accomplished a challenging goal…
But it also doesn’t have to capture a moment where you feel like you came out ‘on top’. Sometimes the simplest of moments can hold the biggest wins, and the scoreboard doesn’t capture everything. As the Einstein saying goes, “Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.”
Meaningful leadership moments can be less about the results, and more about how we’ve shown up overall. They’re something to be proud of because they represent moments where we got out of our comfort zone, helped others, improved on our last efforts, or maybe just gave it our all with a sense of play and compassion.
Once we’ve identified a proud moment, the trick is to get curious about the details. What was happening there? How did I feel? What words capture this positive experience? What felt special about this moment? These kinds of questions can help us to identify the things that we most value — whether that’s being in service to a cause or community (helping others), the act of learning a new skill (growth), or simply choosing to show up and have a go, regardless of the outcome (courage, vulnerability).
Now — over to you!
Think about a moment in your life where you felt particularly proud in the face of a difficult task. If you can, spend a few minutes exploring the details of that memory, noting down any words or phrases that capture the experience:
I felt proud when I….
This moment meant so much because…
I felt inspired or motivated by…
In your exploration of this proud moment, you may discover that you were actually practising one or more values, leaving a beautiful and unique ‘fingerprint’ on the moment without even knowing it!
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