It allows our brilliance to be expressed in every performance and competitive experience
Seasons of Change is a biweekly column from Jayne Clark addressing different topics each season. Fall’s focus is competition. Jayne Clark works intuitively with clients to help them resolve issues regarding relationships, loss, grief, health, and career path. To learn more, head to jayneclark.com.
You have a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other shoulder. They are currently fighting of allowing YOU to be brilliant. One represents our critical and judgmental self while the other one represents our loving and kind self.
Have you ever walked away from a job interview, first date, or presentation thinking, “I could have done so much better! Why did I say that? Why did I ramble on so much? I can’t believe I left out such important details! I knew I should have prepared better! Who am I to think I would get that job, be liked by someone else or succeed at the highest level?”
Clearly we are in a space of insecurity and fear when we say these words and think these thoughts. In hindsight we see how we could have shown up more authentically. And somewhere during the process we perceived a potential loss—loss of self- esteem, loss of being liked, loss of feeling adequate and worthy.
If we lose these things, we will make up a story that in our minds that it ultimately means something negative about ourselves.
On the flip side, we can swim in a sea of self-doubt and still get the outcome we desire. And yet, we have still lost. We may get what we want in the physical world, but we are still a prisoner in our own inner world. We are not free but lucky and we are still hostage to the little devil on our shoulder.
How does love in competition allow us to be brilliant?
Love assists us in quieting the mind of all its chatter, judgment and criticism and opens us to know ourselves within a situation as we truly are. Our recognition of that truth liberates us from everything that stands in the way of being brilliant. We are free and the outcome is not nearly as important as the quality by which we compete or perform.
Embracing a loving consciousness automatically places us in the posture for allowing our brilliance to come through. We have a greater capacity for trust–trusting our instincts, years of preparation, or simply our own process.
Think about what it would be like to be so full of love while performing on stage, taking your business to the next level, or competing in your favorite sports event. When we are in love, truly surrendered to being and experiencing love, the principal of allowing comes easy.
I love to watch the talent shows on television such as The Voice and American Idol. When we witness an outstanding performance, the performer is not consumed in worry and self-doubt. There is that magical moment when they let go and let their love for singing be expressed.
It is the same with an athletic performance or an entrepreneur who is at the “right place at the right time with the right opportunity”. That is brilliance. It’s not something you can manufacture or manipulate into reality. Love is the “it” factor that truly turns all of our great performances into brilliant performances.
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