Life
Life Lessons Learned from Walking on Broken Glass
I admit it. I’m a self-help geek.
I’ve done everything from the usual (books, seminars, coaching) to the extreme (ziplining, fire eating, board breaking) in the name of personal development.
So when I had the opportunity to walk on broken glass, I jumped at the chance.
You may be scratching your head, wondering WHY anyone would volunteer to walk barefoot across a 15 foot platform covered with broken glass? When I felt that first CRUNCH underfoot, I asked myself the same thing!
But it turned out the hardest part wasn’t the act of putting one foot in front of the other. It was overcoming the fear.
Here are some important life lessons that became very clear during this exercise:
- Getting started is always the hardest part. The first step was terrifying! But each step got much easier. Trying anything new is like that.
- The best way to face your fears is to – like Nike says – “Just Do It.” No matter what you’re afraid of, the answer almost always lies in these 3 simple words. Take an action that scares you and it will set you free.
- Find validation from those who have already done what you want to accomplish. Walking on glass without cutting your feet doesn’t seem possible! But witnessing others do it – with no screaming or bleeding involved – the impossible becomes possible.
- Listen to what people more experienced than you have to say. One attendee ignored an important tip and got glass in her foot. Ouch! That’s learning the hard way. Have you ever had to learn things the hard way? Yeah, me too.
- Pay attention. Walking on glass safely requires concentrating fully on the task at hand. Always an excellent idea … no matter what you’re doing.
- You can always find reasons to justify not taking a risk. I’m sure you can think of several good reasons to NOT walk on glass. It will hurt. You could get cut. You could get an infection. You could DIE!!! As Richard Bach said in his book Illusions, “Argue for your limitations, and sure enough, they’re yours.”
Successful people never stop investing in themselves
They don’t read one book or attend one seminar and call it a life. Because they realize that for every hour and dollar spent on personal development, they’ll be rewarded many times over with increased productivity, happiness, and self-fulfillment.