What stops you in your tracks?

One half of the founding team of Living Right Now is on her jollies and spent yesterday travelling up north to the highlands and islands. Just beyond Carlisle she and her travelling companion simply had to take an unexpected detour for something too delicious to ignore. A roadside café called “The Llama Karma Kaffe.”

 

And it was a delight. Complete with two real live llamas in the back garden and an assortment of bizarre souvenirs including a llama glove puppet. (Which is now packed away in the suitcase waiting for just the right moment to bring some llama karma into any meeting that begins to lose its zest!)

 

And it got us thinking about what makes us stop in our tracks. Things that are quirky, beautiful, intriguing, valuable, different, engaging? All of these and more. At times, life can be shades of grey, days blending together with no particular stand out moment. And then the equivalent of the Llama Karma Kaffe will come along and shake us up a bit, and in a good way.

 

It applies to people too. Some people stop you in your tracks as their uniqueness shines out. Is that you? Do you glory in your special qualities and take every opportunity to display them to the world? Many women we work with fear that a little. What if “they” don’t like the real me? Maybe I am safer behind this mask that gets me comfortably through the day? Am I really confident enough to have the kind of impact that stops people in their tracks?

 

You know, fear of success can be even more debilitating than fear of failure. When all eyes are on you, it can feel like there is no hiding place. The good news? You don’t have to be anything other than exactly who you are. That’s quite good enough. With all your flaws and challenges you are perfectly able to stop people in their tracks with your unique brilliance. And know that the masks you might choose to adopt often simply dumb it down for you and others.

There are some great activities in our book Frazzled to Fizzingto help you get in touch with your brilliance. So take a tip from a roadside llama – be proud, be you and watch the crowds gather in admiration.