You know how when you hear something 2-3 times you start paying attention? This is what has happened to me over the last month while writing a chapter of my second book. A story surfaced about work I did years ago and with time passing, I am now seeing it in a different way and decided to contact one of the executives who was a part of the process. He revealed a dimension of the story that I didn’t see and shared that I was a catalyst in the shift that helped move the company in a different direction.
Later that same day I’m standing in the shampoo aisle of BJ’s sharing the story with my friend Madelyn. She had never heard it from beginning to end. The more I shared with her, the more I understood a part of myself I didn’t value that is absolutely essential, powerful, brilliant. It is the catalyst in me that makes huge, huge things happen for others. And in this case for our country. (More on this later!)
I am working on understanding how my role played a part in a huge movement. Something so big that I didn’t realize it could have such an impact. The point of this story though is not about that big story; it is about realizing one’s purpose and how it gets manifested in multiple ways.
Last night was confirmation once again about my role as a catalyst. I was filling out an assessment that was given to me by a company that wants to partner to help bring my content to a digital platform. In a significant way, this will enable millions to be able to help them figure out, access, and advance their purpose.
My personalized feedback report was titled The Catalyst. The same words that the executive shared about my role with the senior team and the same works my friend Madelyn shared with me as she listened to my big story in the aisles of BJ’s.
“You are a catalyst – you wake people up and even when they don’t want to be,” she said.
I woke up this morning realizing this is part of my purpose and had never seen it this way until now. My purpose is to wake us up to what really matters and dance in it. I had always focused on the dance in part, about bringing us together to do big important work across cultures, gender, religion, regions. I also focused on how music brings a beat that we all can dance to. I also focused on what really matters. It was always about prioritization, helping people focus on the fewest and most essential items. But it wasn’t until this morning that I fully embraced and accepted the words, “the catalyst,” and really understand its importance in the work I do and how it makes me powerful and unique. There I said it, I am powerful. I am unique. And I have an enormous value in the world that no one else has quite like me.
If we each humbly accept and own that we are each brilliant in some way, what might shift in how we move through our days? Make decisions? Take risks? What is one small action you can take today that honors and leverages your brilliance?