3 Surprising Life Lessons Learned from a Maze in Mexico (including why nagging can be a good thing!)

(Full transcript of video below)

Call it a New Years resolution, Goal-Setting, or Unleashing your Awesomeness.

January arrives, and with it, we are compelled to look back at what was NOT done the year before, and possibly to resolve to do it in the upcoming year, along with our new-and-improved list of all the amazing things that we’ll do, change and accomplish.

But when we choose the particular resolutions, goals and awesomeness-unleashing that we decide to go after in the year to come, do you ever give a thought to the ones that you’re NOT going to pursue, for reasons like:

– You don’t enjoy it
– It’s not your “thing”
– You’re convinced that you can’t do it
– You tried it sometime in the past and there was a negative outcome? (and therefore, it’s BANISHED from your future life plans!)

What if, through some twist of fate, you find out that the reasons that you’ve been avoiding that thing, for all the above reasons, aren’t valid anymore?

What if you try it…you find out that you’re good at it…and you actually like it?

What if it becomes something that you want to embrace, and dedicate yourself to excelling at in the year to come?

How to take the leap — and make the most of 2020

On a recent family holiday in Mexico, my son came face-to-face with his fear, and came out on the other side (a.k.a. the “good” side). Through a moment of boldness, the help of a ‘trusted advisor,’ and just a wee bit of nagging, he accomplished something that he had decided years ago was just not his “thing” — in fact, something that he had resolved he would NEVER do again.

Until he did it.

And then he did it again, and again.

And then went on to convince us that mazes are now, in fact, his “thing.”

(Watch the video above – or watch it on YouTube – for all the sordid details).

A little boldness, a little nagging, and a ‘little’ trusted advisor can work wonders

For us adults who may be holding ourselves back from the resolutions, goals, strategies and awesomeness that could be; maybe it’s time that we allow ourselves a moment of boldness, a trusted advisor, and a little well-meaning nagging. And it might surprise you to find out exactly WHO is doing the nagging…

Ready to make the leap?

If you’ve have resolved that this is the year that you stop holding yourself back, and you’re ready to take a giant leap into building and delivering more engaging, high-impact presentations — or ensuring that your team is getting their message across clearly and confidently, then let’s have a conversation about it. Reach out to me and we’ll schedule a time to connect!

Get in touch at: https://suzannahbaum.com/contact/

(And while you’re here, why not “like” my Facebook page too!)

 

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VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

Suzannah Baum here, and it’s January 1st, 2020, and I’m here in Mexico on a family vacation, so first I would like to say Happy New Year to you, and I wish you all the very best for the coming year. Second, as we go into this time of year where we start setting our New Year’s resolutions, our New Year’s goals, and what’s going to be different this year, I wanted to share a bit of a story that my son, who is 9 years old, taught me about setting goals.

Now as we move into this time, you know, I think sometimes we set our goals and we set our resolutions, and we’re not always sure WHY. Why do we want to set a particular goal? We know that it should be a “good” goal. We know we should aspire to certain levels and new outcomes, but WHY are we doing that?

This is what happened with my son. We’re at this resort that has a big, fun play area. In this play area is a maze. My son is now 9, but when he was 6, he walked into a maze, and he got lost for a few minutes. And ever since then, he has said, “I am never doing mazes again.”

Over the last few years, he said, “I’m never stepping into a maze.” At this resort, at this play area, is a maze. It’s a maze with mirrors. We said to him, “Hey, why don’t you go give it a try?” and he said, “No way, I’m not doing mazes, I told you I would never do a maze.” Now, we also happen to be on vacation with his cousin, same age, also 9 years old, who’s bold, and does not have this experience with mazes.

She went in and out several times, and despite all of the adults around him saying, “Hey Alex, why don’t you go ahead and try the maze?” to which he responded, “Stop nagging me!”

She eventually came up to him and said, “Hey Alex, you know, if you come with me, I will walk through it with you, I will hold your hand. You will not get lost.” Now, maybe his 9-year-old cousin has a little bit more street cred than the rest of the adults, but somehow, he relented. He went through the maze with her, and after about three or four times, he then brought me in, he brought his grandparents in, and then he insisted on going alone. So now, after so many years, his hatred of mazes is over, and he loves it.

What was the lesson?

My first lesson is that sometimes we will decide that something is not for us, or that we don’t want to do something, or we’re no good at something based on an earlier experience, based on an earlier negative experience.

But time passes, and experience builds, and sometimes we’re not quite as bad at that thing that we are trying to avoid as we think. So while my son initially hated mazes, once he gave it, and while he had spent so many years telling himself he was never going to walk into one again, in fact, after three years and a whole lot of life experience in that three years, things had changed, and he decided that he liked that maze.

Second of all…the nagging. He felt that we were nagging him about going into the maze. “Give up on your fear, give it a try.”

So I ask you, who is nagging you because they feel that you can do more than you think? Are you nagging yourself also? Are you getting that nagging feeling that sometimes it may be time to change or try something a little bit different because you can, because things have changed?

Pay attention to that nagging feeling. Whether it’s the nagging feeling of friends and family or colleagues or mentors who believe in you, or the nagging feeling that you have in the back of your head saying, “You know that thing you said you would never try, or you would never do again? Well, maybe now it’s time to try it again.”

And the third lesson was that there’s a HUGE value in having a trusted advisor. My son’s trusted advisor was his cousin, who knew her way around a maze, who was not afraid of a maze, and who led him through it and guided him through it.

Who do YOU have that you could look to who could guide you through whatever it is you want to do, who could guide you, who could mentor you, who you could join in as a mastermind, or who at least can just push you in the right direction?

These are lessons learned from my 9-year-old, learned from a maze in this resort in Mexico.

Now, I wanted to wish you a very Happy New Year, and just to wish you a moment to think about what are you NOT doing in your life that perhaps you once had a bad experience about, and now you can be ready to tackle? Number two, who is nagging you because they believe in you, and they believe that you accomplish and achieve more, even if it’s YOU nagging yourself? And third of all, who can be your trusted advisor to guide you through what it is that you need help with?

My name is Suzannah Baum. For whatever it is that you are holding yourself back from, I urge you to use 2020 to give it a shot.

Wishing you all the best for a wonderful year.