Rock your own boat
Posted on January 21, 2010 by William Powell, One of Thousands of Leadership Coaches on Noomii.
What if the boat you were rocking happen to be your own. How would you feel, how does that look for you? Are there any benefits to it?
When we think of the phrase “rocking the boat”, there is this general assumption that the boat being rocked belongs to someone else, and we are temporary passengers. The boat represents how something is done, policies, procedures and the overall status quo of an organization or affinity group. What about your own personal boat? Have you considered what your response would be when your boat begins to rock?
To many, the person doing the rocking and what that rocking represents would determine their reaction to it. Boat rocking is typically a precursor for change, and we human types are quite resistant to the unknown nature of change. If you will indulge me, allow me the freedom to explore the idea of you being the one to rock your own personal boat.
Our personal boats represent safety, stability and a vehicle by which we navigate life and arrive at our future; it’s what prevents us from going under, so to speak. When the boat is rocked, all of these things can seem threatened; which can cause fear and anxiety for us. Therefore, we tend to not like to have our boats rocked. Let’s focus on one particular aspect of what our personal boat represents; the vehicle by which we navigate life and arrive at our future.
As a coach, I am continually facilitating others in their quest to overcome limiting belief systems and creating action plans in order to accomplish a goal; in other words, they are purposefully creating their future. It is a process in which they enact change in the way they ‘navigate life and arrive at their future’. Sound familiar? That’s right, they mess with their personal boat.
Overcoming the fear of rocking your own boat is a ghastly feat indeed, but once you have conquered this fear, you are nearly home free. The other part of the equation is in knowing how far you can rock it without capsizing. The possibility of capsizing is usually what causes most people to stay in calm waters and seated quietly on the little padded seat cushion, hands folded reverently on their lap. This is all well and good if you want to go through life as a spectator. My guess is that you are not reading this article because you’re a spectator of life.
The reality is you need to mess with things a bit in order to take control of the future at which you choose to arrive. Let’s assume you have already done the due diligence of forming your vision and goals. They are way bigger than you and you’re excited about the difference to be made in your life, and the world, once they have been accomplished. Your action plan is a detailed account of how you will choose to rock your boat.
If you don’t shake some things up in your life, you will never realize your dreams, goals, vision and aspirations. It takes you moving things around, trying some things that scare the living daylights out of you and doing things you haven’t been comfortable doing in the past in order to achieve something different. You are trying to accomplish something you haven’t yet accomplished; why would you believe that you can continue to do the same thing and achieve different results? Outrageous goals require outrageous actions and boat rocking is definitely viewed as an outrageous action.
That being said, you need to learn to be comfortable in rocking your own boat in order to arrive at a future which excites you; one that embroils passion deep within you. This is true living. Don’t ride around in some dingy; take some time to write out how you can begin effecting change in how you navigate life. What future do you want? Reverse engineer that future. What is the last thing you will do just before you arrive at that future? What is the thing before that? And the thing before that? And the thing before that? Starting to get the picture?
This lifestyle paradigm shift is definitely not for the faint hearted, but what, of any real significance, in life is for the faint hearted? Don’t survive life, conquer it. Grab your boat with both hands, one on each side, and rock it until you are pointed in the direction that will navigate your life to a future of purpose, fulfillment and excitement.
You will be challenged in areas you have never truly addressed and you will be strengthened by that. This is the grunt work of personal development. This isn’t some act of rebellion; it’s choosing to take control and ownership of your future. It’s refusing to become a victim of fate and lame circumstances. You have the ability and the strength to do what is necessary; you just have to choose to acknowledge that and take action on it. Give it a go…and happy boat rocking!
