What If We Disrupted Normal To Find What's Next?

Yesterday, Donald Trump was sworn in as President of the USA.

I’ll be honest - I’m not a fan of the man. However, as someone who walks my talk, I've been challenging myself to think differently. Not to follow him or his ideas, per se, but to deliberately disrupt the way I think, feel, and act towards the potential of some of those ideas.

And there is a difference.

Because this isn’t about him. It’s about all of us. It’s about questioning our assumptions and stepping into the world of possibility and potential.

What if we replaced the knee-jerk reaction so many of us have of 'no', 'that's crazy', we've always done it this way', 'it'll never work' or 'what will so-and-so say' with the open curiosity of 'what if'?

• What if the world was really round? Once upon a time, people laughed at the idea.
• What if we could replace candles with electricity? It seemed crazy at the time, yet it transformed our lives even if it did take years for products to plug into it.
• What if calculators made us lazy? I wasn't an early adopter at school because my parents said I'd become lazy and lose my ability to do maths, but instead, as a collective we gained the capacity to think bigger and faster and I'd still top the class as the fastest 7x Table competitor.
• What if the internet could connect people globally and the only device we would need would be a phone? At one time, this was unimaginable yet when I walked the Camino I knew all I would need was my phone and passport if my backpack got stolen.

So now, let’s take bring it even closer to home:

• What if something Trump does ends up being one of the best things for America? Even if we don’t align with him or his values, could there be something in his actions worth examining?
• What if the things that trigger us most in others are really about us, not them? Because it is never about what people do or have, is it?
• What if the life you truly want exists outside the system you were told to follow because it was the right way, the best way, the accepted way, the dutiful way, the expected way, the only way?

Turning 'What If' Inward

Here’s a harder question: What if what you’re doing is the very thing keeping you from your dreams?

And the flip side: What if what you are not doing is actually holding you back?

And the reason you're not doing it because it feels wrong. And it only feels wrong because you are in conflict with what you have been conditioned to believe is right.

My bigger message isn’t about destruction - it’s about deliberate disruption.

It’s about challenging what we think is normal, colouring outside the lines, breaking the rules, and changing the game. Our own game!

Because the truth is, if you don’t disrupt the way you think, feel, and act about whatever it is you truly want at the end of that rainbow, something or someone else will do it to you, or for you.

We’re on the cusp of another massive shift - moving fully out of the industrial age and into the digital age. But the 'digital age' isn’t just about AI or technology.

It’s about you.

The question isn’t just what if the world changes?

It’s what if YOU change?

A New Kind of Leadership

• What if leadership isn't about authority, but about influence?
• What if being a leader of influence isn't about constantly pumping out irrelevant content for the sake of 'being seen', or being so authoritarian that commitment from your team was only superficial, but it was about showing up with substance and depth and real value for the sake of substance, depth and real value?
• What if true leadership meant living your values, not just talking about them or pointing to them in a frame on a wall?

Asking 'what if?' doesn’t mean blindly accepting every idea.

It means being open to possibilities - especially the ones that make us uncomfortable. It’s about having the courage to shift our mindset before the world forces us to.

What If... This Year is Your Year?

I’ll admit, I’m writing this from a place of transition. I’ve stepped back from social media to focus on something bigger - building new intellectual property for sales leaders, entrepreneurs, and business owners. My goal is to help them unlock hidden bottlenecks and growth opportunities by asking 'what if' more often.

But I couldn’t resist writing this. Because what if is at the core of what I believe - and what I’m building.

So, I’ll leave you with this:

What if the questions you ask yourself today could completely change everything about your life, your business, your team outcomes, your leadership opportunities, your financial success and by default, the greater good?

What if the biggest opportunity in your life or business is on the other side of that question?

I don’t have all the answers yet - but maybe that’s the point.

The power of 'what if' isn’t in having the answers - it’s in asking the question and being brave enough to speak truth to that ultimate power play in all our lives - Uncertainty.

To say with conviction, 'Come get me!'

Because the world is shifting.

The way we live, work, and lead is shifting.

The question is: What if you shifted too?

Be Bold, Brave and Brilliant!

Bernadette