Are you splashing in the shallows?

Life can easily be spent splashing around in the shallows, doing a bit of this and a bit of that hoping something works out. Scared to commit too much just in case it turns out to be a waste of time. So we carry on just up to our shins in the shallows, not sure when or if we will ever go all in, go deep.

Put on your scuba gear and dive dive dive.

Sometimes in life, we can find ourselves on the edge of a deep dive, the Marianas trench deep, that requires nothing but full commitment and faith. Faith that as we descend into the darkness we are safe and that it will all work out one way or another. ??

That's the point!

The excitement of what might happen as we dive deeper than we ever thought possible. The moment we realise we are all in and we don't want to go back, the excitement of the unknown, the unknown doesn't always mean scary, the unknown can be and often is glorious.

Seems like everyone wants so much and wants it immediately yet are only prepared to splash in the shallows and not dive into whatever their Marianas trench is to them. It might be business, love, a hobby, art, music, and so on. Whatever your 'thing' is what could you Create if you put on your scuba gear and stepped off the edge.

The descent will be a long one, with challenges and frights along the way but also lots of beauty, joy and life. The secrets of life make themselves known to you and expose you to a new awareness of yourself and courage you may not have known existed.

I am not suggesting I have this all sorted out for myself, I feel like I have stepped off the edge and started my slow descent to discover whatever it is I am gently going towards. That is perfect for today, you see each day I keep on diving into coaching the more I fall in love with it.

A commitment to play a long game?and be in it for the long haul is comforting and exciting. I do not expect to reach the bottom of my trench, I don't want to. The idea of completing coaching is not what I want to achieve.

The more I learn the more I realise I do not YET know - and I love that.

How to get out of the shallows:

• Pick your thing. There will be something you keep putting off and meaning to do more of. It probably makes you happy and the idea of it makes you smile, whatever 'it' is chose it. Don't get caught up in the decision, it is probably the thing that came to mind at the start of the article, that's your biggest clue.
• Make a commitment to yourself to step off the edge no matter what. Create the courage. Courage is not the absence of fear, it is the ability to do it anyway. Your commitment must be unshakeable no matter what anyone thinks, a commitment that you will fight for, a commitment that is so powerful that no matter how hard it gets you will not give up.
• Step to the edge. What will you need, whom do you need, what will it take to do your thing. Have it already, no excuses no backtracking and no procrastinating. Preparation meeting the edge. Get 80% prepared then go, no one is ever 100% ready.
• Now step off the edge.

Rest is up to you and for you. Enjoy your dive!!

David Greenaway

www.davidgreenaway.co.uk