BLOG_2017_03_30_VULNERABILITY BRINGS GROWTH

VULNERABILITY BRINGS GROWTH

By Rose Odengo, a story teller and journalist

30 MARCH 2017

 

In January this year, at the first LEAP Network event, Renée asked us to join an accountability group. In my mind it was a good idea but it also made me slightly uncomfortable. It meant telling people what I was doing each day toward achieving my goals for the year.

It was uncomfortable, but I realized growth requires vulnerability. The accountability group was simple; share what you have been able to accomplish each day, as well as what kind of setbacks you may be facing with the group. The first two weeks I was on fire, I ensured that I made daily posts at least 5 days a week. Then days got hard and busy, and I barely achieved some goals. I held back on sharing, what I perceived as my failures, with the group. But soon members of the group started sharing their struggles and what they were doing to overcome them. That gave me the courage to share my struggles.

By sharing, I also found clarity; I knew what the setbacks were and how I could overcome them. Most of the time, especially with the kind of workloads we have, we spend a lot of time working for our clients and not setting time aside, each day, to push towards our specific goals.

Daily posting on the group Whatsapp chat, steadily made me more conscious about my goals and working toward achieving them. My daily to-do lists have changed, it’s not just a list of the different client work I need to do or meetings I need to attend, it involves exercises to achieve my various goals.

I now ensure I make pictures weekly to improve my photography. I am back to writing daily blog posts, 5 days a week. I am also taking time to strategize my business. Goal setting accompanied with accountability does force you to be more deliberate and more conscious of what you do, and why and how you do what you do.