Letting you fall

Building on yesterday's blog:

One of the more difficult challenges of being a mentor or coach is allowing you fall, just as I suggest parents of very young children (whose chance of injury is nearly nonexistent since they're so close to the ground) allow them to do so they can learn to get up on their own - in their own way.

Notice I say "fall" and not "fail."

Learning how to fall so you don't get unnecessarily hurt, then teaching yourself how to get up on your own is, in fact, the picture of a successful venture.

Falling is not failing.

Falling is what normally happens to an ever-changing body as it deals with an ever-changing environment, no matter our age.

It's tough to watch you fall because I could so easily catch you -- provide the instant answer, fill in the blanks, tell you what to do. But that wouldn't be fostering your confidence as you discover your personal learning style and problem-solving method or system.

How do you fall?

How do you get yourself up?

Your mind, body and soul all relate to this movement metaphor.

You don't have to take a nasty header to teach yourself how to get up. Put yourself on the floor or ground, then figure out how you can pull your body back into an upright position.

Of course you can also learn how to fall without hurting yourself at any age; you never know when - or where - this skill will come in handy!