Mastering Authentic Success: Lessons from Cats, Athletes and Actors

Do you have to be a cat to lounge around all day? Of course not. 

Could we be more like cats in flexibility and risks? I say yes!

Today, we're sculpting a path of full engagement with authentic success vs. achievements and accomplishments as a rise to reputation and success. 

It will require going outside our comfort zones for flexibility to help us fumble less, flow forward with peace of mind, and get back up without unnecessary pain.

Although we aren't cats, I invite you to imagine we are athletes or actors today. In so doing, let's play!

First, do you have to be an athlete to get physically fit? Of course not. 

Do athletes go outside their comfort zone to develop:

strength & durability

coordination 

agility 

and balance skills?

Athletes do this if they aim to be the best in their position and care about building a solid team. A willingness to step off their field into unfamiliar territory to master skills means strengthening the inner game.

Athletes like these choose to exercise the muscle of courage, for example— to go outside their comfort zone--off the field, for the sake of massive presence and endurance to support their teammates on the field.

Let's take football players. Some of the best players can stretch themselves further on the field through a willingness to engage in ballet lessons. A quick Google search reveals they are anything but comfortable! They are self-conscious and admit to feeling silly. Still, the result is flexibility beyond what they're used to for top conditioning and to play a better game.

Why would we put ourselves in positions that feel weird and foreign and go against our "strengths"? What if throwing the ball far is our talent? Why do anything else? Isn't that a waste of time to not focus on the goals in front of you?

Ask yourself this:

Is flexibility in place if you throw the ball far in your personal or professional life? 

Are you in a top-level position to shift more fluidly and quickly when you inevitably drop the ball, it gets kicked, or you get tackled? 

And is stretching a waste of time if it means getting back up without unnecessary strain?

Next...

Do you have to be a professional actor to get emotionally fit? Of course not.

And do actors go outside their comfort zone to refine skills in: 

compassion and empathy

memorization

communication

body and voice control

script analysis

stamina

taking direction

improvisation

You get the picture...

And yes, actors stretch on and offstage in uncomfortable commitment if they want to evolve as artists, not line-readers or pretenders.

The most successful, well-known actors and coaches I ever worked and trained with in my stage performance and onscreen days were in continuous experimental motion with life. They step onto new, unfamiliar fields of study to become more masterful in human connection--and to exercise courage at the risk of looking silly.

When I was eighteen, as part of my offstage practice and training, I intentionally applied to work as a bank teller. Why? To consciously stretch beyond my comfort zone from my usual work operating as 1) a tour guide AND 2), you guessed it, a waitress!

Timing, tonality, conversation, dialogue, and body language require new tuning and regulation in different environments to master human connection. Conversations and essential business meetings often go sideways when we aren't aware.

Where do you consciously adjust your tone of voice or body language to influence the environment or show compassion? Are you confident to change in uncomfortable situations? 

For me, the banking environment required a different energy in pace and timing from those I was serving in other roles at entertainment venues and restaurants. 

In theatre, every play has a high-stakes situation. In my real-life work experiment at the bank, believing that I'm no good at math and having to count money without error set the high-stakes scene necessary to keep me on my toes to stay present! So, who says limiting beliefs can't lead the way to confidence?

The pressure I put on myself to work with my limiting beliefs and risk feeling awkward stretched me into new confidence levels. I was acting as my authentic self, with theatrical skills behind it!

When the pandemic hit, I put myself into the uncomfortable voluntary position of training with my husband, a black belt Brazilian jiu-jitsu world competitor, to help him stay conditioned. 

I knew I'd stretch myself in ways that grew confidence. I couldn't predict the amount of courage I gained on the mat I didn't know existed. I developed a higher performing level of relaxation technique in the face of feeling suffocated and the ability to escape fear that I hadn't learned anywhere else.

Imagine intentionally putting yourself in positions of awkwardness. Stick with it and you can more courageously and authentically refine your presence in the world. You become fitter in response to life's demands and can lead your team. Best of all, you do it without continuous fumbling that could cost you dearly in time, regret, and even money.

When it comes to success, most people view it as accumulating accomplishments over time and a show of security and trust through awards as the ultimate pride. Although most of us are on a contributing path, our quest for success is often reputation, status, and applause-driven. It's no secret many people experience hollow hearts along the way.

Authentically charged success is a willingness to engage in existing strengths AND insecurities. This process works to overcome intimacy difficulties at home or interpersonal challenges at work. And rather than pride, we enter a new form of energy in peace of mind.

Authentic-driven and peace-of-mind flowing commitment with awkwardness is equivalent to being honest with yourself to say:

 "I know how to talk, but am I flexibly able to self-express, and can I pick myself up without hurting myself or others unnecessarily? Can I fall off this life transition stage, admit the sting of pain to myself while continuing to persevere with truth backing me?" 

One of the world's greatest acting coaches, Stella Adler, said:

"Growth as an actor and as a human being are synonymous."

Without a truthful emotional fitness plan, we work from a closed, defensive ego vs. open, authentic elegance. To grow as humans, we must act better in the face of life's slaps. How might that change your relationship today?

None of this conversation is about perfectionist behavior. Instead, it's about polished imperfection. A while back, I started a company called Polished Imperfection™. Knowing most of us aren't surgeons, it's reasonable to aim and engage in a meticulous manner without the need for precise outcomes all the time.

When you boil it all down, acting is about mastering authenticity. It was the passion-based field of choice I played in for many years. Where my authentic self mattered most took place on the homefront when permanent paralysis struck my fiancé. 

In that close to two-decade commitment through uncertainty and constant adaptability, I stepped into many unfamiliar real-life roles and responsibilities that required me to go outside my comfort zone. 

Upon leaving the stage behind, my skill in flexibility allowed me to repurpose my theatrical dreams to create programs in the home care field and beyond. My purpose was always the same: Connecting and moving myself and others meaningfully.

Every acting coach I worked and trained with helped me engage in the art of moving audiences, not to mention my relationships, not as an act for applause, but as an act and cause toward human connection, empathy, and compassion. 

If you are unfulfilled in moving your dream, company, and family forward, could the desire for applause be the reason?

Now, let's round out our play with success today in a memorable way:

JUMP LIKE A CAT:  We're not all athletes and actors conditioning ourselves in a professional sense. We are players on the field of life, acting in ways that often lead to unnecessary pain, injury, and regret. And we're jumping, throwing, and catching like cats. Let's become flexible to jump like a cat!

CATCH LIKE A FOOTBALL PLAYER: Committing to stretching means more than a beneficial yoga or ballerina routine, which requires consistency and doesn't necessarily involve the courage to try. Remember to catch what's happening like a football player with your next play in difficult conversations, it pays to stretch your mind to do more listening.

EXPRESS LIKE AN ACTOR: A willingness to look awkward and play in unfamiliar fields outside our comfort zone comes with the risk of looking silly. Remember my bank teller story to gather up your limiting beliefs and challenge yourself to use them as the high-stakes situation you create for yourself to engage with high presence forward. Like any play, you'll be on course to turn conflict into resolution!

With a flexible plan and peace of mind in flow, we can repurpose ourselves more confidently when uncertainty strikes and life paralyzes us. Ultimately, we can assure ourselves of a life without regret or remorse. Unlike a cat, who is said to have nine lives, we can nurture this one life, devoid of some imaginary eight more to play with, to operate as leaders instead of loungers.

Thanks for reading!

If, at this point, a strong need, feeling, or vision has emerged to show you that it pays to navigate goals and insecurities at the authentic, masterful human-connection level, let's connect. I don't build courses. And I am not one to suggest another management system to support teams. I co-create and implement peace of mind infrastructures extending beyond the employee environment, forming a robust pipeline for sustained success in harmony with family life. I offer additional or hybrid services as a Certified High Performance Coach through High Performance Institute for curriculum-based growth and long-term support.