New Equation: Book + Dare + Trapeze = New Job

I met Martha a year ago after she dared me to swing from a flying trapeze with her in Chicago. How could I say no. Well, I thought about saying no, but since I’d written the book that inspired her to start on her own I Dare Me journey, there was really no saying no. The truth was we both felt like we were taking a flying leap at the time, and not just from some ridiculously high precariously unstable platform in the air. Both of us were leaving jobs. Both of us were pushing ourselves outside our comfort zone on a mission to try new things while we dared ourselves to reach for a new beginning in our careers. Terrifying, quite frankly all the way around. This was what happened with our flying trapeze act in January 2015. What happened after that? Martha and her partner Nancy decided to just keep going on as many life adventures as possible while Martha found her career footing. Facebook kept me posted on “where in the world is Martha”. Today, she’s a corporate VP; an expert on medical/ drug quality and regulations. And she believes, (bless her), that every quality life needs a regulation copy of I Dare Me. Of course, I agree. She just sent me this picture of her donating a copy of I Dare Me to the ship library on her last cruise. ( It’s the second time she’s done this). Martha wrote: “…each “first” I dared to consider led to growing curiosity, courage and confidence. I am certain that I grew exponentially as a result of being open to the concept of getting unstuck, … I have especially enjoyed watching Nancy embrace the concept of striving to try new things over familiar favorites. We recently took an alternate route while driving and she exclaimed “We’re Lu Ann Cahn-ing it!” We laughed and enjoyed the moment.” I do love Martha. Don’t mind us. It is a mutual admiration society. Anyway, Martha landed at a wonderful new job and so did I. But, we both feel pretty strongly that you have to swing from the rafters on a regular basis, (not literally). Well, Martha does like to fly in open air bi planes and such. I am generally interested in staying on the ground for my dares as much as possible. But to fly, to really soar, requires taking some risks. And taking reasonable risks takes some practice, some retraining the brain, some FIRSTS. And, if you want to lose 10 pounds, change your job, have a better relationship, I highly recommend that NOT be your first dare. Swing from the rafters for awhile. The rest will come.