Glass Half Full
Technically, the glass is always half full… and it’s also refillable
You bring so much value to the world.
This bears repeating: You bring so much value to the world.
Not tomorrow, not when you learn a language, not when you finish a degree, not when you paint a masterpiece, not when you write a book, not someday… you bring so much value to the world today.
I’m an optimist and this is an optimistic statement, but it’s also a true statement.
As an optimist, if someone asked me “Is the glass half empty or half full?” my predictable answer would be “half full!”
(I mean, isn’t the glass always half full? If liquid makes up half the glass then the other half must be filled with air. So technically, the glass is always half full…) ;)
Any way you see it, I want to show you that your glasses — the ones that represent the value you bring to the world — are already so full.
From Pitcher to Glasses and Back Again
When starting something for the first time, it’s easy to let counterproductive self talk speak louder than our inner knowing, convincing us that we lack knowledge, skills and experience with nothing to offer.
[Insert brave energy here.]
To enter with brave energy, I’ve found that it helps to de-compartmentalize and compound everything I bring to a new situation. This expanded sense of self reminds me that I’m one-of-a-kind and that I’m the only one to be able to do what I do, the way I do it. The same is true for you.
Imagine a pitcher of water sitting alongside a table full of empty drinking glasses. Each glass represents your education, skills, talents, interests and so on. Imagine that water is poured from the pitcher into each glass, representing your proficiency and experiences in these area.
For me, the first glass represents my formal education (from Kindergarten through to grad school). The next is my technical skill set (different software applications I know inside and out). The next glass represents my interests (storytelling, creative exploration). The next is my transferrable skills (project management, organization, creative problem solving) and so on.
It’s easy to think of these glasses as individual silos and our glass containing the thing that we need to do/know/bring for this new task ahead of us is empty. However, it’s much more accurate and empowering to combine all of water in the glasses back into the bigger pitcher (your whole self), appreciating the true value you bring. The individual glasses were all unnecessarily poured from the pitcher to begin with.
Pitchers and Podcasting
Podcasting was totally new to me 3+ years ago. I had zero experience with recording and editing audio, reaching out to guests, writing for audio, and publishing to podcast platforms.
But while my glasses pertaining to these specific skills were definitely half empty, I had a wealth of glasses alongside the empty ones that were half full, some almost overflowing. I had years of transferrable experience I brought with me in writing, sales, using design software, project coordination and being a human who talks with other humans. Some of this I acquired in school or work settings and others I acquired through passion projects and my personal life, mostly through trial and error.
Through mentally re-pouring the water from all glasses back into the pitcher, I felt a little more brave. All experiences in my 33 years of life before starting my podcast helped me become a podcaster and produce episodes that could only be created by me, using the collective experience in my unique pitcher of water, allowing me to choose brave energy.
Bravery is a willingness to try, to not be good at something, to give ourselves breathing space and self-compassion to learn and grow and evolve in the process. Bravery is acknowledging that we all bring so much value into this world, through a unique combination of life experiences.
This means that we’re not starting from scratch with each new venture; we’re starting from a wellspring of experience. And as we evolve throughout our lifetimes, we continue to fill our pitchers, which reminds me of a quote by thought-leader, Simon Sinek. It resonates deeply: “People who wonder whether the glass is half empty or half full miss the point. The glass is refillable.”
Begin bravely, pitchers half full; continue with curiosity, refilling along the way.
Cheers!
