During one of my worry sessions recently, which happen out loud, my wise wife shared this quote with me. “A bird sitting in a tree is not afraid of the branch breaking, because her trust is not in the branch, but in her own wings.” –Unknown. Oof. It struck me deeply. And caused me to ask the question that became the inspiration for this post. Do I trust the branch or my wings?
Change is scary.
Worry, anxiety, and self-doubt affect many of us. Whether these are constant companions of yours or occasional visitors, even the most confident among us is occasionally plagued by these nay-sayers. They are the little voices that tell us to believe the ugliest things. That we’re not enough. That we’re too much. That we will fail. That saying no to one thing means nothing else will come.
My mother was a paragon of cautious living. It isn’t that she wouldn’t try new things. It’s that she lived with a strong belief that danger was always lurking just around the corner. She did a great job of instilling this in me. Despite my resistance and constant battles with her for freedom from this thinking, I recognize that it pops up in subtle ways all too often.
To change or not to change.
One such recent example, which led to the worry session mentioned above, is with rebranding my business. LeadQuine is a company name that made sense when we focused our efforts on offering programs in Equine Guided Learning. Teams came to hang out with our herd of horses for the day, learning about their strengths and limitations in facets of communication. These experiences are unconventional, fun, and beneficial (so say our clients). But 2020 changed our ability to continue building business in this arena (pun absolutely intended). And now, it’s time to move forward.
I’m a business owner. I always worry more than anyone else about decisions I make that might impact the business. Rebranding to a new name and fresh look is risky. But staying the same and continuing to use a name and brand that no longer matches what we do in this business feels riskier. So, we’re going for it. More details coming soon.
Do you put more trust in the branches around you than in your own wings?
I’m trusting my wings on this one. Branches can break.
