“You’re not disabled by the disabilities you have, you are able by the abilities you have.” ~ Oscar Pistorius

Oscar’s disability forced him to fight for acceptance, recognition, and respect in the athletic arena and in his own mind. Now he’s going to the Olympics.

When you read his story, you will see that he had his bad days when he just couldn’t make himself do what he had to do to compete. Haven’t we all felt that at some point in our lives? But how many of us had to overcome such incredible odds?

Having bad days when you just don’t think you’re good enough, strong enough, or even smart enough is part of the human condition. I will not be a Pollyanna (or Sappy Sadie, the Jewish equivalent) about this. Those who have seemingly insurmountable disabilities have it much harder than the rest of us. At their core, they believe in themselves, but sometimes it’s hard to go on. That’s when they need to have someone in their lives who believes in them.

Diana Nyad keeps trying to swim to Cuba despite the dangers, Lance Armstrong won the race 7 times despite cancer, and Oscar is going for a medal on his artificial legs. All of them have people in their lives who believe they can do it. For Oscar it’s his coach, Ampie Louw.

These athletes and coaches are our teachers. Not only do they show us what is possible, they confirm the fact that we all need someone to help us. Someone who believes we can do it, but it has to start with believing in ourselves. Without that, we don’t have a shot. Even those who have had to do it alone have had someone along the way – even fleetingly – who said yes you can.

First, you have to have the guts to be in the “race” at all, and then you need that person who tells the truth and helps you see that you CAN be in the race. For athletes, winning is it – no one competes to lose. For the rest of us, their example is what we need to embrace.

If you’re in the race, be there for someone who needs the push to be in it too. Then count that as one of your successes. ♦ Ruth

We are all creative, we all have imaginations, and in one way or another, we all take risks. These are life forces.

Maybe we don’t all take risks like Evil Knievel or paint like Picasso, but we use these life forces every day, often without knowing it. Successful leaders are constantly seeking a new view of the world they inhabit.

Author Maurice Sendak, (“Where the Wild Things Are” and many other stories) points to Shakespeare as the ultimate example of creativity, imagination, and risk taking. The secret; Shakespeare never got in the way of what he was writing. With each sonnet or play, he changed his view of the world from his last undertaking, and relied on a new view of the world, the view of his new story.

The stories we tell about ourselves often keep us from taking advantage of our inherent abilities because we keep telling the same limiting story. If we could change the way we see the world, even for a moment, we could imagine more satisfying scenarios, create enhanced relationships, and take risks. For example:

I have a client who is extremely talented. He is a senior manager, responsible for a large staff in a successful organization. When I asked him what he loved to do he said,” I love writing, it makes me very happy inside. I feel so creative the ideas just flow.” He writes a few pages every morning before going to the office. But when he finishes writing, he shuts down his computer to go to work, and he feels he also has to shut down the special imagination and creativity he feels for his book.

I asked him to think about what he could do if he freed himself of what he thought would be corporately correct and allowed his writing talent – the ability to create new characters – lead his work?

Just changing his view of how he could approach his work has changed the story he tells about himself. The story he used to tell was that he was limited by the corporate culture. The story he now tells is that the challenge of creating the characters in his book gives him new ways to think about his job – new approaches which lead to taking some new risks. His leadership is energized, as are the people he leads.

If there is something you would like to change, think about how it could be different – use your imagination. Here are three things you can do right away.

1.Talk to someone about what you’re thinking – someone you don’t usually go to but someone you trust. (If we keep talking to the same people all the time, we will keep getting the same points of view. )

2. Get a coach to help you refocus your energies

3. Take a risk – even a small one.

For those of us who coach, our job is to help our clients summon the courage to change their stories about themselves and to see themselves capable of seeing anew.