I was at a party with a DJ a few weeks ago and I got out on the dance floor and had fun dancing. I was not concerned about doing it wrong, looking silly or looking uncoordinated. This may seem normal to you, but for me this was a huge breakthrough, although I had been building up to it for months without realizing it.

While at my coaching certification program workshops we danced to a few songs after lunch each day. This was a small group of about 20 people who were all going through the certification program together. I had never danced in public before and it felt very uncomfortable. But I basically had to participate so I did it with a high level of discomfort. I would secretly watch other people that I thought looked good and try to copy them. That actually worked reasonably well and it got a little easier with time.

Each student in my program also had to take up certain practices during the year. I was given the practice of dancing for five minutes each day, by myself, to soulful songs like Aretha Franklin’s Respect. I did this dancing practice most days for about 3 months. At our final coaching workshop, I felt much more comfortable dancing, but did not think too much about it.

But that buildup of practice with the small group and my daily five minutes made all the difference in the world at the recent party. I was able to let go of my story I have told myself for years that I am a bad dancer and just move with the music and have fun. It was liberating. There is clearly a lesson in here somewhere, but I am just enjoying that I can now have fun dancing.