The Courage to Call-Out
Confession time…making friends has never really been that difficult for me. I connect pretty easily with people and whether it was on bus rides to UT’s campus or while on family vacation in New Zealand, I have always made friends with ease. I really like this trait and I think it is an important piece of who I am, but as with many strengths it correlates directly with a weakness in my personality.
Where I am great at being friendly and kind I have historically lacked in the area of boldness and calling people to a higher standard. Growing up (probably up until about 4 years ago) I was so concerned about people liking me and thinking well of me, I would have run at any hint of confrontation. But now I am a super mature and worldly 25 year-old (who obviously knows a lot) and I have had my eyes opened to the immense importance of boldly standing up to others and also being bold enough to hold the ones you love to high standards. Personally, I think the latter might be more difficult than the former.
As I am aging, I see how imperative it is to (kindly) call people out on their stuff and my goal is that I can facilitate growth within people and help them develop into better versions of themselves through being better at call-outs. Holding people to greatness includes frequent call outs and I have definitely seen people do it correctly and incorrectly. So I struggle with how I can hold onto the Amy who loves people and friendships and connection and has the ability to hold a conversation with a brick wall as I develop this confrontational side.
When I am unsure of how to move forward in my personal development I remind myself that development of certain personality traits does not mean that I have to let go of who I am at my core. Please bear with me as I transition through this phase of life, if you get called out by me, give me feedback!
I want to encourage you to hold those around you to a high standard, have the courage to stand up to others when they aren’t living their lives in the way that is congruent with what you know is possible for them. I have seen the benefits of healthy call-outs both on the receiving and the giving end; they are almost always exactly what I needed to hear to push me.
Love to you guys. Thanks for reading.
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xoxo