Courageous Coaching - Breaking free from a pre-conditioned society

Pre-conditioning starts before we even know it ☝🏻

We are 'subtly asked to 'take sides' as we progress through school.

I wonder what might happen if we didn't?

Perhaps we would have a better understanding of one another if we were encouraged to mix more before our adult versions kick in?

We have "Cards/Toys/Clothes for Him" and "Cards/Toys/Clothes for Her"

The world seems intent on seperating us rather than bringing us together, and these are just mild examples.

My story

I had a greater understanding of women before men. This is just the way life played out for me. It was just me and my Mum for the first few years of my life.

It was men though who deemed things would go wrong for me.

First my form teacher wrote in my end of year school report, "If I didn't stop playing with the girls, I would turn out to be a right mamby pamby" (1975 speak - look it up in the dictionary!)

Then when I was 13, my Uncle sent me off to boarding school to, in his words "toughen me up". This may sound OK, but actually meant something less helpful.

I am pleased to say, neither of these pearls of male wisdom were acted upon, although it took me a long time to understand and appreciate male friendship, so there were

by-products which got in the way of me being courageous at different stages of my life.

Here is a definition of pre-conditioning

Being mentally pre-conditioned means your mind has been trained, exposed, or habituated to react to certain situations, stimuli, or ideas in a specific, automatic way. It is a state where past experiences, cultural upbringing, trauma, media consumption, or deliberate training have created deeply ingrained mental pathways, shaping your expectations, beliefs, and behaviours before an event even occurs.

Take a step back

and offer yourself some

courageous coaching!

• How am I being pre-conditioned against my 'real' will?

  
  

• In which ways have I settled for an easy life?

  
  

• What are the 'triggers' which make me behave in a way that's not really me?

  
  

• What am I saying about myself when "should","could" & "would" feature heavily in my vocabulary?

  
  

• What have I been taught to believe that is not serving me well these days?

  
  

• What is one de-conditioning thing I could do to...

...stretch myself.

...surprise myself (in a good way!).

...show I am more than who other people think I am or should be.