Last post, I talked about how we can grow from our pain. However, there’s yet another step we can take: use our wounds to inspire people, and to uplift ourselves.

As a child, I was painfully shy and had few friends. In fact, as a very young boy I developed a stutter when my father tried to teach me to read at too early an age; I just wasn’t ready.

Yet somehow, in high school I ended up on the speech and debate team… and did well, even amidst social awkwardness.

While I had many steps along the way, including becoming an actor, director, high school and college speech coach, and graduate degrees in communication and theater, I’ve ended up with my own business as a coach – a personal growth-oriented coaching and workshops to help people speak from their full power, and “perform” in life with authenticity, truth, and effectiveness.

Many others have overcome far greater adversity (did you know James Earl Jones had a strong stutter as well?)… but that’s my story. And what’s yours?

Action: Take an inventory of what’s been most painful for you in your life. What have you overcome, partially or fully? Or, what is still a challenge? How can you envision using it to inspire others?