Bridgett Krause believes in the “law of the mirror” as a strategy for personal and professional success. “You must see value in yourself to move forward to achieve personal growth and leadership,” she said during a recent seminar at the McAllen Business Expo. The annual expo was sponsored by the McAllen Chamber of Commerce.
Krause and her husband Ryan are international trainers and executive coaches with the John Maxwell Team. She is also the founder and CEO of the Dream Big Facility. “Her greatest passion is helping individuals find their purpose and empowering them to walk out a life they design and choose,” according to the Dream Big Facility website.
Krause opened her presentation talking about the “negative self-talk” most everyone experiences as they deal with uncertainties and shortcomings, often blaming others for standing in the path to achievement. “This is the self-chatter that goes on inside us over and over and over again,” she said. “I went from blaming other people to starting to look in the mirror.”
Confronting personal fears and accepting responsibility are key components in the journey to escape comfort zones and take control in life, Krause emphasized. “The achievements or whatever you are experiencing are all your own fault. You can go from an ‘I’m good, leave me alone’ comfort zone to terror to freedom.”
Noting that some people who outwardly appear strongly confident may be hiding insecurities, which stand in their way of finding freedom. “Fear is something that we absolutely have control over,” Krause said. “We can let go of it and it can completely change your life.”
But letting go is not easy. Individuals can only conquer fear by confronting their failures and pushing full steam ahead. “We can’t just stay right here if we want to continue to grow,” she said. “If we are not peddling hard, we are not even staying still, we are headed downstream. We need to want something so bad on the other side of the terror barrier that we are willing to fall down again and again, and then get up and move on.”
Krause said only a small percentage of people muster up the fortitude to fully evaluate and confront their inner self. “Not everyone will get back up after falling a few times. You have to work harder, longer stronger. Stay the course and you will meet with success.”
Acknowledging that many people look to self-improvement programs for something almost magical that will transform their lives. Like most everything else in life, it’s hard work. “You have to face it, embrace it and chase it. I still haven’t found the magic door but I am living a life that I love.”
Krause’s Texas-based Dream Big Facility offers services to businesses such as executive coaching, staff retreats, empowerment mentoring, keynote speaking and leadership. The company has worked with a number of organizations in the Rio Grande Valley, including Clark Chevrolet, Lone Star National Bank, Mission Economic Development Corporation and the McAllen Independent School District.