I had the pleasure of interviewing Gordan Biernat recently on my What’s Next LinkedIn Live series and I wanted to share her sage advice as it was a more personal conversation about hopes, dreams and knowing your truth.
Gordana Biernat is the author of “#KnowTheTruth – Why Knowing Who You Are Changes Everything” and she’s a SuperSoul100 Teacher on Oprah’s coveted SuperSoul 100 list of most awakened leaders and visionaries. Gordana empowers and motivates people to show them just how unique they truly are, how to live their truth and enjoy all of lives presents.
Here are just a few of my favorite parts of our time together.
How do you think people can find courage to deal with everything they’re dealing with at the moment?
When things in the outer reality are so pushing that you feel that you need to surrender to everything because you can’t deal with it…courage comes in. You can’t push courage, you can’t say,” I’m going to dare to do this.” You have to come to a place where you feel like, OK, I need to surrender to this because I can’t control anything on the outside. So you surrender to what is and that allows the courage to come forth. You can’t plan courage, it has to happen in moments.
What do you say to people who are afraid of taking that first step with change?
It takes much more effort to resist change than to allow it. So I would say to try to allow it and see where it brings you. I thought that I needed to make change happen when in truth, change is always happening – it’s always flowing by. The real challenge is focusing in on where the direction of that change is going to be. For me, it’s like standing in the river. You don’t make the river flow, it flows on its own, but you can join that flow and then you go with the river. That’s how change looks for me. It’s not something I make. It’s something I allow and then direct. I think it’s really good to have someone who you can share this with and have as a partner in that change, because it’s always easier to do it with someone than doing it alone.
To lean into your book #KnowTheTruth, how are you able to find your truth?
I am a big hugger; I love to be close to people. I love to hug them. That is my way of interacting with people. So I feel almost sick to the bone because I cannot do this now. And this entire situation has made me more aware of who I am in interactions with other people. I am a very tactile person and I want to have eye contact with people. I read cues very, very intensely when I speak to people and not everyone does this. But I think the majority of people do need this contact, physical contact, and I think that it’s not unique for me, but that’s my way of doing stuff in the world.
During our conversation, I found myself reflecting so much about my daily routines when I feel overwhelmed or stressed – and how I can change those moments for the better. While not an expected guest for my live podcast, it was just what I needed and I’m so grateful she said yes when I asked her to join me. I only hope you feel the same way after reading this blog or watching the replay of our conversation on my YouTube channel.
Creating human connection in a virtual world is hard, but not impossible.
How are you creating human connection in this new virtual world?