From the author: What’s stopping me from taking risks and becoming happy? Excerpt from Jorge Bucay’s book “I want to tell you about...” “When I was little, I really loved going to the circus. There were many trained animals at the performance, but the one I liked the most was the huge, incredibly strong one, the ground trembled from his steps. After the performance, I saw the elephant again. He was tied with a thick rope to a wooden peg stuck in the ground. tried to run away, although with his strength it would not have been difficult. I asked my parents: “Why doesn’t the elephant pull the peg out of the ground and run away?” “Because he’s trained,” they told me. “But if so, why tie him up at all?” I never received an intelligible answer to this question. Years passed, I grew up and did not remember this incident for a long time. Finally, someone wise told me that the elephant does not run away because it has been tied to this peg since childhood. I closed it. eyes and imagined a defenseless newborn baby elephant tied to a peg. I'm sure the baby elephant was then tugging and pulling as hard as he could to get free. But, despite all his efforts, he did not achieve anything, because then the stake was too strong for him. “This huge and powerful elephant does not run away from the circus because he thinks, poor thing, that he cannot. This feeling of his own remains in his memory the powerlessness he experienced immediately after birth. And the worst thing is that he never questioned these memories again. We are all a little like the elephant in the circus: in this world we are tied to hundreds of pegs that limit our freedom. We live believing that we “can’t” do many things, simply because once, a long time ago, when we were little, we tried to do them and couldn’t, it didn’t work, there was no support and confidence. Then we acted like this elephant, we carried it away. in my memory the following attitude: “I couldn’t, I can’t and I never can.” We grew up with this attitude, which we gave to ourselves or received as a “bonus”, and therefore we never tried to pull out the peg again. And the only way. To become free and free yourself from your personal “peg” is to take air into your lungs and take a step forward. I understand that writing about this is much easier than doing. But the journey of a thousand leagues begins with the first step. Do you see your “pegs”? They can be very different. I can’t dance, I can’t draw, and I don’t have to try... but sometimes I want to! I can’t live without my husband, I’m not happy, everyone lives like this, I’ll be patient... I can’t leave my disgusting job, where else will I fit in?! Here, as they say, a bird in the hand is better... I want to move to another country, but what can I do with my income (income, education, children, age, etc.) Life is moving fast. By agreeing to compromise, you are killing your dream and your right to happiness. But sometimes, in order to free ourselves from any limitation, it is enough for us to simply realize that it is a “peg”. Awareness is one of the effects of coaching. When awareness comes, limiting beliefs go away. By getting rid of your limitations, you become a more holistic and harmonious person, you begin to see your real capabilities, and feel your strength. The fear that prevents you from realizing your dreams goes away, the fear that makes you constantly look back at others, compare yourself, feel better or worse than others, the fear that prevents you from seeing your original self-sufficiency. Don’t let your “pegs” sprout and strengthen. Don't keep your dreams on a leash...They must come true!