Labor Pains

When you give birth to something, whether a child, a creative project, a new business, or to a new aspect of yourself, you will experience labor pains.

Labor is effort, hard work, but if you don’t go through labor you won’t give birth to anything new. If labor is so difficult and painful, why would you sign up in the first place? Because birthing something new gives you the rewards and the blessings that are worth every second of the pain.

When you have the aches and pain, you can also choose to be creative. You can look for birthing partners. Your birthing partners can remind you to look beyond the pain and keep the creative vision alive.

Think about the times in your life when you created or birthed something new that you were proud of– was the pain worth it?

Don’t be afraid of the pain. Go into the labor and give birth again.

I realize to grow and prosper, I must labor with love in my heart and give birth to new wonders.


Lolly Daskal is one of the most sought-after executive leadership coaches in the world. Her extensive cross-cultural expertise spans 14 countries, six languages and hundreds of companies. As founder and CEO of Lead From Within, her proprietary leadership program is engineered to be a catalyst for leaders who want to enhance performance and make a meaningful difference in their companies, their lives, and the world.

Of Lolly’s many awards and accolades, Lolly was designated a Top-50 Leadership and Management Expert by Inc. magazine. Huffington Post honored Lolly with the title of The Most Inspiring Woman in the World. Her writing has appeared in HBR, Inc.com, Fast Company (Ask The Expert), Huffington Post, and Psychology Today, and others. Her newest book, The Leadership Gap: What Gets Between You and Your Greatness has become a national bestseller.

  1. Amy Bryant

    29. Aug, 2009

    Dear Lolly,

    You continually amaze me with your spot-on insightful prose. I am in that birthing process and have experienced what you write to be true. And I haven’t thought of those around me as my doulas but they most certainly are. Beautiful as always, my friend.

    Amy

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  2. Steve Broe

    29. Aug, 2009

    Lolly, you said this very well. Somethings in life do take effort. Creating something worthwhile is enhanced with loving consciousness. A soul giving birth to something wonderful cannot expect to transform the world without substantial efforts. Keep on doing your part.

    Steve Broe

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  3. Sandy Harper

    29. Aug, 2009

    Thanks for the great post, Lolly.

    I am going thru “labor pains” with a few new ventures right now. But, as you’ve reminded me, all I need to do is look at my precious 3 year old son to be reminded that the pain is worth it (even if it is intense and lasts for days & days!!).

    And…you are correct in that you need great birthing partners to be with you…just like I was fortunate to have five of my best girlfriends in the delivery room with me!!

    Take Care!

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  4. Susan Mazza

    30. Aug, 2009

    What a great metaphor. And a great reminder of the importance of keeping the possibility of what we are creating alive and in front of us so we continue to push through the pain instead of give up.

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