Faith Is a Practice, Too
Photo by luizclas
At the beginning of this year, I declared that my intention for 2026 was to be of service.
Since then, I’ve made an interesting discovery.
In order to be of service, you have to have faith.
When you’re distracted by what could go wrong, you rob yourself and everyone else of your value.
Constantly anticipating what will go wrong is a selfish and unproductive practice. If you’re feeling called out, don’t worry, I am right there with you. I’ve spent plenty of time rehearsing worst-case scenarios in my own mind.
As human beings, we have a limited capacity for what we can give. Every thought, attitude, and intention takes up space in that capacity. Which means we are accountable for what fills it.
If our intention is to serve — to lead, to support, to show up for our teams, our families, our communities — but we spend most of our time focused on not being adequate or wondering when the other shoe is going to drop, there is no room left for service.
There is no space left for presence.
And service requires presence.
I understand how challenging this is in practice. Once we’ve created a pattern for it, fear can be all-consuming. Our nervous systems get efficient at scanning for threat. Our minds get skilled at predicting disappointment. It can feel protective. Responsible, even.
But so can faith.
Instead of viewing fear and worry as something that’s gone terribly wrong, I invite you to reframe them as simply a limiting habit.
Habits are not moral failures. They are rehearsed responses.
While trauma and past experiences absolutely inform our fear centers, the reason most people live in fear and worry is because it’s what they’ve practiced. For some, it’s all they’ve known. The brain and body adapt to what they repeat.
The encouraging part?
What is practiced can be practiced differently.
If fear is strengthened through repetition, so is trust.
If anxiety becomes automatic through rehearsal, so can steadiness.
Faith, in this sense, is not blind optimism. It’s not ignoring risk or pretending things will always work out neatly. Faith is choosing to orient toward possibility rather than catastrophe. It is the disciplined act of redirecting attention.
And like any discipline, it requires practice.
In leadership and in life, we don’t rise to our intentions. We default to our wiring and our habits. If our wiring is constantly scanning for what might fail, our service will be diluted by hesitation and self-protection.
But when we begin to practice faith even in small, daily ways, we expand our capacity.
We create internal space.
And in that space, we can listen better. Respond more thoughtfully. Support more generously. Lead more clearly.
In order to shift the habit, we have to shift the practice.
That might look like interrupting a spiral before it gains momentum.
It might look like asking, “What if this goes well?”
It might look like noticing when you are rehearsing inadequacy and choosing a different rehearsal.
Not perfectly.
Just intentionally.
Being of service is not about doing more.
It is about being available.
And availability requires trust in ourselves, in others, and sometimes in outcomes we cannot control.
If fear has been your default, you are not broken.
You are practiced.
And you can practice something new.
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