Embracing Courage and Self-Love in Leadership: Insights from Christina Skillman

Day One Leadership is an organization that produces empowering content that showcases various leadership qualities.

Day One interviews a wide range of people in many different industries, including professional video production and asks them to imagine that their lives have been “reset” and they are sent back to day one with only the lessons and beliefs that they have learned in their experience.

How would they use this wisdom to build themselves back up? What is most value to them?

Skillman Video Group’s own Christina Skillman was featured by Day One Leadership and asked to “reset” her life back to day one.

Learn to practice self-love

Christina’s message to herself is a reminder to always practice self-love.

“Sometimes passion can frighten people,” said Christina.

She has always been a very passionate person, and in her younger days, her passion was pushed down and misconstrued as being too prideful, arrogant or narcissistic. “I was told a lot that I was difficult when really it was just my strength being misunderstood, and I think that’s unfortunate. I wish it had been celebrated more.”

Christina would teach her Day One self to always practice self-love because sometimes others will not appreciate your talents and skills, so it is vital that you appreciate yourself even if no one else understands your passions.

Christina practices self-love by taking one simple step each day. “I would just encourage myself to do the work everyday to get myself a little more free every day.” She does this through hobbies and activities, including yoga, meditation and tennis.

She believes that everyone should dedicate time to things that bring you pleasure every day. Aside from her passion for video production, Christina believes that practicing self-love can be done in relationships by only letting people who love you and respect you into your life.

The Importance of Courage

Christina’s most important value is courage.

“Sometimes fear is keeping you small, and sometimes fear is just trying to keep you safe.”

This lesson can be applied to her experiences starting her own video production company. Christina is courageous in every aspect of her life.

She believes that taking risks is good and that it is the only way to make true progress. She speaks about having the courage to be completely confident in yourself. If you do not have self-confidence you will not succeed.

It is all about attitude, and if you exude a positive and optimistic outlook, success will come to you. “The more comfortable you are in your own skin, the more you know you’re going to win, it just seems to generate more positive results, quite frankly.”

Life is Good

The classic cultural cliché that Christina dislikes the most is life is hard.

“Life is really good,” said Christina. “Do hard things happen? Yes, but if you handle them appropriately, you will come out the other side better, faster, stronger and more alive than you were before.”

Pain is imperative to life and to success, how one chooses to handle pain directly impacts their future.

Christina says that you can either choose to heal the pain and end it or you can push through the pain and get to the light at the end of the tunnel. “Pain is necessary, but you don’t stay there, you don’t live there.”