Starting a new business is exciting, thrilling and somewhat daunting. Moving from a regular salaried role, to one where you are dependent on your own pipeline can bring about many emotions.
As a Women writing this article today on International Women’s Day, I feel I have a duty to share some of my experiences over the past couple of years, to help others realise there is ALWAYS the opportunity to challenge ourselves, the narrative we are told… and the world we live in… #ChooseToChallenge #IWD2021
The past 12 months have been extraordinary for us all, and from talking with my daughter only this morning – she questioned whether she would experience anything like this again in her life…to which of course I answered, ‘I just don’t know’…
And that saying, ‘I just don’t know’ has become my answer to many things since I moved from a full time corporate career, set up new businesses, home schooled, asked what’s for dinner…and the list goes on.
My natural characteristic is to be uber organised, in control of what I am doing and when, the results I am working towards and generally how I choose to live my life. However, the past 24 months have taught me not be any less of those characteristics, but more self-accepting that not everything always goes to plan, and not always do I have or know the answer.
Yet, this feeling of not knowing what is ahead of me today and in the future, is where the use of positive challenge in my opinion is critical to making change in ourselves and the world, we live in.
I have worked with so many fabulous Women in my career, all with different personalities, ambitions, belief systems and desires…yet common themes have been apparent amongst them all – thoughts and questions about ‘Am I good enough/have I got what it takes/will I have time for this/what will other people think…and the list goes on’…
These feelings and thoughts are ones that have come to be my ‘Friends’ over the past few years, particularly as I decided to move from a full-time corporate role to setting up a few businesses of my own.
You might be thinking ‘Friends?’
I use the word ‘friends’ as I now identify with the feelings and know how to deal with them and speak back to them positively. They are also my key triggers for when I know change is on the horizon…instead of running away from them – I choose to embrace them.
The ability to challenge our thoughts and feelings not only can give us strength and make us mentally stronger, but it also gives us the ability to make change in ourselves inwards and outwards. If someone had said to me 3 years ago you would set up a Business Coaching platform and train to be a psychologist – I would have more than likely laughed back – as I was so focussed on performing and ticking boxes in my corporate career. I am not saying anything is wrong with this if this is your desire, but when challenging circumstances are put Infront of us (redundancy in my case) – one thing that is certain, is that the ability to challenge your thoughts and feelings when dealing with these circumstances gives you a platform for making change.
Challenging my status quo, has given me the opportunity to meet even more fabulous women and enjoy seeing their achievements not only in business but also in the charity work I partake in for the Inner Wheel.
So, if you have got to the bottom of this article – I ask you one question…
What should you be Choosing to Challenge?
Because from Challenge Comes Change…and the only Glass Ceiling we put Infront of ourselves is the one we allow.
