Do you feel it too?

Lighter, that is.

I don't mean physically, but emotionally.

I do, and although I struggled to put my finger on why, it dawned on me that part of it is down to a post I put out this week.

An introductory post to new followers.

In it I shared a bit of my story, and clarified my portfolio life: academic and business owner, and inadvertently gave myself permission to own it all.

I've realised that I've been supressing parts of me.

Those parts which I felt were somehow in conflict and which would argue over my credibility in both spaces.

Fears around how my colleagues might judge me for the work I do outside of academia. For being judged as 'less than' and 'not a proper Professor'.

Fears of how my non-academic audience would judge the academic part of me for being 'unrelatable'.

And somehow after writing that post, and the engagement I've had from all parts of my audience, the nagging voice has gone very quiet indeed.

And I feel excited.

And emotionally lighter.

Because, it wasn't about them - but it was definitely about me. Me judging my followers unfairly, and judging myself even more unfairly.

So I'm walking into February on bubbles of excitement, and courage to show up more.

In all parts of my portfolio.

Here's to longer days, pancakes, the end of GCSE mocks, and all of the other fabulousness that February will bring.

I'm looking forward to seeing what February has in store for you too!

Erica

P.S If you want to build a psychology-based quiz but don't know where to start, join Quiz Camp, Feb 20-22nd and we'll get you started.

P.P.S If you don't know whether your business is ready to have a quiz, yes, you've guessed it, you can take my quiz here to find out!

P.P.P.S If you're looking for coaching or business strategy support let's have a chat over coffee.