Lessons I've learnt on my journey.......

As I near the last year of my 30s I’ve been taking a moment to reflect on my professional journey over the past two decades. I guess I'm at the mid point you can say and I am all about reflection and resetting.

I have always been someone who sets goals, finds a way to achieve them & if I prove a naysayer wrong along the journey to success in my life (yes, something I’m working on still) then I am kicking goals.

I am always working on living life “Full Out“, a philosophy my bestie Samantha Jo Harvey (go look her up) runs her coaching business by. She asks her podcast guests, ”what does it mean to live your life Full Out“. If you step back & ask yourself this question every now again you will start to feel inspired, empowered & uplifted to ensure you are making the right decisions in your life that will have you look back and be so proud of your life story.

Your career is an important part of living your life in this way. You want to be doing something every day that keeps you learning, growing, having fun and of course making money!?

It’s interesting, I often find people shocked about my age, my experience and the path that I have walked and I have started to realise that some people find my journey inspiring and are keen to hear some lessons.?

Part of my next chapter is about wanting to level up more & leading in many different ways and a step in that is putting myself out there in a way I haven’t before and this is honestly why I am writing my first article.

So, I thought I would stop and write down a few key learnings from my journey that I could share with others who are starting their career or looking to pivot into new fields.

I hope by sharing these few points it might inspire or speak to a person who is busy writing their next chapter in their life story and needs a little advice to believe in themselves.

1: You will make mistakes - know this is all part of the journey - Mistakes lead you to success

Ever feel like if you make a mistake, you will have people who will judge you? You might be scared to feel like a failure? Let people down?

When you take the step towards accepting that life is full of people making mistakes & this is how you learn and grow, that step will be a moment you embrace in your career.

Completely own the mistakes & find the lesson in them, you will take those lessons with you on your pathway and as a result you will start to see success unfold right in front of you.

2: You will have people who will doubt you - Believe in yourself

Well geez, I have had my fair share of these people. Iv’e had “leaders“ who have wanted their moment in the spotlight for my success. They needed me and others to recognise them publicly to ensure everyone knew that my moments of success along my journey would not have been possible without them.

I had a business leader tell me I would never be a senior sales person in their team because I didn’t have the years of experience nor did I have a degree. WOW that’s big right?

Of course people influence, teach & support you along your journey but without YOU dedicating time, focus, energy & effort you won’t get the positive reward.

So believe in yourself & don’t let the people with their own issues cast a shadow on your success. Be humble but you don’t owe them.

3: Imposter Syndrome: knowing when to own your voice & confidence

Hands up if you have felt this a long the way? Hands up if you still have moments?

Thinking of those moments in meetings were in my head I would think, ok, if I say this does it make sense? What if its not intelligent enough? Feeling like you don’t know enough to have a point of view worthy of the discussion with the people you are surrounded by? Starting a sentence with, this might be a dumb question but.....

Yip I feel ya sister... I have been there SO MANY TIMES.

You know what, I still have those moments from time to time BUT I did the personal development work on myself so I could silence that inner critic and stop worrying about what others thought AND I started to own my own knowledge, the path I had walked and the confidence to have a voice.

Confidence within yourself can be tough, we live in a world where we are always facing critics. So my tip here is, is do the inner work on you.

Invest in the course, listen to the podcast, read the books, hire a coach, whatever it is to help you with the confidence aspect & this will allow you to step into your own and back yourself when you have these moments.

Your confidence is beautiful and powerful, step into it!

4: Say yes to the challenge - You will grow beyond your own realisation

There have been a few moments in my career where I felt I was not ready to take the promotion or couldn't deliver to the expectations of a role. Some of this was programming in my own historical wiring that I needed to work through (I didn't learn this until the past few years), some doubt came in from point 2 above but most was about thinking I needed to perfect, and you know what? No one is EVER 100% ready for the next challenge until they are actually in it.

Some of my greatest successes to date have come from being thrown in the deep end and figuring out how to swim to the top to get air whilst navigating the rocks holding me down. Yip, along the journey it has felt like that.

But my biggest growth moments and deepest learnings have come from some hardest & darkest days.

So say yes, you have people cheering you on, jump in with both feet, get yourself a mentor to coach you through and honestly you will never regret saying yes. There will be a lesson that comes with it that you will take with you for life.

5: Get yourself a mentor or coach: This is a non negotiable, it's the best investment you will ever make in yourself

I have had all types of mentors, I learnt this early on. Having someone who you can talk to/consult with who has walked a part of the path you wish to take, will be an investment in time you will not regret.

If you can afford it, invest in a business coach OR Personal development coach. I have pulled from all three options over the years, Mentor, Business & Personal and I have found they all play a part and serve a purpose at different times.

I have found as a female in a male dominated world, I really needed to invest in the personal development coach the most to help me navigate the challenges that came with that.

Look around you, see who is in your circle of reach OR look beyond that and reach out to someone that inspires you & ask them to mentor you. It's a great place to start.

6: Possibly the most important - Focus on your Mind & Body Health?

Mindset & mental health is possibly the most important one of all. To be 100% transparent, anxiety is alive within me (this could be a topic on its own) BUT there have been times in my career to date that external factors have pushed me to the point of breakdown.?

2020 was that year for me and IT was a MASSIVE realization that I had let my mental health practices lapse so amongst the chaos of dealing with three major life moments all at once, i broke! As a female the constant strain of staying in Fight of Flight mode for too long can significantly impact our hormones which can have all sorts of negative impacts on our body.?

There will be moments in your career where you will be required to manage a lot of moving parts, especially if you have aspirations to move into leadership.?

You need to have some sort of practice in place that supports your mental & physical health. I always like the saying “If you don’t find time to be healthy, you will have no choice but to find time to be sick”.?

If you have a practice in your life that looks after your physical health, internal & external, and your mental health these foundations will support you so MUCH with your everyday career growth. As a starting point, it can even be simple boundaries that you put in place to ensure you have the separation of work & personal life.

I hope someone takes something from this or share with someone in your network who might learn a thing or two.?

Want to connect? Drop me a DM.?

G xo

My key go to podcasts:

• On purpose with Jay Shetty
• Full Out Podcast with Samantha Jo Harvey

#selfdevelopment #confidence #empoweredwomenempowerwomen #corporatelife #health #happiness #learning #leadership #growth #mindset