What I Learned Stepping Back from Life

I was once challenged to tell my life’s story using only six words. I eventually came up with “always willing to take a risk”.

More than once in my life, I’ve taken some risks that at the time sounded crazy but ended up creating this amazing adventure that has been my life. Choosing to become an entrepreneur was my latest risky move and by far the hardest one yet.

Thankfully there have been a lot people willing to offer advice so I could figure things out. The problems started when those voices became so loud and my own desires so lost that I was left feeling uncertain about everything.

A few weeks ago I decided to step back from all the noise and figure out exactly what I wanted to do with my business.

In stepping back, I realized just how important it is to me to engage and serve my clients and my community from a place of honesty and authenticity. I had fallen into the trap of doing what I felt I “should” do instead of doing what felt most right for me.

I’ve decided to let go of should and embrace work I feel really passionate about. That decision birthed a project that I’m still working on but look forward to sharing about later on this month .

For now, though, I want to share some of the lessons I learned while stepping back.

Expectations fuel disappointments

There are a lot of rules about what to do to “guarantee success” in the online business world. Rules around how frequently to post on social media, rules around how to charge for your services, rules around the right language to use in marketing. SO.MANY.RULES!

All those rules were exhausting me. I was doing what “they” said I should do and I had expectations about what my results “should” look like but something felt off.

When, ultimately, all those expectations weren’t met I was left feeling both frustrated and disappointed.

In stepping back, I learned to let go of expectations, my own and other people’s.

I know my greatest strength as a leader and as a coach comes from my capacity to lead from my heart. When I follow my intuition, I feel more grounded, which allows me to lead from a place that feels true to who I am and how I want to show up in the world.

I am choosing to trust that my journey is unfolding exactly as it should. I’m not rushing to make something happen (well I’m trying not to rush to make things happen ☺), instead I’m allowing ease to be my guide. Yes I have goals and yes I want to reach those goals but not at the expense of my soul’s peace. Been there, done that and I don’t like the way that feels so I’m taking a different approach.

The past is a subtle but deadly trap

The past represents everything that is familiar and comfortable. It’s all so predictable and predictable makes life so much easier.

But nothing truly magical happens in your comfort zone. I’ve said that to clients and in teachings more times than I can count and stepping back reinforced that for me.

For me, this was a subtle trap because there wasn’t anything overt trying to keep me in my comfort zone instead it was the familiarity of old mindsets and old ways of of thinking that tried to keep me tethered. I was attempting to bring an old way of being into this new life and it wasn’t working.

So I made the decision to let those limiting thoughts go. No more letting the past get the better of my present and my future.

Inside Out is A Better Way to Lead

If it’s true that we teach what we most need to learn then I am committed to leading a tribe of women who want to write their own rules for life and leadership. Women who are tired of letting the past and expectations limit who they can be and how they can show up in the world.

There has been a notable shift internally for me and I trust the energy of that shift will show up in my words and in my work going forward. I’ve already changed some of the language on my site and more changes will be coming soon.

It feels good to have my outside more aligned with my inside. I’d been trying to get there traveling from the outside first but the trick is to start from the inside and go out from there.

Leading from the inside out shifts everything and I’m looking forward to seeing how that unfolds for all of us.

From my heart to yours,

If you are feeling overwhelmed by the shoulds in your life, let’s talk about how I can support you in learning to let them go. Click here to schedule a discovery session with me today.