Growth Through Perserverance

Every time I begin a new blog post I typically have some topic in mind. I create a title before I ever type a word. That has not been the case today. I opened my site and was drawing blanks. Not necessarily on content but on titles. So I thought... I'll just begin to write, see if I enter my "flow" state, and wherever it goes it will lead me to a good title and topic for today. So here we are.

I have been thinking quite a bit about my business and how far I have brought it in such a short amount of time. No one really talks about how hard it is to build something from the ground up, in a city where you don't have many connections outside of previous workplace friends because your support system lives hundreds of miles away. I created this business platform and have thrust myself into so many uncomfortable situations, networking with new people in a community I am new to, participating in things I have never done before.

That is so scary.

And yet it has lead to so much personal growth and fulfillment.

Not only have I acquired clients and grown my email list from this process, but I have also gotten to expand and do what it is that I have wanted to do from the beginning which is hosting events and holding workshops. None of it is easy, it is not a cakewalk. It is constant networking, constant upkeep of this website, blog and newsletters, constant creation of workshops that are value-added, constant collaboration, constant reading, and most important - constant reminders to myself that I am doing the right thing. Because the truth of being a small business owner starting from ground zero is that if you fall off on any of these things at any given time, nothing comes to fruition. It is constant perseverance even when things don't go your way.

Sometimes when I get into a defeated headspace I pull up Indeed and start scrolling for jobs to apply to. To be honest, working a job for another company was always easy to me, especially coming from 80-hour weeks and chaotic schedules years leading up to my first corporate position. I never quit my work because I found it difficult, I quit because it no longer brought me any purpose or value. I have to remind myself of that as I look at those job postings.

I think the truth is that this coaching certification and the business platform I created with it have brought me so much personal and professional growth that I never acquired in the workplace. There is no monotony. I am tested daily, and uncomfortable all of the time. And it is so worth it.

Each month I attend a small networking group lunch for health-minded professionals and each month we typically have a speaker who leads the group through a presentation or something representative of their business. For February's lunch, I was asked by someone I now consider to be a good friend if I would be interested in being the designated speaker. She is consistently pushing me outside of my comfort zone with my business in the best possible way. I agreed to do this, and decided I would use my time as a workshop for the group.

I have to say, I did not expect more than maybe 6-7 people to stop by because that is a pretty average number we have attend each month - but there was shockingly 13 of us including me. That is good sized group to implement a pretty new workshop with in person for the first time. I was so pleased... also anxious.

There is something interesting about my anxiety surrounding public speaking like this and it is that I actually like it... I share that cautiously because I firmly believe public speaking is collectively one of the scariest human experiences, similar to how waiting in lines is collectively one of the worst human experiences. I like sharing in group settings, and I like the fear that shakes me to my bones before I share in group settings. And if I am honest, when I reflect on even those times I have shared in much, much larger corporate settings with fear that physically shook my limbs... I liked that too!

Why?

Because it brings me so much pride and fulfillment after I have completed it.

That wave of relief just washes over you and you sit back and think... I did that. That is what happened to me after lunch that day. Not only did I receive incredible unsolicited feedback before some folks went about their day, but I had this wave of fulfillment where I got to sit down and process - not only did I just accomplish that, not only was it well received, but I thoroughly enjoyed that. I have put myself into so many uncomfortable situations, taken ridicule from some, and spent plenty of time beating my own self up over not currently providing the same monetary value I have provided for myself and for my household in the past but in that moment (and so many others now) it is all so worth it.

I love doing this.

The workshop I held was in regard to identifying our values as they relate to our work-life balance. It is important, especially for small business owners. Our business is typically fulfilling one of our top values in this life or we wouldn't pursue it, which means it is really easy to hyper-fixate on it and forget that there are many other things that matter to us as well. But I think the most powerful part of this exercise is the vulnerability to share with the group. By the end of the workshop we all share with each other the values we identified within ourselves and it is in that moment we get to see the key pillars of what it is to be human, those areas we all relate - family, faith / spirituality, community - and then we hear those core values that make us all simultaneously so unique. And we learn about each other in that way. And we relate to each other in that way.

Human beings are amazing.

I am so grateful I have found the community I am in. I meet more new faces doing what I do now than I did working for corporations the 4 years living here leading up to this. It means something to me.

At the end of the day, our work should be indicative of who we are and what we value. It is the most important piece of the puzzle in living a fulfilling life. Mine used to be my work in corporate, but my path was altered. My values changed, and now I am able to honor them elsewhere. I am privileged to be able to pursue that. Living your values does not always mean quitting your day job and traveling the world like influencers may have you believe - but if your day job is no longer honoring your values do not ignore that.

Time is our most valuable possession. We must never forget that.