Stepping into your greatness enables you to feel limitless, have that fire in your belly to succeed and chase your passion.
Firstly, not sure if you agree with me but I am a firm believer that people who have come from hardship or trauma have that fire and resilience within them to achieve their dreams.
The picture above was one taken for my book and it was the second photo shoot with Jan Wells Jan’s Services Jan is my business partner at Inspired-Nation CIC. She took the shot and is great at making you feel comfortable in front of the camera.
I don’t believe that I found the fire in my belly till I began working with learning-disabled adults. They inspired me on a daily basis and I have certainly learned so much after working alongside them for the past 12 years.
As some of you will know, after my separation from my ex narcissist during lockdown 2020, I was at the lowest I had ever felt and what was worse, it brought up a whole load of trauma from the past that I hadn’t dealt with previously.
I was addicted to drugs in my twenties with my husband who I had to separate from in order to become free from heroin in 2000. 3 months later I found myself in an domestic abusive relationship for over eight years and this all reared its ugly head.
In 2020 during my healing process I began writing a gratitude journal, this was one of the things that led me on my self-love discovery journey. My journal ended up becoming my memoir and I began learning how to self-publish, how to use Canva, how to look at a side hustle in order to set up my two businesses that I have now. I began understanding that to achieve this I needed to always fill up my cup first. We can’t be the best to others pouring from empty. That is the most important lesson that I learnt alongside dating myself again.
This is where I developed my growth mindset. It was where I was able to stop the self-shame and blame that you feel from the result of abuse and trauma. Being called an addict (even though I no longer used then) by my abusive ex, who also sent a letter home to my parents to tell them I was an addict just after we split definitely had a negative impact, although my parents were very supportive throughout. This is just one of the many traumatic things that happened but when you begin to understand why you have limiting beliefs you are able to deal with these triggers in different ways and use the new found coping strategies. Re-writing my future helped me to put the past where it should be.
I published my book in July 2021, that was the hard work done, or so I thought. Talking about my book was the next issue for me, “ok, I’ve got it published! What next?” I sat on the book for 6 months till December 2021. The fear of what others would think, this is where I started using an audio app called Clubhouse in May 2021, (slightly late to the party as the app had started in November 2020) and I began speaking up about my story in various clubs on their stages. A game changer for that muscle in your head (mindset), every time I went on the stage to speak my heart would race but after I did, it felt good, the more I spoke about my story the less fearful I became and started to make some really exciting connections.
This really was the catalyst of me stepping into my fear and believe you me FEAR (False Evidence Appearing Real) is a hard emotion to crack but god when you do. When you push yourself to feel it, understand what may be holding you back, but step into it anyway, your life begins to change in many many ways.
In December 2021 I began talking about my book publicly, this was the next push I needed to really not care about what others thought. It is none of our business what others think of us. We are not on this planet to be liked by everyone and your tribe the people who are your cheerleaders, the real gems in your life will always be there for you.
I left my position as a business development manager in February 2022. This was tough as I had been there for 12 years growing the business into a well known and respected non-profit in Leeds and I loved the members. Unfortunately there was no where for me to grow as I had reached the top of the ladder and during my transformation I really began to look at all aspects of my life, including my career.
I began writing funding bids for other non-profits as a side hustle in order to make an income whilst I set up my first two businesses. I felt so lucky as all of the 6 bids I have written so far have been winning bids, it was lovely to hear about the social impact they make but also give me some income during my set up stage. All my testimonials are on my LinkedIn page, I take pride in being able to connect with their projects, finding the need, impact they create and looking at their outcomes. Social enterprises are the driving force in change for a variety of communities and funding is an important element in the success of new projects.
What spurs on my greatness is my passion. I think when you follow your passion that is when you get that fire in your belly to succeed at all costs and become your greatest. I still have a way to go to step into my greatness but I keep taking a step in the right direction and the that’s the most important thing.
These are the things in my business that spur me on…….
Passion 1 – is giving space for women who have lost confidence through trauma or abuse to find their purpose and step into their power. I am proof that this is possible and I can’t wait to run my first retreat for women on the 3rd September, it’s going to be just beautiful.
Passion 2 – is advocating for learning-disabled adults to be equal in society. Everyone has an ability to achieve in life, we just have to find that passion from within and propel ourselves to our own greatness.
The people who I am meeting along this journey have brought many things to the table, knowledge, confidence, understanding and a love of what they do. Being surrounded by the right people in business is important, learning from successful entrepreneurs, collaborating and networking, which I now have a new passion for, has opened many interesting doors.
Bring on 2023!
Are you stepping into your greatness?
