My first step
When I decided to start First Step, it had been a long road of self-assessment to get to a place where I knew I wanted to be. A place where I could see myself being for the foreseeable future without an overwhelming feeling of despair. I was 17 years into a career that I had once enjoyed, it paid very well, but for the last five years in that job I had really struggled with finding any fulfilment or job satisfaction.
I tried taking a sabbatical and dabbling in home interiors but while that seemed exciting to start with, I found myself in a saturated market where we were all trying to find our “niche” while we were all relying on the same beige suppliers who provided, in my opinion, a very homogenised catalogue of "oh I've seen that in every magazine".
I wasn’t interested in becoming an importer or distributer so I returned, tail between legs, to my previous profession in helping big companies be successful in change.
However, it didn’t matter where I went or which company I worked for, I was bored by the politics and realised that corporate life just wasn’t for me. But what to do about it? While pondering that I sat down with a glass of wine and asked myself a lot of questions (and more surprisingly came up with the following answers);
1. What do I like about my current job? Helping people adjust and adapt to change without fear, talking to people, building relationships, being recognised as someone people trust.
2. When am I most happiest? When I’m with my husband and friends.
3. What do I believe I am good at? Helping people adjust and adapt to change without fear.
4. What is important to me? Good health, feeling motivated and energised, living mindfully, love, my family, friends and our cat.
5. What have been the highlights of my life so far? All the travel I’ve done, the people I have met in unlikely situations, working as a volunteer for charities overseas, the people I have helped/seen flourish through that work, the feedback I have received through that work, working with animals in Africa and marrying my husband.
6. Am I ok working for someone else for the rest of my life? Ummm … no
7. What could that look like if not? Having a little office/practice somewhere central, working hours that mean I can avoid peak traffic, having flexibility to ensure a work/life balance, encouraging others on a daily basis.
8. What would that mean to me? Being excited to get out of bed every day, being excited to talk about what I do for a living.
9. What do I think it will take to have those things? Vision, self-belief and a commitment to making it happen.
10. What do I think will happen if I don’t do those things? Stay stuck in a 40 hour week of feeling like a hamster in a wheel, continue to suffer corporate politics.
By going through this process I was able to create a vision for my future. That helped to give me clarity around what is important and what motivates me. In time I had my “ah-ha!” moment and took further steps towards making things happen. I did a course, I thought about all the people I had coached before starting First Step, I did a heap of free coaching to hone my skills and prove to myself that I could do it outside the corporate and charity environments that I was used to. I opened the door to First Step. I am yet to look back.
Contact me today to get the conversation started. The first consultation is always free so you have absolutely nothing to lose!
