Jo had recently finished a business development programme to shape her brand new, highly innovative, tech business start-up and realised, as a team of one, she was finding it difficult to set goals, prioritise her work and hold herself to account.
“After a break over Christmas, I couldn't find my way back to my work. Then my sense of imposter syndrome began to get larger and larger and larger. I realised I wasn't getting anywhere on my own. I had 100% faith in my idea. I never doubted it. All the doubt was centered around me as the person being able to deliver it.“
The Flourish programme appealed to Jo because of the combination of one-to-one support via the coaching and peer group support in the workshops and, she says,
“It was really important to me to know that the other ladies on the programme were going to be of a certain age with some life experience.”
Jo had already run a very successful small business for many years before starting her new venture, but this meant she’d created a long-term habit of work-related To Do Lists, which hadn’t allowed much space for anything else.
“I felt being on this programme granted me permission and encouraged me to explore my own motivations, habits and natural tendencies, rather than just focusing on the pressure to keep ticking things off a To Do List as fast as you possibly can.”
The DISC personality profile and deep dive into her values gave Jo greater clarity about what was going on ‘behind the scenes’, and the cumulative effect of the programme as a whole helped Jo to rediscover her faith in her own ability and self-determination.
“One of the most positive things to come out of the Flourish programme is that I've discovered that my faith in my own ability and self-determination never really went away, but I just sort of shut them away, because they weren't truly compatible with the way I have been living.”
As a result, Jo has been able to deal with her procrastination...
“It's made a really big difference to how I see myself going forward with my business and with my personal life. For a long time, I would think about all these things, knowing that I had to do something, that change must come, but I was completely unable to make any change.”
And now she feels more in control, able to take action and initiate change...
“I feel empowered because I’m not endlessly ruminating but doing nothing. I have the courage to follow through and take action. I have been able to tap back into the person that I was in my 20s and 30s when I was focused, driven, decisive and disciplined.
It's all about perspective, isn't it? I was sort of in a hole wallowing and all this ruminating I've been doing for a long time had totally clouded my judgment and made me blinkered. The coaching has meant that I can see other points of view and can get outside and look in.”
And Jo feels like she has a different relationship with herself and her emotions...
“I'm more forgiving of myself and, although I still set goals and I still want to achieve things, I'm more accepting of the fact that even a tiny step in the right direction is progress, whereas I used to measure myself by how many giant leaps I'd made. I see that as a very positive thing.
I have a better-balanced view of what is within my control to change and what I consciously choose to make my responsibility. Looking back, I realise my whole life was tinged with resentment at myself and others, you know, the feeling of not being appreciated, which is such wasted energy.”
Overall, Jo says,
“I feel like this has enabled me to cut the ropes that bind us up on our journey through life so that I can see who I really am, where I really am, make a true assessment and re-build things with a positive vision for my future.”
When asked if her investment in the Flourish programme was worth it, Jo says the most significant investment she made had nothing to do with money...
“Flourish was an investment in myself. For a long, long time I didn’t consider I was worthy of that kind of investment. I thought of this kind of thing as an indulgence and very different from investing in my business. And I’m not just talking about the financial investment. For me to take the plunge was a big, big deal. And it has been 100% worth it.
In fact, the investment is not about the money at all; it's almost immaterial. It's about how much you decide to invest in this coaching process.”
Jo has this advice for anyone contemplating joining the Flourish programme,
“Have you ever contemplated an investment and been frightened to make the commitment, even though you’ve known it was the right thing? If you're even remotely a little bit like me, you’ll think about all the other things that money can be spent on. But don't forget that if you invest in yourself, you'll look back and you'll think, why did I think that was such a big deal? Because it was so worth it.“
To find out more about how Lorna Thomas / Be The Best You In Business coaching and mentoring could support you to increase your confidence and grow your business with clarity, focus and control, book a call...
Comentarios