I remember what it was like when I was on maternity leave wondering what on earth I was going to do with my career.
I’d had a successful career as a strategic communication and change consultant working with some of the biggest best-known brands. But this meant London, long hours and a big commute. This was never going to work alongside my little one or where we wanted to live.
I also remember what it was like noticing my values adapt and realign during my first year as a mother. Adjusting what was actually most important in life.
Taking a real look at what matters most, and how to adapt and accept new ways of living and realising that beliefs I’d held for many years previous, were evolving with me. For the better.
I knew life needed to change. I wanted it to change. So I set on a path to do that.
This was an opportunity to reinvent our lives.
You don’t know what you don’t know.
Although I’d been running a corporate consulting business for a while, I wasn’t so familiar with running an online business from home.
I’d been running a parenting and lifestyle blog while on mat leave, so I knew a bit about building my own website (self-taught) and social media marketing but that’s only a couple of cogs in the wheel of a rather important engine.
I also knew a lot about Strategic communications, Brand and messaging. So that would be a great help as they are really important foundations for your business.
I was also experienced in effecting and navigating change. Thank goodness I am comfortable with that. There’s been quite a lot of it.
The thing is – I didn’t know about shiny object syndrome, clever or underhand marketing tactics that are almost designed to trip you up as you navigate your way to business owner mastery!
The internet is riddled with booby traps and tripwires. The map is covered with rabbit holes you can get sucked into – and as many of my business buddies will vouch for, you can almost lose a year of your life or at least hinder your progress by tripping and falling over the “Guru” or “big name” led content.
Trust your instincts
What’s funny is I knew instinctively and from my many years in brand and communication that getting the foundations in place first was the most important thing. But it didn’t stop me from signing up for things that promised me the world – some of that marketing knows just how to manipulate the brain!
At that point in my journey, I knew the most important things in setting the foundations of your business were things like, understanding your brand, understanding your audience, building an offer that solves a problem or meets a desire, getting your messaging right, knowing your unique value proposition or what makes you different. Having a simple marketing strategy and so on… All the things you need in place BEFORE you action your visibility strategy.
These things I called BrandBeforeLogo® stood out to me as the most important starting point for a business owner or personal brand entrepreneur. So I made it my mission to share this important foundational work with people and help them escape the marketing booby traps and tripwires to set them up for success.
Over time though, it became evident to me that without the mindset work people would keep tripping themselves up or holding themselves back. I knew this from clients I’d worked with, and I knew it deep down personally too. Mindset is everything.
It can make or break you.
Not dealing with your mindset, whether it’s things you are conscious of, or things that are in your unconscious holding you back makes life a bit like driving with the brakes on.
And if you are driving your life and business with the brakes on, the journey will be a lot harder, take longer and offer a lot more resistance than if you choose to take the brakes off.
The other thing to consider in why you might be driving with the brakes on is – are you truly doing what your heart desires?
Are you building a business around what you used to do in corporate because it seemed the logical thing to do? Or have you embraced a long-held passion?
Or have you got so lost along life’s journey that you’re not even sure what you want to do or who you are anymore?
It’s very easy to get out of alignment after significant life events. And that’s totally normal. If you listen to yourself on the inside, and you let yourself feel your feelings, you’ll know whether you’re truly on the right path or not.
The other biggie – which has been life-changing for me, is releasing the negative emotions and associated thought patterns and beliefs held in my unconscious mind that I’d been holding on to and using to guide decisions for a lifetime!
We can be unknowingly holding on to Anger, Sadness, Fear, Hurt and Guilt (and more…) in our lives right back from the ages of 0-7, and before. Then over our lifetime, our experiences have been felt, categorised in the brain and perceived through that filter we created before we could even make sense of it. I can explain more in another post but if this interests you – speak to me about Time Line Therapy. It’s magical.
Finding the path
How do I keep this short!? I’m in my 43rd year of life now and I believe that every step on my journey, and every experience has in some way colluded (in a positive way) to get me where I am today.
As a teenager I would go to the library (there was no internet) and read books on neuroscience and astrology. I was intrigued with how the brain worked, not least because I felt something deep inside about how I was meant to help others, and also as I was experiencing some mental health problems – I was trying to heal myself!!
Astrology because it was another way to understand people, had an element of mystical and shows us the universe plays an important role in our lives. And because I wanted to look up what star sign the boys I fancied at school were! (Standard)
In my late teens and early twenties I discovered Deepak Chopra and the late lovely Susan Jeffers (of “Feel the Fear and do it anyway” fame). To this day I still follow Deepak’s work. It is just brilliant.
Then life happened. And I blocked a lot of this wisdom out as I concentrated on finding jobs and building a career. At this point in life I feel like I was living more to meet other people’s expectations and values, than to hold my own dear. I think it was quite a common scenario back then. Feeling like you need to prove something, or achieving things to please others. (Hint: not the way to live a fulfilled life)
You get on the hamster wheel and sleep-walk through life for a while. It’s as if you turn off your internal listening or block it out until you have an awakening. And you can have more than one awakening. There can be many steps on the path to your true calling.
But there will come a day or days in life where your body and mind will give you the signals and will ask you to stop and listen. Most of your answers are inside – but you will need to unpick them from the other noise and other voices in your brain that have built up over the years.
There is so much I could tell, but you don’t need to hear it all now. Let’s just say I had a few awakenings along my journey. I finally met the true kind soul who became my husband. And we had a baby. Which takes me back to setting out on another path of change. Realigning life and values, and setting up my online business in brand and communication until my next awakening.
This was when I realised I was doing what I was good at, even great at, but it wasn’t what I was destined to do. It wasn’t what my heart and soul were calling me to do. Something just didn’t feel right. I was getting the mind and body signals that time for change was upon me, but I didn’t have the clarity on exactly what that next step was.
I went through a process of discovery and several iterations until I got to where I am now.
I went on a personal journey of learning and healing while training to be a certified mindset coach, NLP and Time Line Therapy practitioner, and am currently also learning Hypnosis to support my clients even more with the transformation and shifts they want to make in their minds and lives.
I’ve come full circle back to the brain. The neuroscience that has seen so many developments since I first started reading about it all those years ago. And what intrigues me, even more, these days is the solidity of the mind: body connection. That is a whole other blog post – but fascinating and life changing.
First steps
I can’t emphasise enough how important the healing part is first. The bit where you learn to take the brakes off you’ve been driving through life with, holding you back. The bit where you no longer have to be triggered by the little things that annoy you greatly.
Releasing negative emotions you’ve been holding on to such as Anger, Sadness, Fear, Hurt and Guilt means you can move into the second half of your life feeling like a renewed person! Then getting rid of limiting decisions you’ve made that have created beliefs that no longer serve you. All life-changing stuff.
This is a freeing, lightening process that almost feels magical. Words can’t do it justice.
Once the healing process has begun, now you can truly begin to step into your power and your light. It means you can look inside without judgement or bias and discover how you truly want your life to be.
Re-align, adjust, reset and get yourself on a path that you know will bring you a happy fulfilled life.
This doesn’t mean you have to make big life changes. The big changes happen on the inside with the healing.
Then it’s up to you whether you need a reality check – now you’re thinking it clearer; a reset of priorities; or a complete revolution!
All these are possible.
It’s my hearts desire to help people discover that they no longer need to live life from a place of struggle or toxicity, driving with the brakes on, or on someone else’s path. But that you truly have the power and light inside to move forward from what’s been holding you back and live a life that feels fulfilling and joyful – whatever that looks like to you.
And if you’re driven to find your true calling – and make it happen we can do that too.
I’m a big believer in taking small steps to a big vision. If you’re ready to take the first step – please do get in touch and I’ll be happy to talk you through the possibilities.
With love,
Lucy