Many of the clients I work with are grappling with the very things that caused them to change their way of working in the first place.
Wanting flexibility AND missing the structure.
Wanting more creative freedom AND missing the accountability. Wanting to not be around people all the time AND missing people. Wanting to do more of the deeper work AND then having to be all the things.
Its one of those things that is often lying in plain sight.
An elephant in the room which isn't discussed because it is accompanied by shame and embarrassment about what that then means about us, our abilities and even our right to be occupying this space.
So let's talk about this elephant in the room.
'Hi, I'm Nicola and…I'm not a born entrepreneur, I did not ‘wake-up like this’. I'm following a calling, I love it AND it hasn't always come easy.
Some people are born entrepreneurs, they struggled in corporate and could.never.go.back.
THAT is not me.
And in the past I judged myself on that and I thought that you, ‘Dear Creator’, would judge me too.
The meaning I made and the story I told myself caused me to question if I should even be here doing this amongst the sea of ‘born-ready-to-do this business owners’ and concluded that maybe it was a sign that I'm not ready and should stand down from the table I was building.
I mean how many times do you hear people talking about the things they miss about j.o.b!?!?!
Or that they could go back to it if they had to!?!?!
Sexy marketing headlines that does not make.
But it's my truth and maybe its yours too?
Whether you're doing this full-time, have aspirations to do it full-time, you're a side-hustler or a returnee to the workplace having tried doing it full-time (this is something we don't hear about and it reminds me to tell you about when I went into a job after being a full-time business owner for a year.).
You can have a dream for the way you live and work without shaming yourself for where you think you 'should' be.
I'll now happily admit that I was a really good employee and that I am not unemployable.
In fact, I'm very employable.
Whilst I do not wish to go back and have no plans to.
I could if I had to.
AND you know what, not only does that bring my over-thinking, risk-averse spirit comfort on days when the precariousness of being my own boss feels overwhelming.
But the fact is, I also miss some things about office life.
Its why I'm sat here drinking an over-priced coffee, paying over the odds for car parking, about to go buy sushi for lunch (when 'there's rice at home' #sorrynotsorry but if you know you know and I couldn't not make that reference!) and feel so frikkin happy about it.
Side note: I'm a big fan of shining a light on the elephant in the room in order to get to what is actually happening below the surface level as this is where sustainable shifts happens.
Why? Because we are looking at our shit instead of saying and speaking to how we think we ‘should be’.
In this context and for the purposes of this conversation, looking at what you miss and/or what is missing from your current reality and having a plan to plug those gaps is what gets you closer to creating the work and life that feels good for you and the heartbeats you are here to help.
Start by writing a list as I did above, let's take those seeming contradictions and invite them into a safe place where they can co-exist. Cos' that's actually being a beautifully messy imperfect human having a beautifully messy imperfect human experience.
From there, you can then start building those things in as you build your life and work.
After all, you can only seek to give yourself what you need to work well when you know what it is you need to work well.
Sometimes it might look like it did for me today in changing my environment. Other days it could be getting the guidance and healthy accountability you seek, require and would actually quite enjoy (hello
Root & Rise). It could be connecting with like-minded folk in order to replace those water-cooler moments or its about having someone to get creative with aka my
Creative Strategy Sessions and
121 Coaching and Creative Strategy Experience).
The over-glorification of there only being one way to do things makes it a constant act of realigning to remain in your lane and in the direction of travel that is right for you and the season you are in.
My vision is for you to show-up with heart for others and yourself, creating courageously and experiencing a wildly wholehearted way of working and living.
Imagine how different things could be with more of this energy in the world!
