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Carrying the Mental Load: at Capacity16/9/2022 As a Mindset Coach, who coaches high achieving women on how to release fear, limiting beliefs and anxiety, I frequenstly get this question:
“WHY am I so stressed out, overwhelmed and exhausted ALL THE TIME? I just can’t seem to keep life together like everyone else.” My immediate answer is this: “ When is the last time you gave yourself time and space for REFLECTION?” We get into the habit of packing so much into an already filled container, thinking that everything is urgent, so much to do in so little time. We want to:
Not to mention that fear of FOMO is real. I get it. We get so busy “being busy” that the mind goes into INFORMATION OVERLOAD. It simply cannot process and keep up with the pace we are expecting ourselves to run at. If we look at what is happening in the mind, we have approximately 2 million bits of information coming at us every day (2 million!). We have external information screaming at us from our technology - phones, laptops, ipads, work emails, phone calls, text messages, social media notifications, reminders. And if you have a child in care or at school… let’s not forget ALL the newsletters and emails and notifications!! Plus, we have the information that is internally processing our own beliefs, thoughts, internal dialogue feelings, emotions. What you can hear, see and smell. And the brain processing sensory information getting feedback from our organs. But, the mind can only process 148 bits of information. Yes, that 2 million bits of information gets filtered down by the mind’s ability to delete, distort and generalise the information. It will in fact only retain the information it believes you need sifting on past experiences, memories and your core belief system to understand what is needed. If we don’t make time for reflection going into a “REST + PROCESS” mode and we continue to pack information into an already filled container guess what happens?? System overload: overwhelm, stress, anxiety, resentment, decision fatigue and burnout from carrying the mental load. The mind says “I AM AT CAPACITY!”. And yet, we keep push on expecting to somehow get a different result. So, if your mind is at full capacity - what can you do this week to reduce the mental load? Often, we think it’s big things like taking a day off work for self care, or a weekend away which does help. But, sometimes that isn’t feasible. I am all about starting small with mindfulness habits like:
In order to keep a healthy work-life balance, with less likelihood of overwhelm we need to be mindful of how we fill our brains with information throughout the day. When we give ourselves time in stillness and quiet, we turn on the mind’s “REST + REFLECT” mode. By packing in fewer tasks in, taking breaks and making sure we schedule some time for mindfulness, we can truly reap the benefits. You might even be surprised by the creative ideas and solutions that filter in more easily and effortlessly.
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Are some people just LUCKY?12/8/2022 I have a question for you today, do you believe… some people are just lucky?
Do you believe that opportunities only come once in a lifetime? That your time is running out? Pressure to make big life decisions as you only get once shot? If you do… then I want to share something with you today. I had a conversation with a beautiful woman here In Singapore the other day and I wanted to share it with you. If you haven't caught up yet - my family has been living in Singapore since the end of March. We decided after living through the pandemic in Melbourne Australia it was time for a change, a BIG change. This woman reached out to me on Instagram and said “You are so lucky getting to travel and live and work abroad. I could never do that". And I replied: "Thank you, but it is not LUCK. Nothing we have created has happened by chance." It may look like I am the swan, swanning around on that pond gliding smoothly across the water. But, I can assure you that underneath the water I have been peddling my legs in momentum for YEARS. This is the outcome of doing the "inner work". This is what my peddling under the water actually looks like:
If you are feeling pressure, like time is running out, you might be in a fixed mindset that says "opportunities only come once in a lifetime". The truth is that opportunities come to us every day. And, every day we are given a choice. Are you running on autopilot, reacting and responding the same way you always have getting the same outcomes? Or are open to new perspectives, fresh ways of looking at life problems? If you need guidance here, a simple mindset shift can be created with this powerful affirmation: Opportunities come to me each and every day. I welcome new people and good energy into my life. I am excited for this amazing job opportunity and purposeful work into my life. Write it, speak it, repeat it daily for the next 90 days, and watch what happens. You’re beliefs, your thoughts, your words become the catalyst for all that happens in your life! I used this exact process in my morning routine for the past 90 days. I was feeling restricted by my dependent visa status here in Singapore being unable to work and coach the women I meet locally. Every day wrote in my journal and I focused my mind on what I really wanted. To help and be of service here helping women release their fears and anxiety. Then I submitted my application 60 days ago. I found out this week that my Singapore business entity registration was approved! It all happened easily and effortlessly! I am grateful and beyond thrilled for this outcome. All that is happening right now in my life is another reinvention of the next phase of my life, where I am the author. And there is nothing more empowering than become the author of your life. I reinvented myself at 39 years old and I became the master of my emotions. I worked with an incredible mindset coach and I let go of my deep seeded fears. I started living to my true beliefs and values. I no longer operated on someone else’s belief system or programming. In doing so, the world opened up to me and at 40 I changed career paths to help women rebuild their self-belief. And now at 45 my family and I are reinventing the world we live in by being here in Singapore, following what lights us up - and now sharing this experience and culture with our son. It all had to start with me. No one else was going to save me or create this for me. So, my message for you today - is that if you are unhappy with any element of your life - you and only you have the power to change this. Time is NOT RUNNING OUT. It’s time to stop waiting for your luck and open your heart to the belief that opportunities will come to you. You have everything within you to succeed, at whatever it is that your dream of. They key is unlocking your best mindset. Releasing the mental blocks that tell you - you can’t. Reprogramming old belief and fear stories and learning how to shift your negative self talk. In doing this, you will become free to be the author of your life. It's your time to thrive. Janel Briggs THRIVE MINDSET COACH
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We all have limiting beliefs. They’re those pesky, damaging, and deeply ingrained thoughts that’ve been there for years. So long in fact that we’ve become convinced that they must be true. They’re not. Trust me. I’ve been there and come out the other side and want you too as well. So what are limiting beliefs? Where did them come from? And how can we get rid of them? Limiting beliefs reach across all aspects of your life. They’re thoughts or opinions that negatively impact your relationships, growth, and moving forward. They’re the little (or loud) voice saying… I’m not good enough, smart enough, pretty enough. I’m too loud, too much, too clumsy. I don’t deserve this. I could never do that. I know I’m going to fail. During my study of timeline therapy and Neuro Linguistics Programming (NLP) coaching certification, I came to understand, and now coach, that most of our core beliefs, or how we feel or what we think about ourselves, are language patterns and programming from childhood. They’re developed when we’re young from a particular moment (or moments) in time. Influenced by family, friends, culture, school, or society in general, someone said something, or you overheard something and, for better or for worse, you decided (consciously or unconsciously) to take on their opinion or label and carry it as your own. As your truth. You start believing what you heard. And over the months, years, and decades, the words become ingrained “truths” and limiting beliefs that end up adversely effecting and impacting your confidence, self-esteem, and self-belief. And as we humans tend to do, we remember these negatives much more than the positives, making so much easier to believe these un-truths. So now that we’ve talked about what limiting beliefs are and where they come from, let’s talk about two ways STOP and reverse these thought and beliefs about yourself. AFFIRM\NATIONS
Affirmation are essential in countering decades of negative programming, self-talk, and limiting beliefs. The three steps to using affirmations are personalisation, repetition, and trust. Personalisation Make sure your affirmations are specific and personalised to you. Start each statement with “I am…” and make sure they are ALWAYS positive. No won’ts, don’ts, or I’ll try’s. Think “I am brave” or “I am courageous”, not “I wish I was brave” or “I want to be courageous”. Repetition Repeat, repeat, repeat. Write your affirmation in your journal (you can get mine here). Record and listen to them on your phone. Put sticky notes up around your home. Write, read, and hear them often. Use the same affirmations day in and day out until you truly feel and believe each statement. Trust As difficult (and strange) as it might seem, you really do need to trust the affirmation process. While it won’t happen overnight, repeating your statements focuses the forces of energy to bring light to your desired result. Trust and believe good is coming your way and see the magic unfold. To help you get started, or continue on your affirmation journey, visit my website to download my free 150 Positive Affirmations list. DEEP (GUIDED) WORK While affirmations help you move forward, actually getting rid of limiting beliefs often takes deeper work. The key to this deep work however is doing it with guidance. Trying to “do the work” without guidance can be difficult, frustrating, and potentially upsetting. By having a safe space to discover your underlying limiting beliefs and be guided through a process to transform these into empowering new beliefs you become your own “inner mentor”, confident and able to go forward. So you’re not alone in the deeper work, I run a small and intimate “Silencing Your Inner Critic” group workshop every month. Together over zoom we work together for 2 hours from the comfort of your own home on:
Limiting beliefs are just that, limiting. While they’re familiar and known, they also tend to keep us surviving and not thriving. They keep us stuck in the past unable to make real progress forwards. Instead let’s get you thriving. Let’s get you working on reprograming your beliefs. Let me help you build unwavering self-belief and get rid of your limiting beliefs. If you haven’t already, be sure to subscribe to my blog and YouTube channel. Download your free 150 Positive Affirmation List or get on the wait list for my next Silencing Your Inner Critic online workshop so we can do the deep work together.
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It’s the Multi-Tasking Time of the Year20/12/2021 At any given day, I bet you’re juggling 10 or more things at once. You’re thinking about work, home life, pets, children, friendships, family, and more. Then December comes along and BANG, now you’re juggling all of the above PLUS present buying, holiday planning, catch ups, work celebrations, year end reflections, new year planning, etc… With all of this added pressure (from ourselves and society), we may feel like multi-tasking is not just the best way to handle things, it’s also the only way. Well, I hate to be the one to burst your bubble, but it’s not. While a small percentage of the population (2% according to Forbes magazine in 2017) are good at multi-tasking, for the rest of us, constantly switching between tasks and attempting to multi-task actually decreases our productivity by up to 40%. See when we’re multi-tasking, while it may feel like we’re working faster and efficiently, we’re actually more likely just spinning our wheels, never really moving forward. We’re producing less than stellar decisions, outputs, and work. We forget what we were doing, where we’re at, and sometimes if we’ve even finished the tasks we’re trying to work through! We’ve got tabs open on our laptops. Links saved in our browsers. Lists all over the place. Scraps of paper with random notes on them. We’re also less able to filter out irrelevant information and decrease distractions, meaning we often make mistakes which means going back and redoing the work we thought we’d completed. In addition to this, multi-tasking also leads to:
Are you getting a clearer picture of why multi-tasking really isn’t ideal? Yes? Good. Now I know it might sound like the complete opposite of what you want to do, but introducing even a few of the suggestions below will go a long way in decreasing your multi-tasking habits and increase your productivity and the quality of everything you do.
1. Focus on one thing at a time. If you’re finishing up a report, focus on the report. Don’t click on browsers to figure out what time the shopping centres close so you can stop in after work. 2. Be present with whatever task you’re doing… How can you possibly write a heartfelt Christmas card when your mind is thinking about the email you need to send to your supervisor? Write the card. 3. …. and THEN move on to the next one With the card written and tucked in its envelope, now you can write up that email and give it your full attention. 4. Commit to “Do Not Disturb” time It’s hard to ignore all the notifications popping up all day, so let your device do it for you. Either pause, turn off, or set your “Do Not Disturb” so you can really concentrate. 5. Create time blocks Whether these are in 20minute windows or more or less, set your alarm or timer so you can stick to the task at hand (rather than bouncing from task to task) knowing that your next time block will be focussed on that task. 6. Shift your “big projects” to earlier in the day. Most people work best in the mornings before decision fatigue and interruptions have kicked in, so carve out this time (by using Do Not Disturb and time blocks) to work on those bigger projects. Here are three more important ways to reduce multi-tasking are to simplify our decision making so we don’t end up with decision fatigue.
For myself and my clients, I find the tips and tricks above go a long way in decreasing our multi-tasking and decision fatigue. I want to enjoy this time of year, and want you to do the same, so let’s choose even one of the suggestions above and really commit to it. Let’s stop multi-tasking and focus on the task at hand. As always, I’m here to help with these and other ways to get you thriving, so be sure to subscribe to my blog above, and if you’re really keen, book in a here so we can see which of my coaching for programs might be best serve you. Take care JB
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Almost half of those said they worked nearly TWICE as many late hours than the previous year.
And the number of hours spent working overtime? For many it went from 236 hours to a staggering 436 hours in one year. No wonder we’re all so burnt out! In my own work, many women and clients I’ve spoken to said this year has felt like one big emotional hangover, which often leads to… burnout. And the similarities I’ve been noticing? Emotional exhaustion + mental load = burnout Emotional Exhaustion Emotional exhaustion is the most common experience of burnout women feel and that I’ve seen with my clients during the last year and half. Whether it’s total exhaustion from the weight of conflicting, overwhelming, and repetitive emotions or the prolonged feelings of exhaustion, frustration, fear, worry, loss, sadness, anger, resentment, and even guilt, we’ve all been feeling it. The constant changes and adaptations. The cycles of change with feelings of little control over our lives. They all take an emotional toll. They all lead to emotional exhaustion often followed by burnout. Carrying the Mental Load The mental load we carry is not often as obvious as emotional exhaustion. But you know all those thoughts constantly swirling in our minds? The processing, analysing, overthinking? The monkey chatter and second-guessing? The doubts and fears? Well, this is carrying (and often being consumed by) the mental load. The mental load of our thoughts, worries, fears, and the stress that come from these patterns of repetitive (and often negative) thoughts. Of future pacing and staying five steps ahead. And then there’s the over-analysing… Have I done enough? Is there more I should be doing? Something I should’ve done? Something I shouldn’t? The reality of carrying these constant thoughts and beliefs is that is becomes overbearing, overwhelming, and exhausting. The mental load wears us down and leads us to burn out. How could it not? Making Changes Even after we’ve recognised our emotional exhaustion and mental load and made some changes, we often still FEEL burnt out. Confusing right? See when we experience chronic stress these feelings can trigger negative thought, emotions, beliefs, and patterns which often triggers our bodies’ stress response. So even if you’ve eliminated or eased the stresses and know things have changed your body never actually got the memo that everything’s ok. It doesn’t know you’re in a good place. You’re out of lockdown. You’ve changed jobs. It doesn’t know you’re ok. It doesn’t know you’re safe. Essentially what this means is that removing the stress doesn’t fully move you through burnout. Instead it’s your behaviours. Your behaviours tell your body things have changed and it’s ok to relax. This is why when you think, “I’m over that now.”, and can’t work out why you still feel so exhausted it’s because you’ve made changes to your external environment but not your internal habits and behaviours. You need to signal your body that you ARE safe. The danger IS over. You need to allow your body to process through the emotions, because if you don’t, you’ll likely stay in an emotionally burnout state being triggered time and time again. But, nothing changes if nothing changes right? Here are three steps you can start today to release the emotional exhaustion and lighten the mental load that can lead to burnout.
Emotional exhaustion and carrying the mental load are real. And remember, there are strategies and practices to assist, and I’m always here to help whether through my YouTube channel, blogs, or programs.
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You are NOT Failing!23/9/2021 Unable to be five steps ahead of everything and everyone. No longer having that focus and motivation for exercise and eating to take care of their body. The truth is... YOU ARE NOT FAILING. You are living through a pandemic - GROWING and EVOLVING every day.You are learning more about yourself and the people in your immediate world, than you probably ever have before. The intricate details of …
And, if you have the pleasure of home schooling like me add re-learning Grade 2 to that list (argh!). This is your reminder, that real life will still be there, after the pandemic. And so will your dreams and goals. The body you are unhappy with right now, can absolutely make a comeback. The job that you cannot stand, might feel different when your office returns or after a holiday (or maybe it’s the push for you to make a change). The relationship that is causing you frustration, will hopefully look different when we can have more room to breathe and external outlets. And that goal or achievement that you set a date for and missed, doesn’t mean the goal isn’t worthwhile! Zoom out and see the bigger picture, perhaps there has been more to learn on the way to that goal you want to so much? In my map of the world, there is NO failure. There is ONLY feedback. Notching your failures is what keeps you feeling stuck, literally reliving the past with your mindset fixed on “I failed - it will never happen”. Where as a growth mindset says “What I can learn from, I can change” which keeps you moving forward (and feels so much lighter doesn't it?!) What have you had to learn, grow, heal or fix this year….? Answer that first, and then shift your goal posts. So, how do you get unstuck?
Side note: I really hope that if you are reading this and still in lock down that the only goal you are setting for yourself right now is focused on your health and happiness! I know your world being on pause is frustrating, I feel it too. Let's be honest - NO ONE is really achieving right now! I don’t care what you are seeing on social media. Everyone is hurting from this pandemic. Everyone is just doing the best they can to survive and make it through. And if they are achieving then I have no doubt that something else has had to give. I am a firm believer that you can do anything, you just cannot do everything to 110% all at once without a ball dropping somewhere! Take care JB NEW! Burnout Recovery Program
Break the burnout cycle and start changing habits for long term well-being in 4 weeks!
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I had a client recently, who was struggling with imposter syndrome, can you relate? My client felt like she wasn't good enough for this role and her confidence had taken a hit after some disappointing feedback from a Manager she really liked. To be honest, her self-belief pillars were totally shaken. We worked through a short coaching program to rebuild her confidence by reconnecting her to the 8 underlying pillars of self-belief. Step 1 - We explored her genius zone, the way in which she does her best work, accepting and understanding her strengths and weaknesses The secret here is to list your strengths and weaknesses, and map it across to your work.
Step 2 - We outlined her values and she did a road map of her past career achievement, while redefining what her model of success looked like. The secret here is to identify what qualities are most important to you.
Step 3 - We explored her fears and found the root cause of it all was actually that she was frightfully scared of failure. We did a release technique in time line therapy to bust through her fear and we met it with forgiveness and acceptance. The secret here is to follow the fear.
Next, I suggested she use 5 x positive affirmations to help build confidence at work. A free tool anyone can use and start today. After just one session of getting really clear on who she was and what she wanted she saw her confidence start to return and her work anxiety lessen. That is the power of the mind! Ps. If you want to learn more about the 4-session coaching program I talk about in this blog you'll find it here -> CAREER MINDSET RESET
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As a Mindset + Business Coach, the question I’m asked most often is: “Janel, what’s the ONE THING I can do on a regular basis that’ll make the biggest positive difference in my life?”. My answer? 100% your morning routine. The things we do every day make a difference. They make a difference to our mental and physical health and wellbeing, to our mindset, and to how we head into and experience the day. It’s the “little things” we incorporate into our routines and practice every day that can make the biggest overall difference. Now the tips and suggestions I’m about to share with you probably aren’t anything new. Many of us already KNOW the practices that are good for us, the trick is actually DOING those things. Meditate, journal, exercise, eat well; we know these are building blocks to thriving and making us feel better. The difficulty is putting one foot in front of the other to get started… and then to keep it going. Sometimes the biggest block is that it all just seems so overwhelming… if I'm going to start a new morning routine, then it means I have to get up at 5:00am. Then I need to spend an hour and a half doing ALL THE THINGS to fill my mind, move my body, and get ready mentally and physically for the day. And next? Wham, there's an extra hundred million things to add to an already full morning. Enter your mind saying, “This is too hard. There’s too much to do. Forget it. No deal.” Now stop. First, don't think about the 50 million things you have to do tomorrow, this week, this month, etc… Instead, focus on what you can do TODAY. Focus on the one LITTLE thing you can do today, that can be incorporated and repeated tomorrow, and the day after. Focus on the ONE THING you can do today, incorporate it slowly and gently into your morning, and then become consistent at it over time. If you have one of my Learn to Thrive journals you know all about incorporating small changes over time. I call the morning routine “Five to Thrive”, and once you’ve gently incorporated all five into your morning routine it will look like this:
Now you try. Start with waking up just 10 minutes earlier tomorrow and choosing ONE THING (not ALL the things!) to add in. After you’ve chosen this one thing, do it consistently for the next 30 days. Do this one thing (and only this one thing!) until you’re comfortable with it. Only when you’re comfortable with it is it time to incorporate something else. So now that you’re comfortable with it, the next day you get up another 10 minutes earlier, and add ONE more thing, commit to it for the next 30 days, and so on. Does this seem slow? Maybe. But see it’s all about baby steps and simplicity. No complexity and no overwhelm. We’re aiming for one thing to be incorporated slowly and steadily over time. And the compound effect of this gentle routine on your mindset? Trust me, it is truly, truly incredible. Watch full video here for more tipsYou start feeling more comfortable and confident in yourself and in your days. You wake up each morning, practice your routine and eventually find that you feel amazing. You feel amazing and your days and weeks and months are running smoother because you've been meditating every day, been writing in your journal every day, been moving your body every day, been eating a nutritious breakfast every day, been listening to music every day.
This compound effect of all these “little things”? AMAZING! Feeling motivated to get started? Do it! Not so motivated? Don’t wait! Why? Because you may never feel motivated to start, especially if it’s something new (or involves getting up earlier). Instead, take the leap, set your alarm, and jump in. Choose the one thing you’re going to start with and just start. Will it be easy? Maybe. That’s why taking gentle steps over time helps. But sometimes however you might need additional support along this morning routine journey. If this is the case, follow me at janelbriggs_thrive on Instagram and see how I use the "five to thrive " method or simply email me, hello@janelbriggs.com - I'd love to hear from you! Take care, JB
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Stress is everywhere right? It's in the work environment and home environment. It’s in our relationships with our partners, kids, bosses and colleagues. It’s in politics (hey there recent US election!), economics, world issues, and COVID-19. It’s all of THOSE issues triggering all of the stress our lives isn’t it? YES, these external elements cause us stress, but guess what? There’s another cause as well, and one that’s more hidden and personal. This is the (daily) stress that comes from our OWN destructive thinking. Our own fearful, doubting, criticising, and second-guessing thoughts. It’s our negative mindset and perhaps lack of boundaries.
Step One: STOP When we think these thoughts, or worse get them looping around in our heads, we need to STOP and not do anything at all. Why? Because this thinking often leads to feelings of lack, confusion, and discontent. We become paralysed by our own doubtful thoughts and the stresses that come from these negative and often looping self-talk. We stay stuck battling inside our heads all day. We feel and create that stuckness because we’re not moving forward and we're not moving back. We’re half in and half out. Not committed and not rejecting it either. And then we start with the shoulds. I should be doing this, I should be doing that… And then the shoulds build up… and then we cringe inside because we're unable to listen to the part of us that says, “Yes! Go do that thing that you want to do.” Enter Step Two: OBSERVE What if once you stopped you then became the observer of your thoughts? What if when you stopped you could catch that thought when it starts? What if you could catch it, observe it and work to reframe it and ask it where it comes from? Let’s try it. For one day (why not today?) decide that you’re going to be an observer of your thoughts. You’re going to catch just one negative thought before it spirals. You’re going to stop and follow it and keep following it until you know where it comes from. And once you know where it comes from, you’re going to explore it and be curious about why it’s here. And then you’re going to consider whether or not it’s a thought that tends to show up a lot in your life. Another thing you could try is catching that negative thought and deciding to reframe it to a positive thought instead. Reframe it by taking the thought from “negative” or “bad” so that its context is changed so you can see the positive, or at least the neutrality of it. Step Three: BOUNDARIES In working with clients I’ve learned that it’s important to help them set healthy boundaries around (for example) people in their lives that trigger them emotionally or in other ways. You know the people. The ones who are vying for your attention. The ones calling you and contacting you, needing you now, now, now. Everything is now. Everything is urgent. Well again, let’s try something. For one day (perhaps today?) try NOT responding to all those (non)urgent cries for your attention. Put your email on auto-responder. Let the phone call go to voice mail. Change your status to offline. Silence your phone (or at least the notifications). Choose one person, some people, or everyone to implement these actions and boundaries with. The important thing is that you protect your time, energy, concentration, and thoughts by building healthy boundaries to prevent that stress from creeping up. And Step Number Four: AFFIRMATION. You know I love positive affirmations, and use them daily in my journal and life. Start with one positive affirmation, just one. Practice writing it out and saying it to yourself or out loud. Now the trick with affirmations is to say them, write them, and use them daily. To repeat. Repeat. Repeat until you believe and there is no doubt in your core. I want you to think, write, and say aloud one or more of the following:
Repeating your affirmation(s) is guaranteed to shift your negative beliefs and quiet the destructive thinking that so often leads to stress. After reading over these four steps, how do you feel? How do you feel about acknowledging the external stressors while also taking responsibility for your OWN stress-inducing thoughts? For reframing negative thinking? Setting up boundaries? Reciting affirmations? Yes, it’s not easy to do straight away. And yes it will take practice. Start slow, go gentle and know that you’ve got this. Now pop a comment down below or send me an email to let me know how you’re going or how I can help. Be sure to subscribe to my newsletter as well so you never miss any stress-busting learn-to-thrive tips again.
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Stepping out of your (career) comfort zone19/11/2020 Sometimes as career women, we find ourselves at a crossroads: do I stay in this job that pays the bills but doesn’t give me much else? Do I want to spend the next 2, 5, 10, years in the same career? In the same job? At the same company? In the same industry? Or do I… What if I… Could I… Is it possible to… See we think these questions, but then we also find ourselves afraid of the answers, because the answers often mean change, and change often means stepping out of our comfort zones, and stepping out of our comfort zones can be scary. Have you heard the saying, that there is no growth in your comfort zone? If not, think about it and tell me it’s not absolutely true. Are you REALLY able to grow if you’re staying comfortable at the same time? Now, you’re welcome to stay in your comfort zone as long as you like, especially if you’re happy with where you're at in your life, work, and career. But if you want to have more, be more, do more, or try more, then you've GOT to take a leap. And by taking that leap you’ll inevitably end up growing in the process and therefore stepping out of that (career) comfort zone. I recently had a client who was 25 years old and looking at going to university to study a new career. The time it would take for her to complete her studies would be 7 years, which was obviously a big commitment. It also meant that she would have to step wildly out of her comfort zone and into an entirely new industry, and it was THIS that was holding her back. Not so much the time commitment, but the idea that she’d be stepping out into the unknown. Whether you’re 25, 35, or 45, we often feel like it's too late to begin or we're too old or there isn't enough time or we don’t know how we could possibly make it work or… Now stop. Stop and answer me this: does it matter how long it takes if this is THE thing you've always a) wanted to do, or b) is the thing you want to do for the rest of your life? It yes, then time doesn't really matter. If yes, then it’s time to step out of your comfort zone, because if that thing that you want to do will set your soul and your passion on fire, then it doesn't matter how long it's going to take. You do it. You make it work. You ask for help. You reprioritise. You step out of your comfort zone and commit to the next stage. For me, I spent 15 years working in a corporate career. In my thirties, I shifted my corporate role and went back to study public relations. Not easy, but I did it, because I knew I wanted to change. When I left corporate and started running my own business, it took another even bigger jump out of my comfort zone to transition. But guess what? I found my true calling and passion, coaching other women with their mindset and businesses, and couldn’t be more happy or fulfilled. Was I scared? Yes! I had many, many fears. And how did I bust through them? Well I continued to remind myself that the work I wanted was bigger than my fears. The women I wanted and knew I could help were bigger than my fears. They were bigger than staying in my comfort zone. And so it was only by stepping out of my comfort zone that I was able to thrive… and help other women do the same.
So if you find yourself heading towards a career crossroad (or know you’re already smack in the middle of one), I can help. If you’re got that side hustle happening you think (or know) could be something more, I can help. With my Career Mindset Reset I can help you step out of your comfort zone and get you clear on:
Now will any of this be easy? Probably not. But I can guarantee this: it will definitely be worth it. Stepping out of your (career) comfort zone will bring you closer to your dreams. Closer to the life and business and career you envision for yourself. So if you have any questions about my the Reset or just stepping out of your career comfort zone in general, comment below or send me an email. I’d love to help you find clarity! JB |