Ambitious and creative? Entrepreneurship might be a good fit for you.

Admit it, you’re a passionate, life long learner person. You’re thorough, and a bit of a perfectionist at times. Now, what does that have to do with entrepreneurship?

You’re open to new experiences and you’re never bored learning something new. You’re conscientious too. After all, you want to read and review a report or email at least three times before sending (guilty :)), help others on different teams when you already have four projects on the go, or clean every nook in the house and run 5 errands in one day before calling it quits. You’re ambitious and creative.

But these qualities can work for you or against you. If you feel like you’re hitting a dead end where you are in your life and career right now, here’s something to ponder…

From my coaching experience, more often than not, my clients have a hidden itch and talent for entrepreneurship – actually most of them eventually follow that path. They work with me and uncover what their deepest dreams and goals are. Let’s see if that’s what you want to do also…

1. Was that child curiously leader-driven?

Revisit your younger self, when you were your most passionate and imaginative. What were you doing in unrestrained happiness? Check out the photo albums and speak with family and friends. Was that child hustling and trying to sell things to unsuspecting family members? (Guilty) Was that child in charge, curious and a little, okay, quite bossy? (Yep, that too!) Did you have a stronger feeling of wanting to problem solve or fix everything when you were younger? 

2. Do you have an idea?

You probably have an endless supply of ideas and hundreds of notes in your phone. (Hello multi-passionate mind!) Things you quash or forget easily because, well, you’re busy! Go back and review those notes. Go back to certain years in your life when you had an aha! moment. Go back to those conferences, events or people you learned from that left you in awe. What ideas are you brewing now?

3. What does your dream life look like?

You might keep a journal, a mood board, or a vision board on Pinterest of all you want to do in your life. If you have none of those, now’s the time to do so. Grab some magazines, or just put on your favorite playlist and meditate. Centre yourself on what you’ve been thinking about. 

If money and resources were not an issue, what would you do?

4. Who inspires you?

When getting to know your entrepreneurial spirit, listening is more important than speaking. Listen to yourself and to others. If you’re networking, pause and get to know everyone, and find out from the people around you, what entrepreneurship is like and what their favorite part is. Hey, maybe you’ll end up with a mentor! What entrepreneurs are you instantly feeling connected with? Are their success stories inspiring you to start your own thing?

5. What’s holding you back?

When was the last time you faced uncertainty, but you were in control? That’s kind of like considering being your own boss. You learn the skills as you go, yes (hello, Google), but you also have to get inspired by your inner child, ideas, dreams and professional desires. What types of problems or issues get your juices flowing? Is it fashion, accessories, education, injustice, animals, housing affordability – what’s a problem you face that you would love to fix?

Many preliminary and seemingly impossible daydreams have lead to a lot of creative – and successful businesses today.

Answering these questions got you excited, and inspired to start your own project but you feel stuck where you are, and not quite ready to take a leap (even to start with a little side hustle)? Self-doubt and fear might be holding you back from expressing your true entrepreneurial nature. As will the “stuff” you carry (we all do) that you keep pushing in front of you.

Reflect and review the activities above and get back to me to tell me all about what came up for you in your free coaching session.

It’s never too late to step into the entrepreneurial life.

Admitting you’re bored or uninspired is the first step! Get off the couch after work (and on the weekends), change out of your PJs and start getting inspired. If you journal and seize the moments outlined above you will soon uncover if entrepreneurship is for you and how. I promise!

3 easy steps to help you change careers

Hitting that metaphorical 9-to-5 wall, Groundhog Day, running on a hamster wheel of mindless work – choose a career cliché for how you’re feeling right now. Ok, so now what? 

You’re ready for a more dramatic change this year, and not just something small or incremental. It’s a new decade, and the pressure of a new decade living the same ten years all over again is not unusual for a perfectionist and overachiever – we do love to hold onto things.

Did you forget all of your accomplishments? Your efforts and achievements? 

You might be letting the inner critic ring it’s a bell on the hour every hour, and you might even be feeling confused about what your next step is, you’ve stopped dead – I get this all the time from my clients. You’re stuck, but you notice you really don’t want to feel that way anymore. Going through another year of the same thing is no longer an option, too much anxiety and overwhelm live there. 

How do you reclaim your power and take the next step mentally?

Guidance

Chances are you have some inclination towards change – you feel a tug, an itch or a pull. This emotional or internal guidance is there and it’s getting louder. You might worry about leaving where you are now will open the floodgates of new challenges, discomforts, or pessimism. However, from my experience, living in the past does that, but so does keeping the same routine on autopilot. Which do you prefer? Not nourishing your desires allows fear to grow instead.

There’s no “perfect” way to break through fear. There’s only taking one step at a time. It can be messy. Fear never really goes away, but it can be channelled into action. 

Human emotions are important messengers. Resistance is one tell-all sign that growth is necessary and the universe will eventually kick you out of your seat if you delay. That or you might be feeling the downside in your health, relationships, or stress levels. 

This is certainly true for me – and so many of my clients. One way fear keeps showing up for me is in disguise: perfectionism, procrastination, too much research, waiting for that moment when I’ll finally be *ready*. 

The problem is, that day usually NEVER comes.

That’s why those difficult emotions require reframing; you might not have the answers, but on the flip side to those emotions are opportunity, discovery, and change. You just need to hop over that fence (even in those fabulous new heels you’re wearing).

Does my Dream Job Really Exist?

Ultimately, it’s important to accept the fact there will never be the “perfect” job out there for you that will meet 100% of your needs, 100% of the time. And that’s okay! A lot of my clients get pretty darn close. One left her office job to train and become a trailguide around the world.

How do you know you’re ready for your career breakthrough this year? Here are 3 tell-tale signs:

#1 Acknowledge and investigate that itch.

Recognize there is a better job (or lifestyle) than the one you’re currently in, which you have yet to discover. Acknowledge that overwhelm, stress, and frustration of being undervalued and unappreciated where you are, is no way to live. 

A lot of people are unsatisfied where there are more than are willing to admit. The difference between you and most people is you want to do something about the itch. You can’t clock watch and go home to slump on your couch watching Netflix forever. You know you want to feel different – more energy, joy, laughter, perhaps even working outdoors. 

You have to be open to admitting your needs, to follow that “what-if” so that you can discover what you truly want to do, plan for it, and eventually take that leap!

#2 Reunite with what you enjoy.

what do you enjoy doing and what legacy do you want to leave behind? Who are you and where did you come from? What makes you laugh and what brought you true joy as a child? What do you enjoy doing most where the time goes by unnoticed? These are the deeper self-reflective questions you want to answer as you come to terms with the idea that yes, you will be acting on a change sometime in the near future. 

When we’ve become accustomed to something for so long it’s easy to mistake it as comfortable. Detachment becomes confused with familiar. You might be on autopilot and bored, but fall back on the justification that this is just the way it is. It shouldn’t be! 

If you don’t feel joy, you have to ask yourself why you’re allowing it? Perhaps you need to work through feelings of worthiness and give yourself permission to plan and change your life trajectory. You too can make a #Megxit from the dysfunctional royal family. 

#3 You’re open to change

You’re determined, curious, and open-minded. You want (and maybe have) to try something new. What you’re currently in is definitely a “no”, a temporary blip in your important larger journey towards a more meaningful life. You desire something, perhaps you know or perhaps you want to find it, and that something is not waiting for you at the desk you currently loiter at or the meeting room you constantly yawn through. 

You have achievements, networks, and support; you also have ideas and dreams that have been ignored. Understanding how action can turn those ideas is the next step – and it’s closer than you think. 

If you feel like you’re going through a breakthrough then you’re ready to get your hands dirty. Don’t fight it, embrace it and acknowledge the feelings behind it, not just mentally and emotionally but also physically through action, even if a small step forward. You can no longer waste time resisting the message. Or else, experience eternal déjà vu as you watch others live the life you want to be living, and that’s no way to live at all! You have so much to offer the world. Stop dimming your inner light.

In the end, you can’t break through without letting go. You have to make space to embrace the new. Your future life is waiting for you, one that’s more soulful, enjoyable and true to the real you, and not the one you feel you have to be for others. 

You know you are an overachiever who’s multi-talented and creative – that genius in you is sitting dormant. If you’re ready, I’d love to hear about your dreams. 

Fear or not, you can’t say “no” to that inner voice any longer.