Finding Clarity

And focus and motivation...with a little beach time thrown in

A couple of weeks ago I went to an incredible event - BRAND CAMP run by the brilliant Georgia Rickard.

And ever since then my mind has been whirling at a million miles an hour.

Which has meant that I’ve found it really hard to write this newsletter…because I had no idea what topic to pick.

I still don’t know, so I decided to do a newsletter and share some of the resources and practices that I’ve been doing over the past month to help me move towards focus, clarity and motivation.

And I’ll be writing more on BRAND CAMP once I’ve fully digested it all.

So let’s jump into what I’ve been doing. (no affiliate links here, just stuff I’m loving)

I finally finished reading The House that Joy Built by Holly Ringland.

I’ve been reading this book for over a year and the final chapter was on Imposter Syndrome and for whatever reason I couldn’t bring myself to read it.

But I decided to grab the book and read it on the train journey down to Sydney for Brand Camp.

And I’m really glad that I did. Because it got me into a great mindset for the event the next day.

There are two passages from that chapter of the book that stuck out to me.

“If we are guided by the belief that we are imposters and frauds, and our achievements do not belong to us - that we do not belong - then there are untold rooms of our lives we don’t enter. When we think we don’t belong somewhere, we miss chance after chance to stake a claim on our experience, our imagination, our creativity. We don’t take a seat at the table. We miss out.”

“Imposter syndrome thrives on the feeling that we are not responsible for our self-actualisation, success, accomplishments or achievements.”

I’ve always struggled with owning my success and achievements. I wrote about it on LinkedIn earlier this year. So this really resonated with me.

And then if by some weird cosmic energy, I was listening to the first episode of a podcast series we are sponsoring at HR Partner last week.

The episode is called Reframing impostor syndrome: leading with confidence and values. You can listen to it below.

The quote that resonated with me the most?

“We have to back ourselves, we have to stop waiting for permission.”

I read Tim Minchin’s book You don’t have to have a dream

I saw him talk about this on TV and then I was in Kmart, it was the last copy on the shelf and it was $5 - so a no brainer - and I took it along to my hair appointment that afternoon.

And it’s a quick read. It’s an edited version of the three speeches he’s given at graduation ceremonies.

There’s a part in the second speech where he’s asked “How do you get a career like you?…What’s the trick?” And his response:

“There is no trick.
You can’t have a career like mine.
It’s mine.
You have to have your career.”

And then he goes onto elaborate how you need to get good (really good) at what you do, you have to be authentic and finally be kind.

There are so many great lightbulb moments throughout the book.

And if you can’t get a copy of the book, you can watch all three speeches on YouTube, they are brilliant.

Sidenote - one of my favourite Christmas songs in White Wine in the Sun, and I was surprised to see that it’s a favourite of Robbie Williams as well.

I’ve started practicing gratitude again

I used to be religious with this.

Before I’d go to bed, I’d write down three things I was grateful for that day.

Some days it was easy and other days it was hard to come up with three things.

I have a load of cute books that cover several years of practicing gratitude.

I haven’t done it for a while, not properly since I moved back to Australia and that was almost three years ago.

But I found my last cute gratitude book (the shop I used to buy them from closed down 😢).

And I’ve started writing in it again.

Just before I go to bed.

Three things I’m grateful for each day.

It really helps to end the day with a positive mindset.

I made space

I moved into a new flat almost a year ago and I haven’t unpacked everything yet.

Not totally my fault. Not long after I moved in, there was a water leak.

It took months to get fixed and involved taking my estate agent to a tribunal (stressful).

It finally got fixed a couple of months ago, but I’d seriously been lacking the motivation to sort through stuff.

But I had an unexpected burst of motivation a couple of weekends ago and got through several boxes.

And it’s true, when you clear and create space physically, it clears and creates space mentally.

It’s still a work in progress…but in progress is better than not starting.

I’ve gone to the beach more

Before I moved back to Australia, I wrote a list of what I wanted my life to be like.

On that list was that “I will live within a block of the beach”

And I do. I can hear the waves crashing on the beach as I write this.

But I haven’t actually been going down to the beach anywhere near enough.

Even though it’s now winter, it’s still beautiful.

And it’s whale migration season, so the Humpback Highway is in full swing.

So I’ve been making more of an effort to just go and watch the waves - and see if I can spot a pod of whales.

And when I’ve been watching the waves, I’ve also been way more mindful of my surroundings.

So much so, that I had a bird wander by that I’m pretty sure that I’ve never seen before (pic below).

It was a big reminder to take the time to be present. You never know what you might miss if you don’t.

Finally, I started reading a book I bought about 10 years ago

I’ve tried reading this book a few times but never was in the right headspace.

It’s called Simplify, Structure, Succeed by Shannah Kennedy.

I bought it that long ago that I doesn’t seem to be in print anymore, but looks to be available second hand on eBay.

It’s been on the bookshelf in my bedroom just staring at me for months.

So I finally picked it up and took it to the beach.

And I couldn’t put it down.

I sat reading it as the last rays of sun disappeared behind the cliff and it became to cold to sit outside.

I read half of it in one sitting.

I had that moment of “Why has it taken me so long to read this??!”

It’s full of great advice about going back to basics, to the foundations, reviewing your values, decluttering and goal setting.

And the following quote stood out:

When setting your goals, start with the big picture. When you begin with your end vision, including those big dreams and lofty, pie-in-the-sky ambitions, you can work out how to break them down into smaller wins, with each step taking you closer to your end goal.

Now this isn’t revolutionary for me. I’m a qualified coach, I know this stuff…it’s what I encourage other people to do.

But it was the reminder that I needed.

With my mind swirling over the past couple of weeks, it gave me that moment to not only dream big but also pause, give myself time to figure out how and what to break down into smaller steps.

So what am I doing with all this stuff?

First, I’m probably going to take the book down to the beach today and finish reading it.

I’m going to write the big dreams down - and there are some really big dreams.

I’m going to start making a plan (which is already kind of underway).

And then I’m going to make things happen.

Which means that, hopefully next week (or the week after) I’ll be sharing more about how I’m going to evolve my business - I finally feel that I’ve figured it out.

Unsurprisingly, it’s about going back to the beginning.

When I first started this newsletter, I said it would be fun and chaos while I figure it all out.

And that’s exactly what this newsletter is…sharing the chaos, sharing what’s been fun and hopefully providing some inspiration if any of it’s resonated with you.

I’d love to know if it has.

Reading this but not a subscriber yet?

I write about B2B Marketing, Career Coaching, Career Pivots, Figuring Life out, Living by the Beach…it’s a bit of chaos and fun…and hopefully helpful.

Hit the subscribe button below and join the fun.

How to work with me

Even though I’m working through a mini refocus/refresh, my calendar is still open.

You can book a 1:1 Coaching Session with me. More on that here.

Want to pick my brain on a specific marketing topic or bounce an idea around. Book an Ask a Marketer call.

Book me as a guest on your podcast or have me contribute to an article. I love doing both of these things. You can see past podcast and media appearances here, along with how to get in touch.