If time, resources, and failure were not a concern, describe the things you long to do?
I was asked this question during the first coaching session I had. The answer that I wrote down for this now makes me cringe. My answer is what I THOUGHT I should be doing with my life based on what I have been told to want – money, fancy title, and being a big deal at a company. After taking some time, and by some time I mean almost a full year, I finally have a sense of what I actually want based on my own values and needs.
A goal of mine for 2022 is to network more. This week alone, I have spent at least 30 minutes networking every day and hope to continue this as I have seen so much come from it. The networking I did this week helped me put my values into an action plan of some sort.
I have broken this plan down into 4 pillars – Women. Community. Impact. Empowerment.
1. I want to work with women
There are so many badass women out there and this week through conversations I was lucky to meet with a few. I met a woman in India who is raising two kids while building and growing start-ups. I met with a board member who is writing a book on how to show up as your authentic self in the workplace. I also met with a woman who is looking to incorporate more play/fun in her life while also helping others do the same. There is that saying empowered women, empower women and I cannot stress how empowered I felt after speaking with all of these incredible women.
2. I want to build a sense of community
I attended two events this week – a WISE session on Imposture Syndrome and Pavilion’s Boston Aspiring Leadership Council monthly meeting. I left both of these sessions with a renewed sense of energy and self. For the WISE session, it was incredible to hear from women in different places in their careers, yet all of us were struggling with the same issue – Imposture Syndrome. When someone says, “you are not alone” it is a nice reminder but actually feeling it is so much more valuable. Listening to the struggles that these other women face in their roles, knowing that I too feel the same, was a beautiful reminder that we are all human at the end of the day but if we can turn to communities like WISE in this case we can all feel less alone (especially in this new remote working world).
During Pavilion’s Boston Aspiring Leadership Council monthly meeting, I was able to meet up with other link-minded people in person (this was awesome!) and discuss the workplace challenges we were all facing. Having a community to share ideas and experiences with to ultimately grow as a person is a very awakening feeling. What really inspired me was that at this meet up there were 5 women at the table and 4 men – very kick-ass if you ask me!
3. I want to create an impact
If you read one of my very first posts you will know this about me but, if you are new here – recognition has always been a top value of mine and for the first time I have started to shift that value to impact vs recognition. For me, getting awarded for my hard work is great – still love it and that will not go away but I am chasing impact now. I want to impact those around me to be able to show up as their best selves so that they can go off and impact those around them in a positive manner. Recognition is like a nice pat on the back and ends there most of the time, but with impact, it can spread like wildfire.
4. I want to empower women to excel
I have had a few conversations over the last two weeks talking to women about careers in Customer Success and what my story has been over the past 4 years at Salsify. I love these conversations! Talking to other women about what gets them excited and motivated at the end of the day is what gets me excited and motivated. Going back to that quote, “empowered women, empower women” and that couldn’t be more true.
So if I was asked today, “If time, resources, and failure were not a concern, describe the things you long to do?
I would do anything I could to build a life filled with women, community, impact, and empowerment.
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