Yesterday I celebrated moving out of my 27th year. Reflecting on this, I have to say it was amazing! For the first time in a long time I felt 100% in control of my life and the choices I was making.
So, I thought I would share the key things that have helped make me feel more in control and fulfilled in my life.
1. Trusting that you are never too old to change the direction of your career, or to learn something new:
I often hear people say ‘I’m too old for that’ or ‘It’s too late’, which results in them never chasing their dreams. Despite protests of concern from friends, colleagues, and family I shifted my career direction and started my training as a certified Life and Wellness coach. Trusting that I had the ability to make this change, and moving past the initial fear of ‘starting again’, enabled me to hone in on what I truly enjoyed doing and focused on how I could align all my years of experience, strengths and skills with opportunities that left me feeling me more fulfilled each day.
2. Discovering courage isn’t an emotion, it’s a decision:
I took a huge leap and started my own business, which has been one of the most challenging yet liberating experiences I’ve ever had. It all started with choosing ‘Yes’ instead of ‘Soon’ and being more loyal to my dreams than my fears.
3. True friendship is really quality over quantity:
It is easy to get caught up in all the ‘busyness’ of everyday life and let your social life fall to the wayside. However, this year I made the choice to truly invest in, and strengthen, my relationships with those closest to me. It wasn’t about having to socialise all the time, it was about choosing to spend more quality (and deliberate) time with my nearest friends rather than spreading myself thin across many.
4. Health is an inside job:
Finding out that I was coeliac opened a whole new world for me around nutrition, and the impact our food choices have on our ability to manage the mind and body. Over the last two years I’ve really taken the time to stop and understand what nourishes me, in regards to food, exercise, activities, people etc… and becoming more in-tune with the cues my body sends me versus trying to fit in with a prescribed programme or way of ‘being’.
5. The mind is a muscle:
I feel we can fall into the trap of believing the brain is like a piece of hardware, therefore we don’t put any focus on strengthening or changing it. We just expect it to work for us. Through my research I have developed a huge awareness (and respect) around the importance of exercising my mind, like any other muscle in my body, so that it can help me become a more resilient, strong, and agile human.
6. It’s ok to ask for help:
This was a big one for me. I used to put so much pressure on myself to be ‘the best’ – which included struggling through the obstacles on my own and refusing to seek support when needed. As a result, I often felt burnt out and alone. By not succumbing to my ego’s fears I discovered that you don’t have to be the lone genius struggling through challenges, or battling your way to success. Once I stepped out of my own way and reached out to those around me, I found that the answer I was looking for was discovered more easily, and I developed new friendships, resources, knowledge and ideas than I wouldn’t have found on my own.
So there you go, thank you 27 it was a blast. A huge thank you to everyone who has been there with me along the journey – bring on 28!
