The Struggle with Purpose
A lot of times we struggle with stepping into our purpose and are consumed with fear. Fear of rejection, of not being good enough or smart enough, not knowing where to start or even feeling like doing the thing we should be doing is inappropriate or not for us (hello imposter syndrome!)
Even though I started Carry On Friends as a blog in 2013, I was hiding it and what I was capable of doing for the whole first year. In 2014 a shift happened. I decided something had to change because hiding behind the scenes wasn’t working. By 2015, everything changed, I started seeing the results of showing up for myself boldly and authentically. Each year of growth has allowed me to bolder and more confident in who I am.
Be Good at Being You
You can only be good at being you. Don’t look at what everybody else is doing. If you are going to be good at being you, you must uncover who you are by going through the process of self discovery.
Self-Discovery is important because it is spending time learning about yourself, your values, unique attributes and skills you’ve learned along the way. Taking some time for reflection and introspection is all part of the process to uncover yourself which can help you gain confidence in yourself and give you clues to your abilities, talents, gifts and purpose.
Don’t Romanticize It
There’s a myth or romanticizing of how we discover our purpose. The reality is that:
- Work – whether working for a company or yourself;
- Serving as a parent leader at your child’s school
- Volunteering
Are all tools that help shape our talents, skills and abilities to help carry out our purpose. If you don’t spend time learning about yourself, discovering your gifts, your purpose and your unique attributes you’ll be at a disadvantage when marketing your personal professional brand to others whether it’s finding new clients, a new job (whether it’s internally for a promotion) or other opportunities.
Lean into what we can learn where we are, step into your purpose and show up for yourself authentically.
