A new beginning… a story of becoming

Happy Chinese New Year! Wishing everyone peace and prosperity in the Year of the Pig.

 

I’m taking this opportunity to announce a new beginning in my life: the official launch of my company.

Three years ago, when I left my job, setting-up my ‘own thing’ was the faintest of dreams.

Having spent two decades in corporate life… I was merely ‘stepping-out’ to recharge and reconnect with myself… to tick off some bucket-list items.

Being an entrepreneur? Wasn’t really one of them.

Life IS full of surprises.

How did I get here? In part, by following one of my mentor’s advice.

In our very first meeting, he asked me to contemplate upon these three seemingly simple questions. Simple… but not easy. I have kept on my path ever since.

 

#1: What can I stop doing?

 

This one was simple. Stop worrying. (…so much…).

Stop worrying about the things I could not control nor influence. (… it gets easier..)

The company I was working in at the time was merging with another giant. And the merger was announced the day before my husband and I were signing our mortgage.  “Stop worrying”, I soothed myself. And we signed.

At times it wasn’t easy. Mergers are messy. Restructuring is stressful. Mortgages are responsibilities.

But I found by keeping to an agreement with myself not to worry about things beyond my control, I could focus my energy where it had an impact.

 

#2: What can I start doing?

 

Leaving the company in 2016, I needed clarity.

To connect with what really mattered to me.

My mentor had also introduced me to this book How Will You Measure Your Life? by a Harvard Business School professor, Clayton M. Christensen, who wrote:

“The single most important factor in our long-term happiness is the relationships we have with our family and close friends.”

I knew this starts by having a personal relationship… a deeper connection… with oneself.

So I went on an 11-day silent retreat….

…which led to myself immersing over the next two years into the world of the unconscious, motivation, cognition, values, spiral dynamics, somatic work…. to uncover what makes us tick.

Naturally, I also networked, met headhunters and recruiters, contacted my connections and looked at job boards… the usual cycle.

But something really weird happened. For the first time in my life, I found I couldn’t connect to the job hunt. (…is it just me?)

Job descriptions? Job-portals? Cover letters? Rounds of interviews? They felt like check-the-box exercises. Soul-less. Disconnected. (oh dear).

I knew I had to start approaching things differently.

I needed to create a new way for myself.

 

#3: What could I keep doing?

 

Since young, I loved to listen to people’s stories.

Finding out who they are… why they behave the way they do… and who they aspired to become… and when they ‘succeeded’, did it bring them fulfilment?

I could spend hours. We would typically land up creating something together. Something that could contribute toward a something even bigger.

So that’s the path I started creating.

I volunteered as a mentor. Coached. Spoke at some conferences … and wrote about others. Ran workshops. Organised meet-ups around transformation.

What I discovered?

This desire to Connect, Create, Contribute…. is Universal.

From employees, entrepreneurs, academics, people-in-transition, homemakers, volunteers, refugees to students…. people wanted have a deeper connection with who we really are now… the impact our identity has on work, relationships and in life.

Transforming lives through deeper inner connection? This… this I could keep on doing.

It isn’t a job… it is a calling.

 

Conclusion

 

Turning 45 this year, my story is blessed with yet another new beginning.

As Michelle Obama writes in her book, Becoming

“…becoming isn’t about arriving somewhere or achieving a certain aim. I see it instead as forward motion, a means of evolving, a way to reach continuously toward a better self. The journey doesn’t end.”

I am ever so grateful for the people and experiences that makes this possible. They say it takes a village to raise a child. For me, it’s a privilege of having a global village.

To my Clients especially… thank you… for your trust and faith.

Your testimonies of transformation and results fills me with such joy… it confirms the journey together is worth it. Additionally, through working with you, I get to live my other passion of paying-it-forward to activities such as Capacity Zürich. Our work together? Is a cycle that keeps giving.

Happy New Year Everyone. Here’s to new beginnings.

….so what’s your story? Who are YOU becoming?

Sel

“Your own Self-Realisation is the greatest service you can render the world.” ― Ramana Maharshi