How often do you feel pressure to reach a milestone faster than either you know you will? Or faster than you want to?
At this week’s meet-up, I had a conversation about timing. One of the attendees was talking about how things have been slow to get in motion and she probably could have pushed it more, but with everything going on in her life, it didn’t feel right or natural to do that. And she didn’t feel as confident a year ago to do then what she’s prepping for now.
And I completely agree! I’ve been coaching for two years now (which it doesn’t seem like that long AT ALL) and I’m nowhere near where I want to be. But I am where I’m supposed to be – does that make sense? I’m going as fast as I have been able to and as fast as I’m comfortable with.
When I started, I had so much to learn and do in order to feel organized and professional. Not only did I spend loads of time prepping my site and getting clear on my vision, but I spent hours in coaching classes, hours providing free coaching and mastermind groups, and hours worrying about my credentials. Maybe I didn’t need to spend so much time on those steps, but I will argue that it helped me get in the best place I could be in order to be an effective coach. I had to start somewhere.
I then had good movement in the business. But pitching myself to be on podcasts or publications somewhere slowed because of a new baby, maternity leave, life. And that was ok. I loved every minute of that. And I slowly kept moving forward anyway.
But fitting everything in is hard. I’m actually falling asleep right now on a Friday night writing this. 😉 Yet I’m drawn to this work and I’m going to keep moving forward no matter what.
And that’s what my friend is doing. She’s moving forward and feeling more comfortable with each and every step. Her products are going to be the better for it too.
Learning. Preparation. Confidence. Those all take so much time. But women want to put their best foot forward. We want to be as knowledgeable as possible. We want to put forward a polished product. And that’s ok because you’ll start with an exceptionally strong base which will catapult you further from the get-go.
The trick is to keep moving, though, and not allow yourself to become paralyzed by too much overpreparation.
Are you moving forward toward your professional goals, no matter the pace? Write me and let me know what your goals are and how you’re going about it. I’ll be looking for your reply!
I admire all the women who can pace themselves and focus on what matters. I find myself pushing to get everything done in those unrealistic and heavily pressured timelines. And the result is that I’m worn out and a less fun version of myself. So hard to get off the hamster wheel though.
It is so hard to get off. I have to work to prioritize – nearly every minute. And I don’t get near enough done – or at least what I want to get done. It’s literally like that sucking water out of a firehose meme. I can only do what I can focus on right that instant. If that’s an email because I promised someone or a task item that fits into the time I have right then before my next meeting – it’s whatever works. I envision it sort of like a puzzle too, what can get done when because of the time allowed. That said – self-care is VITAL. You’re not good at your job or your relationships if you’re depleted or angry – at least that’s the way I get. And, I’m not happy that way. And what are we doing any of this for if we can’t enjoy ourselves. I think that’s what I go back to regularly. I want to enjoy myself. I want to get all I can out of life. Pushing myself when it matters and letting up when I need to provides that balance of getting things done and reaping the rewards. It isn’t easy – but it does provide sanity and the ability to love life, without being too exhausted to care. 🙂 That felt a little like a ramble! But, there we go – that’s actually how I get through most of my days – pulling bits out of my hurricane of a mind. Final analogy! hahahaha!