Have you ever experienced a season of chaos? Where every time you opened an email or answered the phone, there was another challenge facing you. I have faced this season over the past few months. As a business owner, leader, sales person and really, human being…the most important thing for us to manage is our energy. 

I’ve got the tools to support me and yet, when you have to choose how to prioritize your time, how often do you allow those tools to go by the wayside? I fell into that trap and what was interesting was where it landed me.

From out of nowhere, those old sneaky patterns of “you are not enough” started infiltrating my brain. I could hear this voice saying “you are not unique” and “people will not understand”. These are all lies and there is truly no proof to substantiate that voice. It continued to build though. 

We said good-bye to some dear customers, family members and friends in the past few months. In the midst of that loss, on a tank that started to empty, I got lost in the voices. Have you ever found yourself in this place? 

I love the turning of a page onto a new month, a blank canvas of possibilities and an opportunity to reset in so many ways. The leaves are turning beautiful colours and beginning to fall and that encourages us to remove that which doesn’t serve us and step into our brilliant and best selves. Through this process of leaves falling and a blank page, the choice to step into the truth and away from what those voices are trying to fool us with is ours to take. The question really is how? Here are some insights that have come forward through this process that I hope will serve you to step into your light and magnificence. 

Hang out with winners

Misery loves misery as the saying goes. It seems that when we most need to surround ourselves with people that can lift us up, we navigate towards the opposite – people we can
“pity party” with. This will not pull you forward. Go where your best self people are hanging out. Have conversations about what is possible and amazing and brilliant. Plan, dream, brainstorm, collaborate. Winners think differently. Step into the spaces where you can shine your light and have your light relit when it is dim.

Get clear about what is real

When you are spinning in the muck, you keep spinning in the muck. I remember being stuck in the middle of a field on a rainy fall day with my brother when I was a child. We could not get out and had to be rescued with our boots being left behind. That is what it truly feels like when you are not operating in the reality. Ask yourself, what is the worst that can happen right now? What is the best that can happen right now? How can I plan for the best and worst? Then you realize, you’ve got this and take your first steps towards action.

Results speak truth

When I first started in sales a few decades ago, I started a celebration file. This file was to give me a place to remind myself of the success if I hit a “phase of rejection” in sales. Finding a way to remind yourself of your success, of the difference that you make, of the impact you have had on others will allow you to live in that energy and attract more of that energy. No matter where you are in your business, you have these stories. Keep a file that you can reflect on in times of challenge.

Present over perfect

It’s so easy to fall into the trap of busy, chaotic, frantic in this world. I know that I fall victim to allowing this to happen and it is amazing to watch how more chaos comes when you focus on chaos. That moment when you think “I can’t take on one more thing” is the exact moment that one more thing will hit. I have read the book and have the tee-shirt to prove it and yet, there sneaks in perfect again. Breathe, slow down, carve out space and time to process and stop trying so damn hard to have everything so perfect. This space of present is where you can remove the voices and step into what is real. 

Claim your power

When you do move into being present, then you can bring your boldest and most powerful self to any challenge. To go to the next level in your success and dreams, it requires you to take the step in your healing (of anything that needs healed). When you carry around a suitcase of crap, it is too heavy to allow for new and powerful to enter. Stepping into the greatest expression of your life and all you have to offer, is truly a choice and one worth making. Make it today! Stop wasting precious time.

The courage to be disliked

As we worked through loss, I realized that I have always been the planner, doer, action everything person. That’s awesome except that in the midst of that, I also wanted to make sure that everyone liked me. Is it possible that even when I am my best self, there will be people that don’t get me, don’t want to be around me, don’t resonate with my beliefs – HELL YES. So what? It’s time for all of us to have the courage to be ourselves and not focus so much on being liked. Be you! Be real! Be awesome! The people that are meant to be with you will be there.

Judgement detox

How can you live your best life, be an incredible leader, impact others on a deep and meaningful level if you are living in a space of judgement? This world is filled with judgement of self, of others, of everything. Commit to taking a detox. Just stop it! What would happen in your business and life if every time you were spinning in judgement you shifted that to action? Take one action towards the business and life you desire instead of staying stuck in the judgement. 

Reflection: As you turn the page on a new month and what is possible, what can you do to step into your most brilliant self, as a leader, business owner, person? What action can you take right now that will allow the leaves that are not healthy to fall and you to replace them with vibrant and powerful energy?