After 25 years of being known as the “Golden Girl” for a large company because of my successes, the unthinkable happened and I was laid off. I was in my late 40’s and a new generation of younger, less experienced, and less paid women were being hired to replace many of us. In particular was a young lady who I helped get promoted to eventually become my boss and who eventually let me go.
From there, I went and worked for a competitor which resulted in a non compete lawsuit, draining me both financially and emotionally. My self confidence was destroyed. Some of the people I worked with in the past, many whom I helped during their difficult times and I thought were my friends, walked away. Having no self confidence is a deterrent. After leaving the industry completely, I struggled to figure out my “Why.”
I randomly decided to start a podcast show to interview people who figured out their purpose and hear their stories about the journey. I have always been curious about how and why some people succeed and others struggle. I am the type of person that many people would call to share their ideas, dreams and goals.
Despite my setbacks, I have always been a great listener and very optimistic. After doing the show for about a year, I was having a conversation with my husband and venting to him that I was really good at helping others pursue their goals but I could not figure out what my goals/purpose should be. It was during that conversation that the light bulb went on! I was doing exactly what I was suppose to be doing. I realized my purpose was to help others recognize their potential, and to connect people with similar dreams and goals.
I have since interviewed over 178 people and the stories and takeaways have been amazing. One thing has led to another, and in addition to my show, which has connected me to many amazing people, like Lisa Thompson, I have started a bottled water company that has a mission to crush loneliness around the world and to encourage and connect people through their dreams.
The biggest lesson for me and one that I share with everyone is that purpose is often discovered through pain. Pain and fear are very uncomfortable feelings. I really believe that if you can work on improving just one thing for yourself to build self confidence, I would recommend that you learn to be comfortable being uncomfortable. Because growth is uncomfortable, getting fired is uncomfortable, setbacks are uncomfortable. But when you become aware of those emotions, you will do a better job of understanding them and managing those feelings, and that can lead to great things.
The truth is, failure is a by product of success. Every successful person failed first. We can endure much more that we give ourselves credit for. Self confidence, I have learned comes from within. There are times I still struggle with it but I work on it. I don’t blame anyone for what has happened. That would take up too much energy. And if it weren’t for those experiences, I would not be doing what I love and I would have never had the courage to tell people I am going to crush loneliness around the world!
#becomfortablebeinguncomfortable #trusttheprocess #tryitonemoretime #everyminutecounts #keepmoving
“New Beginnings Are Often Disguised As Painful Endings.” – Lao Tzu
Our #RiseToConfidence Campaign is about giving women the opportunity to anonymously share their experience of losing confidence and feeling down because of others in their lives and how they rose above it. With each story, we hope to increase female empowerment and positive leadership in a respectful, impactful and influential way!
Each story is shared every Friday on our website and our social media channels. Check out more stories!
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