Ask Yourself This Question

There’s a lot of fear infiltrating our lives right now. From energy bills, government decisions, Putin, the recession. It’s very easy to get swept up in it all. The one thing I know about fear is it has us either taking no action or non-aligned actions.

What do I mean by that?

In last week’s Coffee & Notes #140 A Fear Worse Than Death I provided three free workshop options for October/November. On reflection, that was fear in action.

The fear rationale goes, “you need to hit the ground running in 2023 with cohort 4 of the Career Design Mastermind, which means you must provide three free introductory workshops to ensure you add value to those on your Coffee & Notes list and have enough clients for the intake of 12.” I dutifully bought into my fear and released the workshop dates.

Then the question came to me, “what if fear wasn’t doing the decision making?”

Well, I would be using October, November and December to finish my first book, ‘Intentional Careers for STEM Women.’ I would be promoting the book January – April 2023 and offering the free workshops; opening up the next cohorts of the Career Design Mastermind in May and October 2023.

That’s a very different answer, right?

The fear should not be completed ignored or erased though because it’s sending us the message to be prepared. So I asked my fear, “if I went ahead with this new plan, what would you need in order to feel comfortable with it?” My fear answered, “to have business expense income covered for the first half of 2023.”

The next day, a contract landed in my inbox for the exact amount.

It’s time to ask yourself these questions…

  1. What is fear keeping you stuck or having you take non-aligned actions right now?
  2. ​​If you weren’t paralysed by the fear of messing it up, being disappointed, being right or wrong what would you go for?
  3. If the quality of your life while you were going for it mattered the most. How would you go for it?

Because, it’s not just what we do but it’s who we are while we do it that matters.

Hit reply and let me know your answers.

Keep Opening Up,

Hannah

PS Thank you to all those that asked to be registered for the October/November workshops. They will resume in January so I will be in touch with the new date options. You may have noticed; I hardly ever promote my 1:1 coaching anymore. That’s because I have a waiting list of three months. I have new session availability from January 2023. To book a 45-minute consultation call hit reply with a summary of your current situation and what you want to achieve through coaching.

PPS 📅 The much-anticipated Planning 2023 Workshop will be going ahead.
> > Tickets on sale here < <
£43 per ticket 100% of proceeds (after tax) goes to clean water causes. 1 ticket purchase gives access to 2,000 days of clean water.

PPPS The latest inspiring story on the Women in STEM Career & Confidence podcast is from group VP and GM at Wiley, Aurora Martinez. She shares with me her biggest personal and professional failures and how she normalises failure in Wiley to build leadership trust. How to be CEO of your own network of support through shared values and how her daughter’s diagnosis caused Aurora to be vocal about being a role model for self-esteem. Listen in on your favourite platform 🎧 iTunes 🎧 Spotify 🎧 Other Platforms