Honing Your Self-Leadership Muscle

I hope you celebrated yourself or a woman in your life earlier this week on International Women’s Day.

There’s a theme I’ve been noticing of late that I want to discuss with you today.

Whether you’re an entrepreneur or you know someone who is, there’s likely a similar story you hear of why people want to go into business for themselves in the first place.

Any guesses?

I imagine the ability to determine your own pay check or set your own schedule may come to mind…

Speaking from personal experience, those are certainly wonderful benefits of being your own boss!

But there’s one word in particular that folks share with me more often than any other.

And that word is freedom.

Most entrepreneurs I speak with desire a greater level of freedom and autonomy in their own lives.

• They desire more access to creating their own rules;
• more freedom to write their own job description;
• choose who they collaborate with;
• set their work hours;
• establish who they choose to work with and trust;
• prioritize other hobbies and pastimes that bring them resounding joy;
• and determine how much time they want to take off every year, for starters.

But what I’ve noticed over the years is that becoming an entrepreneur, developing a CEO perspective, and understanding on an embodied level that you truly get to define your work and your lifestyle on your own terms and by your own design is a mindset first and foremost.

You may not believe me, just yet, that’s fine. But take a look at the entrepreneurs you know, or if you are one, take a long look in the mirror…

• Do you honor your time boundaries around when you work and when you close the door to your office at the end of the day?
• And does that door closing also signify the mental space to not think about business until the next morning, including in the middle of the night?
• Have you built your business and your job description to support your ideal lifestyle?

I deeply believe that the ambitious empath will change the world because of how much they care about the vision and mission they went into business to support in the first place.

But I am also here to tell you that if you aspire to sustain that vision and passion for your work. Without burning out. Without resenting how much your work, employees and your self-prescribed work schedule take from you…

Then you must add to your job description the necessity to develop a CEO mindset. What I’m really talking about here is honing your self-leadership muscle.

Here are 2 practices to support you in honing your self-leadership muscle:

Practice being more authentic

We cannot change what we are not willing to acknowledge to ourselves and others. You’d be amazed by the countless ways in which we lie to ourselves, deceive ourselves and our desires, and limit the intimacy in our primary relationships because we’re unwilling to tell the truth. As an empath myself, I’m always mindful of being selective with whom I choose to trust and open myself up to for feedback, support, encouragement, normalization, etc. But this is a wonderful place to start leaning in and strengthening your authenticity muscle, whether it’s with your partner, a best friend who shares your values and worldview, or a coach or therapist who’s trained to be an empathic and collaborative thought partner.

Infuse more joy into your life

I cannot overstate what a difference this makes. Prioritizing having fun and joy in your life is infectious. When you schedule fun plans in the evenings and on the weekends. It’s that much easier to separate yourself from work. When you develop a habit and tendency of having fun and finding fulfillment outside of your business. It’s easier to honor your boundaries, maintain your confidence, and have more self-discipline and agency to disconnect and rest.

Curious what impact coaching can have, here’s what Rachel had to say about her experience:

At 39 and already a senior level professional, I wasn’t sure how transformative coaching could be for me – but I knew I was willing to give anything a try to “unstick” me from my regular loop and push me in the right direction (aka. a terrifying place that allowed me to grow and fulfill my biggest ambitions). Week after week, she continued to impress me with her insights and wisdom as she helped me to shift my perspectives and challenged me to truly align my actions with my goals. Although patient and kind, she is also a firm coach who wasn’t afraid to call me on my BS nor encourage me to dig deeper (and offered the tools to do so) when I struggled. I can say that my entire way of being to be more in tune to my core strengths and beliefs and thanks to Catherine I no longer feel “pushed by fear, but rather pulled by a vision” – a powerful gift. I would highly recommend her coaching services to others and look forward to our continued relationship!

If you’re looking for a thought partner or coach to support you in developing your self-leadership, schedule a call with us to explore what’s possible. We have a team of highly trained and certified coaches . Let us support you in reclaiming your joy, sustaining your vision and elevating your impact.