Leadership Development Newsletter Week Six

Happy Mother’s Day to all of the mothers, Mothers-to-be, or Fur-Moms. I am thinking of those whose moms have walked on and supporting and celebrating you from above.

On this Mother’s Day, how are you celebrating you and how far you have come? How are you celebrating you on behalf of your Little Girl?

I would like you to make space for 30 minutes. In these 30 minutes, I would love for you to write yourself a love note. I want you to share all the beautiful qualities that you have. I would love to hear what your unique gifts are. What is special about you in which you have not shared with the world. I would love for you to tell yourself how much that you love yourself. If you cannot love yourself in this moment, tell yourself how much you like yourself and how much you care about you.

I would love for you to put this in a sealed, self-addressed envelope and give it to a trusted friend or advisor and ask them to mail it at some random time two months from now.

Then, I would like you to sit down and reflect back on what you learned to love about yourself.

What is the reason that I am asking you to do this?

As leaders and especially as women, we tend to serve and give to everyone and forget to serve and love ourselves. We forget to be open to receive love and receive service from others. We often feel that we can take it all on by ourselves.

The biggest challenge that I see for women leaders today is the lack of asking for help. Women feel that asking for help is the biggest weakness; however, asking for help is your biggest strength.

I have had to grow into this strength. I have always thought as a leader and a business owner that I have had to take it all on. I thought that I would be perceived as lazy or unknowledgeable if I was not able to do it.

Guess what?

That led to burnout. Not once, but several times.

I remember leaving my job and taking that leap of faith. I thought that I would be so easy to make that transition from employee to entrepreneur. I was so WRONG. I struggled. I was burned out. I couldn’t get off my couch. I was exhausted. I couldn’t think. I couldn’t retain anything. I could only sleep, watch Netflix, read some self-help books, and read social media.

I felt lost. I felt confused. I felt worthless. I felt invaluable. I didn’t know who I was.

As I sat at a retreat this weekend, I heard this from some of these same feelings from the mouths of some amazing women.

We paused and then we began the process of intentional group thinking.

We began to set some goals, some only 90 days. We began to see that light at the end of the tunnel. We began to not feel stuck. We began to feel empowered.

I am learning to love myself. I am learning to see my greatest gifts that I am serving the world. I am following the process.

I am realizing more and more each day about the ebbs and flows of life. I am learning about those personal and professional cycles that I am going through. I am realizing that the ebbs and flows are bringing me closer to my purpose in life.

While I know my purpose and my passion, the road to the end is not clear. During those times that I am being guided to step off that road onto that unbeaten path, these are the times that I began to question myself. Rather than losing myself, I am celebrating how far that I have come in my journey. I am celebrating what I am learning through the detours and journeys that I never imagined that I would take to get where I am today.

Is it where I thought that I would be today? NO. However, I am much further in areas that I would have never imagined that I would have stepped so far outside my comfort zone where I have seen the most success. While financially I may not be where I would like to be, I know that I am on the right path at the right time to make this happen.

I know who I am and what value I bring to this world.

My greatest joy would to be to hear what you have discovered about yourself during this journey.

I would be honored if you hit reply to this email and I could hear what you are celebrating about yourself. I would love to celebrate right next to you and I may learn something from your celebrations that reminds me of something that I may have dismissed as a celebration.

If you are feeling lost or confused, I would love to honor you and hold space for you.

If you are feeling drawn to talk about either, I would like to invite you to a 30-minute virtual coffee. This is a place where I simply hold space for you to learn more about you or simply for you to talk about something that is really on your mind. https://calendly.com/chele726/30-minute-network-coffee

I encourage you to spend some time in reflective thinking.

When we can spend some time weekly or a couple of times a week in reflective thinking, we bring clarity to our life. We began to learn what we need to say Yes to more often and what we need to say No to more often.

Thank you for being on this journey to discover your own leadership.

Have a blessed week.

Your Guide,

Michele Coy