March 2025
The beginning of March brings up a full year since my last day as an employee and, as the days begin to grow longer again, and the sun a little warmer, I’m in a reflective mood. In the last 12 months, what have been the highs and lows? What can I be proud of and what can I learn from?
As I wrote the word freedom in the title I debated whether it was appropriate. Yes, I now answer to no one but myself, and I have the freedom to structure my time as I wish, but no longer do I have the comfort of a monthly paycheck, and answering to myself means I need to be more self-disciplined and more decisive, both of which I find challenging!
Here are the overall themes from my year:
Self-Discovery
With support from my own coach, I'm peeling back the layers of 25 years of a carefully curated professional persona to find what drives me at a deeper level - focusing more on the heart than the head.
Business Direction:
While I had initial ideas for income streams, I'm still discovering what truly aligns with my purpose, which is slowly revealing itself as I try new things and meet new people.
My Network:
My family, friends and my network have supported, advocated for and nourished me and my network has grown through deliberately stepping into new spaces and being curious about the people I meet.
My Impact:
I’ve had rich experiences from working with diverse clients and I'm proud of the impact I've made; helping them achieve gear shifts or significant life changes.
Time Management:
Whilst I initially over-structured my diary, mirroring my corporate days, I'm now more flexible and focus on fewer things at a time. This means I’m achieving more!
The change I made 12 months ago wasn’t just about the focus of my work but also a recognition that I wanted space to nurture other parts of me, particularly embracing the musician in me. This idea is still emerging but I suspect that this is going to play a big part in my work in due course. Certainly I feel an alignment and similar sense of fulfilment from being a musician as I do when helping others to find their own purpose.
And what about the challenges? Well I would like to have sweated less over my erratic income and would gladly have made more money! I also could have spent less mental energy comparing myself to others, particularly the frequency of their social media posts, and just got on with doing my own thing with greater conviction.
Reading this back, it feels pretty good. I’m excited for the next 12 months as I have greater clarity on my focus and, as I’m getting much better at managing myself, I reckon it will be an even better year than last.
Ruth, March 2025