I had just completed my Tony Robbins coaching certificate and felt ready to start taking on clients. And it worked. The plan was to do consulting but it’s the coaching that took off and this May it’s been 7 years since I wrote the first Wise Wednesdays.
Two months before that, I’d walked out of the government building where I worked and said goodbye to the career I’d carefully crafted for 18 years. Looking back, it looks like a moment of madness or perhaps of true sanity. I had to suspend all disbelief and trust the process. I had to focus intensely on the present. I had to self-regulate my fears and anxieties (the previous time I had faced that intensity of fear was when heading into a warzone in 2006…)
But you know what happens when you take a leap? Life continues. It supports you in mysterious ways. You figure things out. You go through the highs and lows. And things work out one way or another. The fear that holds us back from doing what we truly want is ALWAYS out of proportion to the real risks in my experience. This is probably the only lesson that matters. Don’t live from fear.
I should do one of those blogs where you write the 7 lessons learned in 7 years. But I’m past doing things because I “should” and I have a preference for the number 3. When I started, I used to make a video every week (if you’re afraid of making videos, I challenge you to make one and share it this week, even if it’s just to a friend or family on WhatsApp). Here are the first and last videos I made in this 7 year stretch of Wise Wednesdays (WW). Do you notice a theme?
2016 video: https://youtu.be/bgu_kkljBho
2023 video: https://youtu.be/lVSjjR_kmxk
Some of you have been here since Day One. Others have just joined Wise Wednesdays. I appreciate your witnessing, engagement and support and hope you continue to find Wise Wednesdays supportive on your liberation journey and share it with others.
Less than 50% of businesses make it to 5 years and I know I’ve learned a lot in 7. My vision is to celebrate with you again at 10 in 2026.
Have a great week,
Amina
p.s. Meet my courageous client, Ula. She’s just taken a big leap from a 9-to-5 corporate role in a well-known investment bank to take a Summer Sabbatical and then create her own business as part of a bigger dream. She will be at The Leaders Circle on June 3rd. I asked her what role Presence and coaching played in her transformational journey. Watch the video in the article below if you’d like to hear about her experience.
0:55: Introduction to the Leaders Circle.
1:48 Dropping into Presence
2:34 What does Presence mean to you?
4:28 How has Presence helped you in practice in your work in an organisation?
7.20: How has coaching helped you in work and beyond?
Join us at The Leaders Circle. Carve out time for yourself and connect with interesting people who care. Details and registration here >>
