Written by: Sarah McNicol, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Answer this one question honestly and you may have the key to your future success strategy.
To help you answer it intuitively, feel into these prompts;
How is daily life for you?
What does it feel like inside your body and mind?
How does what you show to the world compare to your inner experience?
Though still a high achieving, entrepreneurial, A-type person my answers to these questions have changed dramatically for the better, thanks to a radical perspective shift and subsequent actions.
I will share headlines from my story because some of you brilliant Brainz readers will relate;
December 2021, I have woken naturally from a sound restful sleep, cosy and comfy in the tiny remote Scottish cottage, where I am staying for an extended winter retreat.
A solid 8 hours and waking relaxed is no small thing for me. It is one of the signs that deep healing has occurred. It symbolises how whole and complete I am today and by contrast, how fractured, dissonant, and inadequate I felt in my life at times.
The journey to this point started with a wretched time. For five years I had pushed myself to keep going after my marriage ended and three dear friends died of cancer. Happily, eventually, my body intervened. I burned out.
Always on the go.
I was forty-five. A high achiever. To that point, I had been outwardly “successful” in my business and career. I had pushed and strived to meet internalised external expectations in all the aspects of life I cared about. Or thought I cared about. Like many leaders and entrepreneurs, I was brilliant at adrenaline-fuelled problem solving, visioning, and making things happen.
In hindsight, life was a yoyo cycle of ambition, effort, results, short-lived satisfaction (or relief?), exhaustion.
The excitement, creativity, productivity, and shiny rewards of my lifestyle kept me going. That and the (ever elusive) prospect of finally hitting the (moving) target.
Of course, there were stretches of normal life, but even then, the pace was fast, the standards high. Schedules, activity, busyness. Relaxation and self-care were included, but only to keep me productive.
Little time and space to be, feel, or connect with my inner self. I was never still long enough to notice the painful hole, right in the heart of me that, it turns out, had always been there.
Thank “God” for burnout!
It slowed me down enough to see that, in collusion with the cultural messages of our times, my powerful ego had long ago linked my very survival with over-achievement and masked the internal pain of (every day) childhood trauma with the relentless pursuit of external success.
All the while I was becoming more accomplished, delivering projects, growing businesses, making an impact, I got to feel in control (aka safe) and to avoid any sadness, disappointment, or fear.
Only when reaching a place of defeat was I able to hear what my soul had been trying to communicate to me for years. I was not happy. My relentless way of life and pursuit of external versions of success was not working for me.
There is another way.
Drawing on the personal development expertise I’d been cultivating for two decades, I set an intention to unhook from the rat race, heal my soul, re-create my lifestyle, and re-direct my work in line with my deepest internal priorities and a purpose to contribute.
Today my daily life is full of freedoms, inspiration, and enjoyment. My body feels nourished, and my mind is choiceful and present. From this place, I am doing powerful and satisfying work.
Recognition is power.
If my words resonate with you, I salute you. It takes courage to allow in uncomfortable awareness.
Now you have, you can start re-purposing your ambitious brilliance to create a more fulfilling and sustainable experience of success. It’s not necessarily an easy path but by acknowledging what’s not working, you’ve done the hardest part already.
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Sarah McNicol, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Sarah McNicol is a facilitator, coach and innovative businesswoman. Her highly sensitive and versatile approach is under-pinned by 30 years of personal and professional development practise, working with thousands of individuals and teams in a wide variety of contexts.
Sarah provides guidance and challenge to help successful high-achievers unhook from the rat race. Re calibrate and tune into a more holistic, metaphysical paradigm to create more fulfilling aligned lives, businesses and careers fuelled by values, joy, inspiration, purpose, belief, meaning and self-compassion.
