By Marianne Clyde
What? Why on earth would I accept such a short term challenge of such a huge task?
Well, it’s AMAZING how much change and progress you can accomplish by simply setting a goal.
Last year at this time, I was pulling myself out of a “burn out funk.” The darkest part of my burn out lasted about 5 months. I had retired for the second time, and this time I was just “DONE!” I didn’t want to do anything else; I didn’t want any more obligations; I was just fed up.
So I travelled; my husband and I bought a second home in Florida, and decided that I would just focus on me/us. After about five months of taking care of myself, I began to feel some stirring of interest in taking some courses and exploring some areas of interest that had bubbled their way to the surface of my mind.
Each course or masterclass or group, seemed to whet my appetite for more. I was healing. I was feeling that I was blossoming again. I know that when I challenge myself, it stimulates me to grow. I took about a dozen online courses. Then I saw on social media a 30 day book writing challenge. “Hm, interesting,” I thought, “it might just help me pull some thoughts together and get focused.” So I accepted the challenge.
Did I ever finish the book? Well, no…BUT…
Here’s what DID happen: I started meeting Lorna (my [now] business partner). We would get together for lunch, or a drink occasionally and just talk about life. She had also recently retired from a high powered job as a CFO. We began talking about what happened to women after retirement, etc…which was actually the main gist of the book I started working on.
Since then, she and I started an entire company about the topic of the “book.” We had a website designed and built a brand called Isn’t She Amazing, LLC: A community of women over 50 to encourage them to live their most vibrant lives NOW. We jumped out of an airplane to make the point, “You just have to take that first step, and that makes all the difference.”
Since then I have written an online course, developed a killer workshop, scheduled Mastermind groups, designed hundreds of social media posts, written countless blogs, recorded over 30 podcasts, arranged meetups and retreats, all around the topic that I originally was going to put in that book.
And I’ve written a TEDx talk.
So, no, I didn’t finish the book.
But I’ve created so much more than that. Tons of resources to help women navigate the myriad of transitions that women over 50 go through. Some of those transitions seem almost designed to shut women down, put them out to pasture, and encourage them to give up.
But Lorna and I know the importance of support, open communication, and having a supportive tribe that can inspire and encourage women that instead of giving up, this is the best opportunity in their lives to SHINE brighter than ever before.
We have vision, rapidly coming to pass, of a worldwide constellation of powerful women connected and together lifting the energy on the planet.
So no, I didn’t finish the book. BUT I’m re-taking that 30 day book writing challenge. Can’t wait to see what comes out of it THIS time. Maybe it wasn’t such a crazy idea after all.
Action Step: Choose a challenge to stretch yourself, to move you out of your comfort zone. I guarantee that you will at the very least be proud of yourself, and you might just be astonished what you can accomplish!
