Hint: It’s Not Really About Me
When I started my career as a freelancer writer/entrepreneur I was overjoyed by the prospect of working from home every day. I envisioned working from the beach in the summer and sipping tea fireside in my pyjamas in the winter. All the while typing away at my laptop with my dog at my side. Sounds ideal, yes?
As you may expect, reality quickly slapped me across the face. Yes, most days I do get to wear comfy clothes and cuddle up with my dog while I’m writing. (I’m actually doing that this very moment while I make this post.) But there’s a dark side to this lifestyle, and it comes in the form of loneliness.
I wasn’t expecting the endless days alone in front of my computer to affect me like they did. I had virtual meetings, but limited human contact in a real face-to-face in the flesh capacity. And this began to get into my head. I felt like I was losing my soft skills and I actually became jealous of people who went into offices every day (yes, you read that right.) I was starting to lose confidence in myself and my ability to hack it as an entrepreneur.
It’s hard for me to remember that feeling today. Right now I am so self-assured with a clear vision of how to advance my career. I know I can handle every aspect of being in business and I have the confidence in myself and my abilities to succeed.
I’ve clearly had a change in mindset, and it’s allowed me to thrive as a rural entrepreneur. So the real question is, what prompted this shift in mindset?
The People I Surrounded Myself With.
I had the distinct pleasure of meeting a group of ladies in my community who were looking for the same things I was: connection.
I should rephrase, we were all looking for connection with the purest of intentions, NOT with self-serving motives. We saw each other as friends, not as potential customers. And that, my friend, is exactly why our group is so successful.
I said our connection was with the purest of intentions, and this is true, but it was also with specific intentions. We needed to connect for the express purpose of helping each grow personally and professionally. This involves solving challenges, sharing ideas, setting goals and action plans, and holding each other accountable to what we’ve said we want to do.
For the first time in my life I felt surrounded by women who wanted to fight for their success. They wanted to deep dive into what a successful life meant for them and then work backwards to literally orchestrate that very reality. It was a platform to share my biggest successes without sounding boastful, and my deepest fears without concerns of judgement. Oh boy did I want in!
The Good Enough Gals Was Born
The name of our group came out of our first meeting, where it quickly became the overwhelming consensus that sometimes you just have to be satisfied with something the way it is, instead of chasing the notion of perfection. Maybe that document isn’t perfect, but the trade off for your sanity is well worth it to be good enough. As one of the girls in the group said:
“Chances are your “good enough” is probably someone else’s “great” so just hit send and close down the computer and stop stressing about it.”
The idea here is that you don’t have to be perfect. Take that pressure off of yourself and accept that you’re Good Enough.
The Good Enough Gals is made up of six women that meet monthly. Some of us work for ourselves, some work for others, and some do both. We’re all in different places professionally and personally and we all have different educational backgrounds. The bottom line? We’re all millennials, we’re all women, and we all have a hunger for success—both our own and each others.
We knew off the bat that we wanted our meetings to be structured. We all lead busy lives and we wanted to ensure our time together was productive and valuable, not a gossip session. (Well, not too much gossip :p)
We provide structure by focusing each meeting around our monthly goals/challenges. What we did well, what we’re proud of, what our setbacks or blockers were. We also look ahead to next month and outline some goals we’re hoping to achieve.
This isn’t all about business either. We talk about everything, be it business, personal development, fitness, etc. Nothing is off the table. You share as much or as little as you want, with the goal being to celebrate each other’s successes and give feedback/perspective on challenges.
We also want to make sure we’re on the right path five years down the road. We’re putting in the work now to set our futures up the way we want them to turn out. Self-reflection and personal development can be hard, and oftentimes neglected. The Good Enough Gals holds me accountable to myself. Once a month (at least) I put pen to paper and reflect on where I am in life and if it’s where I want to be. If it isn’t, I look at what I can do differently to better align my path with my future goals.
The Good Enough Gals is currently in its infancy, but we have a big vision for this group. We want to battle the isolation factor that can come from living in a rural community. Beyond our business meetings we want to meet socially from time to time. For example, in our last meeting it was revealed that we all needed new headshots. The solution was obvious: Throw a headshot soiree. We’re going to bring in the experts: hair, makeup, and photography. Mix in some wine to banish any camera shyness, and we’re off to a great night.
Maybe we’ll get together for a night of yoga, talk about a good book, or do some breakthrough business coaching together to get past our biggest fears.
I’m not too concerned about the specifics, because I know whatever we do will bring light to my day and confidence to my soul. I’m beginning to thrive, both personally and professionally, and I can’t wait to see how I grow with the Good Enough Gals in the coming year.
Big things are happening. You can either watch them, or participate in them. Which will it be?
How To Start A Good Enough Gals Group In Your Community:
- Find amazing people who have something to share with the world
- Connect said amazing people and talk about your goals, challenges, and fears
- Lift each other up—work together to inspire confidence, then celebrate everyone’s successes, no matter how “small”
- Watch your pie in the sky goals come true, not just for you, but for everyone 🙂
I mentioned this above, but I want to talk about it again. If you want this group to succeed, you cannot be in it simply for personal gain. You can’t go into every meeting thinking, “How will this benefit me?” Flip your mindset. Start focusing your mental energy on how you can help others, and you’ll start seeing a level of success that previously eluded you. Do good, be good, baby.
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