Jumping into Your Arena

I will be forever grateful to my younger sister for recommending I read Brené Brown. My copy of Daring Greatly is dog-eared and bent out of shape from re-reading.

The first time I read Daring Greatly I loved Brene’s analogy about showing up in the “Arena”. I so wanted to be in an Arena, but I felt like I had no Arena to jump into.

Then I started coaching.

I loved how it transformed people, I also felt privileged getting to share with them their “ah ha” moments. I had found my Arena and I wanted to jump in with both feet! Last Friday I took that leap and left my full time job to focus on my coaching business.

Am I scared? No, but maybe I should be.

Am I excited? HELL YES!

Does it feel right? Absolutely!

I have worked in the same industry for 30 years and I have loved it. It’s challenged me and taught me a lot but now it’s time to take on a new challenge. I have no idea how this is going to play out, which I find very exciting. This is weird in itself as I am not known for my risk taking.

I also know it’s not going to be easy and after being an employee for so long I now have to get out there and market myself. I am my business - I will be CEO, Marketing Manager, Chief Financial Officer and Office Junior.

The big reason for taking the plunge is I wanted to be fair to my coaching business and give it 110%. I didn’t just want to give it what little energy I had left over at the end of a busy day or a couple of hours at the weekend. Helping people discover their true self worth and their value is my passion and I wanted to be true to that. I felt the only way I could do it justice was to jump right in.

Now I am not advocating that you march into the office tomorrow and hand your notice in. This has been a bit of a journey for me to get here. If I’m honest, all up, it’s taken about 3 years of figuring out what I actually wanted to do and for me to feel ready to do it.

So, how brave are you being with your life?

Is there something you’ve always wanted to have a go at? It could be taking a yoga class, making moves to start a new career, studying, getting fit, or putting yourself out there to find your true love.

Are you brave enough to jump into the arena and risk a potential arse kicking? Scary as it may be, we’re never go to know unless we try.

“I want to be in the arena. I want to be brave with my life. And when we make the choice to dare greatly, we sign up to get our arses kicked”.

Brené Brown