What if we think we are thriving, only to learn we were just surviving?

I thought I knew my strengths and my power and understood my voice; until 2008. Fifteen years into my corporate career I learned that 90% of what I defined as success was my perception of what others thought I did well and loved.

A surreal conundrum.

I believed I would thrive by doing everything everyone told me to do while sacrificing my family, mental health, authentic voice, strengths, and hidden passion. That day, I realised I wasn’t thriving, I was barely surviving.

But let’s take a step back.

Discovering my unique strengths, power and voice was not childhood or early adult conversation. From birth, I lived and breathed business. You work hard, work more, and do what you’re told. Work ethic prevailed.

Convinced this was my path I married and divorced a generational small business owner while leading a 26-year corporate career and raising a family.

Yet, my natural and uncanny ability to transform chaos to calm was felt, heard, and seen by many executives and global leaders. I was the one they called in to ‘do my magic.’

It was my strength.

To the masses, my strengths of understanding people and helping them feel heard, seen, and understood were overlooked. I was always redirected or quieted. They wanted a box checker, and I am not a box checker.

Quantifying my strengths was difficult. It was like shoving a square peg into a round hole. I wasn’t able to articulate my strengths in a way that would promote them, instead, I self-minimised and sabotaged myself and my natural abilities.

BUT….

In 2013, I discovered Emotional Intelligence. It transformed my business and personal life. The intersection of business and life made sense.