It’s comfortable to walk,but no flowers grow.
Normality is a paved road:
It’s comfortable to walk, but no flowers grow.
-- Vincent van Gogh
This is one of the most beautiful things that I have recently heard, and it touched every fibre of my body. I think for so long I have been trying to stick to the paved road and wondered why I couldn't see any flowers. I have tried to be conventional in my unconventionality. I’ve tried so hard to live by the norms and society, but something has kept feeling off. I haven't been able to put my finger on it, but now as I'm training to become a coach therapist I’m trying. I'm going to all those uncomfortable places, turning every stone, questioning it all. What does it mean to be truthful to myself? What do I want? What are my values? Do I know myself? What do I really want? What is my biggest, most audacious dream?
Well since you are asking :) I’m going to tell you. I want to be a full-time coach therapist and board executive. I want to make good money, but I don't want to work too much. I want to work with driven but open-hearted entrepreneurs. I want to make beautiful creations in silver for people to have as a reminder- that the most important person to belong to is yourself. I want to work with the ones with the biggest ideas that will change the world but at the same time realize how important it is to care for your own self. I want to spend time with my family and friends, and I want to stand in front of 100s of people to inspire them with the message that entrepreneurship can create long lasting societal change. But only if there is a healthy grounded founder to grow from. I want to have a podcast with a dear friend of mine and share #otherstories of the world- stories of which we believe for no other reason than being told them. Could there be another side?
I have sat with the founder of the company that turns over + 40 EUR million and he still isn't comfortable hiring the leadership team that he needs and wants. I continuously speak with founders that have endless millions thrown to them by investors but at the same time she can’t keep a relationship because she doesn't feel worthy. I have coached the founder that has just signed a deal with her dream client- but her hand is shaking so badly that she can barely write because she is so anxious it will be a failure. I have comforted the founder that has had a breakdown after a successful speech because he felt out of control and like an imposter. I have held space for the founder that got her work showcased in a gallery, but she still feels small. Also, not to neglect I have sat alone in a room packing countless orders because our product was recommended by Kris Carr as the most sustainable Christmas gift of the year, but at the same time felt like a terrible mom.
Being a founder of ideas, an entrepreneur, a creator isn't easy, and we will never reach a point where it will be easy. There is no THERE to get to and all we have is here and now to take care of ourselves. Like Bill Gates and Eric Schmidt said, “everyone needs a coach.” We deserve to invest in ourselves, for an outside perspective, and an inner circle support, someone that can listen, guide, and see. An idea, creation, or a business is only as strong as its foundation. That foundation is YOU.
Are you ready to grow roses?
Written by: Alexandra