The world may be round – my world is certainly a lot flatter!

‘Give a girl the right shoes, and she can conquer the world’ (Marilyn Monroe).

I am a proud lover of shoes and this quote sits on my desk! It makes me smile, and yet the statement is to remind ourselves that ‘shoes’ alone do not help us move forward to make the changes we want, or even conquer the world.

We have adapted

In the last year, we have adapted quickly, with communicating, connecting, and working mostly conducted in a virtual space. Only my face, voice, and ability to share information are required, it is not essential for my shoes to attend! This has taught me that our focus should be on the person and what value they bring not on their accessories! And for me all that matters is being at ease and to continue to enjoy what I do, everything else is peripheral!
Before Lockdowns I travelled armed with a million things in my working bag to support me during my day, from stationery to books, and always a pair of super cool, super smart shoes. It was an extra thing to carry, but was an essential to my ‘working outlook’ and now I ask myself Why?

My world has now become flatter, kitten heels are not quite fitting the bill!

A more practical approach is now taken to getting on with daily life. This has taken the pressure off me and my feet, which is brilliant and given me a new stance, which I love!

Getting rid of the baggage

I have decluttered, streamlined, and continue to simplify the things making my horizon look so much clearer! Possibly after lockdown is over my fabulous shoes may resume normal service, but then again perhaps not. However, with all that has happened it seems so immaterial, with no further thoughts of glossy magazines or what is on trend or how people perceive my look, it’s a matter of choice, my choice!

What have I learned?

It is far more important to show up, be present and enjoy what you do with the people and in the environment, you choose to be. To remember your reason WHY you do what you do. It is okay not to focus on less important things, it consumes you, your time and can leave you feeling lost!

Do we still need to ‘shoe -up’?

In the past I may have thought that clothes and shoes may make us feel happy, confident, and allow us to ‘dress the part’ A form of artistry and armoury to enable us to do things and fit in our environment. It is all right to continue loving our clothes, shoes, and being on trend. However, our confidence, self-belief, core values, voice, and other constructs should always be developed within ourselves. We can then promote this externally, there is no need to ‘shoe-up’. Today personal development is far more relevant, the catalyst for everything we do in becoming comfortable in our own skin, finding our inner power and our authentic individuality and uniqueness!

Perhaps a better quote to sit on my desk now would be Believe, Achieve, Conquer!

#ListenTalkInspire #coaching #careerJourney #personaldevelopment #confidence #Ownskin #Believe #achieve #conquer

Further reading