Photo Source: www.madamenoire.com
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard people describe
me as strong, confident and successful. And
isn’t that what so many of us strive for?
As a younger woman those accolades sounded so reassuring. What I learned as I moved into middle age is
that what others experience as strength and confidence is sometimes laid with
stones of loneliness, doubt, wandering, fear, guilt, temptation to give up,
temptation to rest at average, indifference and exhaustion. I’m not trying to be depressing – in fact,
most who know me will describe me as positive, possibility-focused and engaged
in living life with purpose. I do hope
to tear the veil off of the fears and insecurities that hundreds of millions of
productive women live with, and behind.
For so many of the women that I know and have worked with,
the pursuit of what we thought we wanted in our youth has been overshadowed by
running after things that ultimately didn’t contribute to our internal value
and worth, and in many cases produced results much different than what we
really wanted (or dreamt about). Why
does it matter? Because otherwise
productive, capable, talented women loose themselves to demands and expectations
(some of which they have put on themselves) that invite burn out, frustration,
disappointment, fear and loss of self.
And before you go there, this is NOT a discussion about
rejecting Leaning In or any other such movement. I celebrate my friends and colleagues who are
Leaning In and loving it. I was one of
those women at one time. And for a
while, it served a wonderful purpose.
And then it didn’t. This is a discussion
about getting clarity about what matters to YOU…today.
My goal at The Alice Project is to equip productive women
with the awareness and strategies they need to discover Focus, Purpose and
Perspective to live the lives that God intended them to live. It doesn’t matter whether you are Chief Legal
Counselor at a corporation or Chief Operations Officer for your family –
productivity is, in its best form, ultimately defined by the quality of
involvement and engagement in the things that you care most about.
So, what do you care most about? What is the thing or the
person that, if you lost it, would change who you are or more importantly, who
you want to be? Career success means
nothing if you don’t feel well physically.
Having a huge diamond in your wedding ring is pointless if your marriage
has been overshadowed by bitterness, busyness or regret. Working to raise money
for your favorite charity is empty if you invest nothing in your children and
they don’t care to know you. But these scenarios
are only important if the subject matters to you. What’s your scenario? It's time to decide what's TRULY most important to you. When you do, your list of options grows.
Need help seeing your options? Visit
www.the-alice-project.com to download your FREE tools that will help get you on the road to Focus, Purpose
and Perspective. You have more options
that you realize!
Love,
Karen-
“I will not live my life with regret. I will not look back and say, ‘I wish I had…’”.
– Karen R. Hilton
