Making yourself a priority is important if you want to make an impact. Giving yourself space is one of the greatest gifts.
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To be a thought leader, you need space. You need space to think, space to sell, and space to deliver.
Based on the thinker, worker, hustler idea, we all have a natural tendency towards one of these. In my experience of working with the Thought Leaders community, “Thinkers” do not prioritise space for sales, “Hustlers” are often lacking space for life admin and consolidation, and “Workers” don’t create enough space to rest, to be inspired, and to think. Regardless of your personality or preferences, we all need space. Being your business means you need more personal space than people with jobs. There is so much of your identity tied up in ‘what you do’ that when you are what you do, you need to be generous with yourself. I am grateful that I caught onto this early. I realised very early into self-employment that my practice (business) was only as good as I was.
There are two parts to this: Creating Space and Holding Space.
Creating space is about giving yourself the time and the conditions that you need to do the things that are important to you. It’s about being super intentional about what’s important to you and being committed to your plans and dreams. It's about building a life that serves you so you can serve others.
Holding space is about protection. Protecting yourself from all of the things that will try and mess with your commitments! The distractions, the interruptions, the things that people will put on your path - almost testing your resolve! This is about boundaries. About being committed to yourself and the world you are in. Sometimes, you need to prioritise yourself over other people in your world. This can go badly. People will not enjoy you setting new boundaries that impact on their access to you. They may not like you protecting yourself. It’s a tricky balance. It’s a conversation that comes up often as people move through their belt journey and develop their practices.
For me, one of the best parts of being in the Thought Leaders Community is the commitment to attend events. The commitment that I made to be all into the community. To get my ‘money's worth’ and to grow myself required a conversation. A conversation with my friends and family about what I was up to. About where I was going to be and why. That I was not available during the days of quarterly Immersion. To truly allow myself to indulge in the community and the learnings, this was not an easy thing to do. With four children and many responsibilities, it took some effort but I knew that I needed to lean in without distractions. I needed three days without domestic chores or responsibilities. I needed to commit to attending events so I could develop some of my now most important relationships and give myself fully to the experiences that were created.
We have our May Immersion starting tomorrow. It’s my 34th Immersion and I cannot wait. Three days to immerse myself in conversations, learnings, and teachings from so many. We have a student residential in June. A week-long deep dive into 6 people's practices, into unpacking and designing their expertise. We have a global event in Fiji in October. A week of celebration, connection, and sessions to reinvigorate our practices for 2024.
Making yourself a priority is important if you want to make an impact. Giving yourself space is one of the greatest gifts.
Be super intentional about your time management.
Explore what it would mean to be loyal to your joy.
Be committed to your dreams.
Give yourself the conditions you need to grow!
If you want to learn more about Thought Leaders Business School, check out our most recent discovery session here.
Lisa O'Neill
CEO