This will be a pretty short roundup this week as it’s only Wednesday and I’m already feeling fairly intense – the weekend can’t come soon enough!
This week was also the first one where I seriously considered skipping my weekly roundup, as I really didn’t want to stare at a screen any longer. But I pushed through!
Luckily I’m going away tomorrow, so I’ll get some much-needed rest.
I’ve been shortlisted
The past week has been really exciting. I’ve got a new client coming on board, have new ideas for inspiring projects and I’ve met some new people. But the most amazing thing was being shortlisted for two different small business awards (in three different categories).
First, I have been nominated for the SME National Business Awards 2017 in the Young Entrepreneur category. It’s funny because I often question if I’m ‘young enough’ to actually be in this category. For me, a young entrepreneur is someone just over 20, creating some fascinating new product or growing a six-figure business. That’s not me.
Second, I’ve been shortlisted in the local Cambridgeshire Digital Awards, nominated for my Blog and for Use of Social Media for Business. I’m much more excited about these nominations, as I can see some truly amazing and inspiring agencies and people on the list and I’m so grateful to be mentioned alongside them.
Different perspective
That leads me to an interesting realisation about different perspective (and perceptions). I’ve always struggled with self-perception a bit and only recently I’m starting to realise how much I’ve changed over the past few months.
This week, I had an interesting experience. I was meeting with one of my clients after a fairly long period of time. While we had been in touch via email in the meantime, we hadn’t met each other and chatted for a few months. I remember how nervous and insecure I was the last time I met this person. I was really trying to impress them, who from my perspective was someone far ahead of me, someone to put on a pedestal and admire.
This week, I saw a completely different person going to this meeting (meaning me) and I’ve met with someone really different than last time. We were equal and maybe even I was feeling more confident during this meeting.
I was really surprised by this as I always focus on how much I feel inspired by other people around me, looking up to them and learning from them that I haven’t realised that some people might feel the same about me. It was pleasant, but disappointing at the same time, as in a way I’ve lost the idealistic picture (not that I still don’t admire everyone who decides to start their own business).
Does it make sense to you? Do you ever reflect on how much you’ve grown and how much you actually inspire others? I’d love to know about your experience.
Book Corner
For a really long time, I wanted to read She Means Business: Turn Your Ideas into Reality and Become a Wildly Successful Entrepreneur by Carrie Green, as I’ve been following her on social media for a long time and I always admired her style. She’s all over social media, producing amazing designs and inspiring quotes that always cheer me up. On top of this, she has created an incredible support group for female entrepreneurs and consistently helps other to turn their passions into profitable businesses.
This section really spoke to me:
“It’s not the time, the money or any other excuse you think up. The biggest problem you have to overcome in order to show up for your dreams is you.
“Start paying attention… learn, explore… take action, just don’t do nothing! If you do nothing, because you don’t know what the right thing to do is, you’ll end up drifting. Time will pass you by and you will have made no progress towards your dreams. So make the decision to be curious!”
Which book (or even podcast, article, TED talk) has inspired you the most to reach for the universe (because even sky could be limiting). I’d love to know!
