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What are my options?

Have you ever sat down, written “What are my options?” at the top of the page and then just sat there?

Then distracted yourself with this task, and then that task, before closing the journal and making yourself something to eat, just to avoid looking at what’s possible?

Yeah me too.

In fact, I did it again this morning.

Here I am, supposed to be on a global book tour, sailing around the world, and I am quarantined in a country where the restriction of movement is far stricter than government control restrictions in Egypt during the Uprising ten years ago.

Now that might sound a bit extreme, but trust me, not being able to travel more than 5 blocks in any  direction, without permission papers, is a bit of a head fuck to be honest with you.

And yes, I know everyone is going through their own challenges in their own country, but to face arrest and a minimum of 6 months in jail for being more than 5 blocks from your quarantine home, not even my Mum is that strict!

I am itching to get going again, and I have had to re-frame this whole situation on a regular basis.

“I am waiting for the trade winds” is something I have reminded myself many times, and at this rate, it will more than likely be the case.

“I’ve got lots of work to be doing” and I have, new courses being launched, new clients coming on board, and a new book being written.

“It’s all Divine Timing, so what can I learn from this?” is a great journaling questions I have been diving deep into.

“This is happening for a reason, so what can I be grateful for during this time?” is another great journaling question and reveals to us just how lucky we are to have a place to stay, family to miss and the internet to connect with them all.

And you know what, this is all happening for a reason, and the reasons are as vast as the open oceans I wish I was on right now.

Each and every single one of us will have become aware of what, and who, is really important to us, and if we’ve been smart, we will have used this quarantine time to grow and evolve in each area of our lives.

The ladies and I at the House of Preeminence Magazine  have launched the magazine, and released three breathtaking issues.  We have held our first event and have another one coming up on the 16th June: The Ultimate Alignment makeover

The magazine has been hailed as the new ‘O’ magazine and leaves magazines such as ‘Entrepreneur’ flat and lifeless.  Editor in Chief Jenni P Parker Brown has done an incredible job leading us all and creating such a luxurious experience for all you ambitious female entrepreneurs out there.

The One Tribe Magazine has also had a makeover both in terms of branding and design, as well as new guest writers. Subscribers to the magazine are getting ‘more bang for their buck’ than ever before and loving the personal and professional growth that goes with it.

I’ve almost finished my next book, a biography about an incredible woman, which will be published and launched in the next 6 weeks.

The Phoenix Rising 21 Day Challenge is creating some incredible results in the lives of the ladies who are taking part, not to mention providing daily accountability as well as insights and inspiration by the ocean load.

The ladies are using the challenge to dive deep into a new projects, side hustles, career and lifestyle goals, community projects and using it as the kick up the backside they were needing.

All the delays provided the Divine Timing needed to release it now, not to mention a gift of a great deal of learning for all involved in bringing it to fruition along the way.

Knowing my work is supporting more women achieve their goals, put a spring back in their step, a smile on their face and radiate with joy from deep within makes me incredibly happy. 

As I ask myself ‘What are my options?’ right now, I am revisiting all the knowledge I have poured into the Phoenix Rising Challenge.  It’s not enough for me to create it and sell it, I too have to live by the principles I am encouraging others to invest in.

Checking out the relevant embassy websites, the latest quarantine guidelines, and finding nothing new has been updated since March, April or May is a tad frustrating.

The British Embassy website is about as useful as a chocolate fireguard and the Argentinian one is even worse, if that’s at all possible!

I check news sites, ask the locals what the news is reporting.  I check out international news websites and see more and more fear mongering and inconsistency in the information shared around the world.

When you consider the new findings on how this whole COVID-19 is impacting other countries, how they are treating and dealing with the situation, I find myself wishing I was already in Madagascar.

Madagascar is one of the destinations on my ocean circumnavigation, and my arrival there means I am almost at the finish line.

I say almost because there will still be the rest of the Indian Ocean to sail, and then up into Asia, Indonesia and Australia to do before I cross the Tasman Sea back into New Zealand.

I have a list of activities I want to achieve before I leave Argentina, but until quarantine rules are lifted, then like everyone else here, I just have to be patient and crack on with my work.

Speaking with my children via Zoom and Skype is the highlight of my day.  I last hugged my eldest in July last year and my youngest in August, breathing in their very essence is something I long for.

Not being with them for this long was not part of the original plan I can tell you, and I cannot even begin to tell you how much I look forward to the day I get to see them in person, hugging the life out of them.

Being away from everyone I know, not having friends or family to hug, is incredibly difficult at times.

I’d only just arrived in South America for the next leg of the trip just 8 weeks before quarantine went into full on beast mode.

My trip into Central America has been delayed quite considerably, but the plus side is, all these delays have gifted me the time to prepare for the North American part of the book tour.

So, although I am quarantined in Argentina, restricted more than ever before, there are still plenty of options for me to create positive and powerful change in the world from my laptop and beautiful apartment.

It may not have an ocean view, but the marina is just down the road, and the locals are already calling me ‘mi amor’ in the shops, knowing what I like and making me feel very welcome.

I have the best landlords, and ‘tia’ aka ‘Aunty’ is taking great care of me.  The fact that I am just like one of the family, and she is also a sailor girl and has lived on a boat for 9 years, also adds to the unexpected bonuses of being quarantined.

Asking myself ‘What are my options?’ always leads me to a full on dose of gratitude, and allows me to see the unexpected bonuses.

In that space we get to appreciate the challenges we face and get present to just how wonderful our lives really are… and that can only be a great thing, wouldn’t you agree?

 

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When the game changed…

When the game changed for you, what was it that made you finally take action?

What were the emotions and thoughts going through your body and your mind?

Whatever they were, they were powerful enough for you to know that life could not continue on the trajectory it was heading; without serious consequences.

Isn’t it sad that it takes something so painful, shocking or traumatic for so many of us to ‘wake up and smell the coffee’?

I knew the moment I set foot onboard Bark Europa for my Atlantic Ocean crossing, life would never be the same again.  It was either going to go ‘tits up’ or better than I could ever imagine.

Making the choice to invest in my next level of seamanship education, working on my next series of books and completing the next leg of my global book tour promoting my books was a HUGE step for me; and it had nothing to do with being out on the ocean for three months.

You see, for many of us trust is something that has been broken time and time again.  It has become our most prized possession, our most valued commodity, and we keep people at a distance for a whole plethora of reasons.

Abuse, betrayal, secrecy, fear; they are all part and parcel of why we don’t trust others.

For me, learning to trust others, was more about learning to trust myself, to trust myself, to trust others. Yes, you read that right, and no the repitition isn’t a mistake.

Learning to trust our own instincts, and learning to trust people at their word, can be a huge challenge for many of us; especially when it comes to women trusting other women.

And especially when it comes to our businesses, our livelihoods, the security of our family’s future.

Having had businesses with my ex-husband and fellow entrepreneurs in the past, embarking on a business venture by myself took a lot of soul searching.  A trust and a faith in myself that “I could do this!”

I always knew I would have a hugely successful business, measured on my own terms of success, not others.

I was confident in my abilities to run a business, but when I became a single parent, this was when the game changed for me the first time.

And I mean REALLY changed.

I was a lone wolf.  Trust went out the window, and yet I was determined to make my business a success.

Curve ball after curve ball, I managed to perfect the swing of the bat and knock them all for six, but deep down I was still unable to trust others to help me grow my business.

Why?

Because I still didn’t trust myself.

I questioned everybody, not just who they were and who they claimed to be, but their track records, the recommendations, and the motives behind their motives; the ones they were not even aware of.

Major paranoia set in, and I had to start a much deeper healing process.  It wasn’t enough to grunt and groan in the dojo during martial arts workout, expelling all the negative energy, I had to go deeper.

Hiring a VA was a big deal, especially as I had to give her passwords and access to emails and social media accounts for her to do her work.

The trust trigger went into overload and another round of inner healing had to take place.

A few months in, and although I thoroughly enjoyed this woman’s humour and drive, she started telling me what I needed to do to be successful.

Er…. I don’t think so love!

There was no way she was going to tell me how to run my business, THIS WAS MY BUSINESS!

Embarking on another journey was when the game changed again.  This time it was a more positive experience.

I met people on this 12 week online programme who got me, and 5 years later some of us are still cheering each other on and supporting each other.

One of the most beautiful things about joining a global online community of fellow learners is the friendships you make along the way, not just the insights, ‘a-ha! moments’ and awakenings along the way.

Realising many of us had similar experiences, struggles and blockages made us all feel more confident, and we knew we were no all alone and feeling like we didn’t get it, or not moving fast enough.

We were all where we were supposed to be and in the right place for all these lessons to take place; we had to trust the process.

And there was that 5 letter ‘T’ word raising it’s dangerous little head again.

You see, when we are on a journey of growth, of becoming the very best version of self, we get present to what it is that triggers something deep inside of us.

These places deep inside of us which have us respond aggressively, or run away from the things which make us uncomfortable, need healing; and it is only when we allow ourselves to heal from these deep wounds that we can really start to accelerate in all areas of life.

Crossing the Atlantic for me was like crossing the finish line of a long journey, one I knew once I had passed it, I would be ready to go to the next level.

I believed I had the right people on my team.  I had trusted them to honour their words, the ones they spoke to me, and put out there into the world.

I was confident that I would return to land and my business would be in a stronger position.

Unfortunately it wasn’t.

In fact, for the very first time in 21 years I experienced what it was like to not have made a sale in my businesses.

I felt like the wind had well and truly been knocked from my sails.

A track record of 21 years broken because I had trusted the wrong people with my business.

And what happened… yep, you guess it, that 5 letter word came back to haunt me and I had to go deeper into why I had trusted the wrong people.

Looking back now, just 5 months on, I have learnt some very valuable lessons, and I know these people came into my life to show me where the gaps were in my business, as well as my own leadership and responsibility.

My savings may have been almost wiped out, and the fund I’d created for an emergency flight and accomodation back in the UK to see my boys gone over night, but the learning has been valuable.

My savings are building again, the UK emergency fund is almost what it was and a new team has been built.

The global book tour is still underway and even though here in South America we are still in quaratine for being healthy, with no news on when the borders are to reopen on land or sea, I am more excited about the future than ever.

My goal of publishing 11 books in 2020 is still on target, three of which will be written by me and the others will be books written by my clients.

The new name for my publishing company has been sorted, and will publish books other publishers consider ‘too hot to handle’, gifting authors with a powerful story to make a huge difference in the world a platform and community to thrive in.

The Trilogy of Life Itself is having a make over and being released on even more platforms making it easier for everyone to get their hands on a copy of each one.

My first biography about an incredible woman who is leading the way and ignoring all the rules by simply being herself will be released in the next couple of months; so my laptop has had a hammering and my hands are ready for a full on manicure I can tell you!

With four online courses being launched in the next month, all designed with business owners and  budding authors in mind, I am making sure my business never has a break in the sales cycle ever again.

You see when the game changed for me, it changed in such a powerful way, one that lit a fire under my arse and made me rethink the people in my life, the way I do business, and the way I show up.

I didn’t embark upon this journey away from my boys and two fur babies to waste my time and not achieve everything I set out to do.  My boys are watching, and for me, that is the most powerful call to action I will ever have.

So I invite you, right now, to consider when the game changes for you, what will that look like? What would need to happen for you to take action like never before? And can you simply choose to take that action now, before it’s too late?

And as always, if you want to have a call with me to see what’s possible, then all you have to do is click on this link and book an appointment.

And if you are a woman who wants to dive in and take action right now, sign up for the Phoenix Rising: 21 Day Challenge which has just been lauched.

It is designed with the focused and driven woman in mind who wishes to alchemise a certain idea into reality, whether it is a new business, a community project, a house move or a global movement.

Maybe you are recently single and need to create a new vision for your future, whatever you want, this 21 Day Challenge is guaranteed to get you moving, provided you play full out and show up for yourself each and every day.

It’s already proven to create EPIC results in the lives of the women who have taken part, and the lives of those who these ladies are working with.

So again, I ask you, think back to when the game changed for you last time and consider what was it that made you finally take action?

Are you going to allow yourself to go there again, albeit it in a different way, or are you going to take action now?