This isn't an actual episode. It's just me, testing out the Riverside Platform. I'm publishing this raw and unfiltered clip to prove to myself that it's "better done than perfect" as they say!

Show up, move on.

I love saving these clips to memory, even if it's only for me, to look back on one day in my entrepreneurial journey. The steps taken are just as important as the destination.

We tint our hair, cover our wrinkles, soften our stories, all to fit into the boxes society creates for us. But hiding creates distance. It builds walls between who we are and who we think we need to be.

After 2 decades of tinting my hair, I’m stopping.

It’s okay to go through ups and downs in your life. Just as long as you are chasing the right goals. Because when you’re not, you burn out. I know I did. Not only with my blog but also my podcast.

But what running taught me is that breaking my knees and a foot humbled me to appreciate my strength and fitness again.

Cause when it’s taken away, that’s when you realise how important things are in your life.

And running is definitely a big part of mine. But so is journaling and sharing my stories with others.

Before I left my job in corporate to become an entrepreneur, I did so many courses, thinking that's what I needed to be a great businesswoman. I was wrong. I learned through experience. 

But I caught myself in that spiral of analysis paralysis this week thinking that I needed to do online training to teach me how to launch my own online academy & membership. I downloaded documents and analyzed some of the gurus out there. It overwhelmed me so much that eventually, I thought I was not ready or even good enough to launch my own LinkedIn profile training. 

I was wrong. Of course, I'm good enough. Of course, I know what I'm doing. I have enough to offer and I am enough. 

People are not signing up to work with me based on the courses I've done. They need to know how I did what I did and if I can help them or not. 

My value is not in the number of certificates uploaded onto LinkedIn. It's my story and the fact that I know how to help others to rebrand themselves. 

Before you sign up for yet another course, rather go out, find someone who needs you & start helping them. You know enough already! and what you don't know, you will learn faster than that 8-week program. 

In 2017, I nearly died. I ignored the signs that my body was telling me and I ended up in ICU with a double pulmonary embolism. 

I thought it was normal to have chest pains since my job at the time was so stressful. I thought the aching body & headaches "came with the job". 

I was wrong. 

No organization, employer, boss, team, or project is more important than your health. 

It was almost too late for me to learn this lesson. 

Make sure your focus for 2023 is health. If you don't have that, everything else fails.

I’m going to share a secret with you that I think only a handful of people know.

A secret I kept hidden because I was embarrassed. And ashamed.

I’ve kept it a secret because I felt it made me look weak, especially working in corporate.

And up until a few years ago, I thought I would get away with never revealing my secret.

Until I showed my face on social media...and that’s when I felt like such a fake...

What I've learned over the years is that nobody cares about your insecurities as much as you do! 

Do the hard things. Trust me, it matters. Because courage matters. 

Let me start by being honest with you...

I was embarrassed that I had announced I was starting a podcast but became overwhelmed that perhaps I hadn't done enough research into it. I have no fancy tools, no soundproof room, and no mic, I'm sitting in my bedroom, on the carpet, speaking into my phone. I went into complete analysis paralysis. Just like I did 4 years ago when I was stuck in a job I hated. 

But my message is what's important. Don't allow fear to stop you from taking that first step. Don't worry about making mistakes. Don't worry about what other people think. Don't overthink it.

Get it done and move on! Because courage matters when you do hard things that change your life!

You're afraid to make a decision that will fundamentally change the direction of your life. You're afraid of being judged by your work colleagues, family, and friends. So you hold back, never showing the true you. 

I lived like that too. A life paralyzed by fear. For many years. 

But once I made those first steps, everything changed and I'll never look back.

*SUBSCRIBE* to this podcast where I will be sharing my journey of some of the changes I made that changed my life. 

I'm Bronwynne, let's talk all things about why Courage Matters.