This week I started a brand new job in a completely different company. I cannot begin to describe how I felt last Sunday night. Although I tried to remain calm on the outside, on the inside I had an unsettled feeling, a feeling of “oh no, what have I done? I should have stayed in my old company and within my comfort zone”. By Monday morning, my stomach was in knots and I certainly felt quite anxious.

However, despite feeling like this, I also had a feeling of what I can only describe as “freshness”, a new beginning for me, an opportunity to learn something new and a great sense of gratitude that I had been offered a job closer to home and with huge amounts of opportunity.

So, in this blog I am going to share with you, how I found the courage to get a new job and secondly how I got through and enjoy my 1st week without getting too overwhelmed.

Courage

Last year, I climbed Mount Kilimanjaro with my husband…and I would strongly say this was a pivotal moment in my life. Climbing one of the seven summits and successfully making it to the top has been a dream of mine for the last 10 years and part of that experience made me realise that if you put your mind to it you can go on to achieve a lot of things, especially those things within your control.

The climb was the hardest thing I have ever done physically as I suffered terrible mountain sickness. I also remember the 1st night in the tent, not sleeping a wink and thinking to myself: “What am I doing here? I want to be at home, this is totally beyond me”. However, with sheer determination and courage plus the motivation of fear of failure (which historically has been a reason for my successes) I made it to top. My husband played a massive role in getting me to the top, also the personalities and energy of the porters and guides that helped us throughout. At that time, I had not been practicing meditation as much as I am now, although I did meditate a little on the trip, I think it would have helped me enjoy it more if I had been practicing as much as I am now.

This trip also taught me a few things and made me ask myself some important questions:

Am I proud of where I have got to in my career? Can I do more? Are there further opportunities out there? The reason I questioned this, was that as we met people on the trip, these questions popped in my head as I introduced myself and got to know the group. I didn’t hear passion in my voice as I responded to their questions about my life back in the UK. This made me realise that it was time to explore other opportunities.

Since returning from the trip I now have a job at a company that I had always wanted to worked for, plus I had some potential answers to my previous misfortunes….. I now hold onto a glimmer of hope.

Self Compassion

I will explain self compassion in a bit more detail in a later blog, however this is definitely the meditation practice that allowed me to enjoy my 1st week at work to the full. Essentially, self compassion is the ability to be kind to yourself, allow yourself to be scared and daunted whist having the ability to sooth yourself. (Don’t worry I’ll explain more on this later).

I tried to treat self compassion as my friend, I visualised a person with me and telling me “It’s ok”.

Also in my 1st week, I deeply practiced the listening technique. This enabled me to really focus and absorb all the information I leant this week. It allowed me to be present and not become over-whelmed by the enormity of the change and how much I need to learn.

I end this blog with a message:

Firstly, apply courage to your everyday life; you will be amazed at what you can achieve.  Secondly be kind to yourself and you will notice how much better this can make you feel.

I have by no means mastered the above techniques but I am very curious at how much more there is to explore that can lead to increased well-being and enjoyment of life.