At the age of 16, I got involved in a relationship which proved to be detrimental to my life path, too young to realise this, the years passed until my early twenties when I started to become increasingly restless, I remember spending hours staring out the window watching the world go by, feeling trapped and excluded wondering is this really all life had in store for me. My life was full of violence and turmoil and seemed to be getting worse as time passed. It’s amazing how quickly you become complacent in a situation and adopt an attitude of ‘poor me.’ Even so, all my goals I had as an ambitious teenager I felt I had tried and failed at. I started careers in hairdressing, pre-school teaching, Real Estate and tried my hand at various other careers. All left me feeling unfulfilled.
It wasn’t until I re-connected with a very wise friend of mine, and heard some home truths, that I realised my destiny was all my own making and I had no one but myself to blame for the mess I had made of my life thus far. It was an extremely hard lesson to learn and took a long time for me to figure out how to turn this bit of wisdom into a plan of action.
As fate would have it, around this same time, my Step Father offered me some casual administration work with thinkBIG magazine. I accepted, unaware that the position I was about to take on would lead me to turn everything in my life around, personal and professional.
The day I started I was so overwhelmed at meeting so many ambitious successful people, a lot who were younger than myself… I soon found my feet and everyday I was a bit more positive than the day before.
Things were starting to improve, I had a job I enjoyed, which was something I had never experienced before. I felt validated to a certain extent. I was given control over my area of work and began to feel as though I was a part of something.
Then came the news that I had Stage 3 Cervical Cancer, I was shattered, I felt that as soon as I had something I enjoyed and was positive about, life had pulled the rug out from beneath me again. I fell into serious depression and wasn’t able to pick myself back up. Those few months were a blur, between doctor’s appointments and my home life in turmoil, I put all my focus into work and was able for those 8 hours twice a week, to pretend I was one of the elite, someone going places who knew what she wanted out of life and most importantly……just how to get it.
Another wise friend (yes, I am blessed to have a few of these people in my life) taught me to meditate and quiet my mind, I found this quickly became part of my day I would look forward to. I will never forget the day the realisation came that I had only just begun my journey in life and that everything I was going through would give me the strength I needed to do so. Instead of despair and angst I felt hopeful and excited at the new prospects that lay ahead of me.
I had treatment for the cancer, which was successful and after a short recovery was back feeling fine in no time. This meant I could pour all my energy into the next stage of my ‘life-makeover.
Soon after this I was introduced to a woman, who was looking for a personal assistant to help her with her extremely successful branding company. I was so overwhelmed and in awe of her when I met her. She was confident, strong, intelligent and focused. Everything I aspired to be. However, I let fear get in the way again, fear that I would let her down, fear that I would not be good enough, would never be able to measure up to her standards, this combined with my tumultuous home life and lack of support there, I felt I had no choice but to decline the position.
Someone once told me that soul mates are not people who you have everything in common with, they are people who come into your life to inspire or impact your life in some way. This woman was the first of many for me.
Willing to change but not really sure where to go from there, her advice and direction as well as the support of my amazing friends and family, I soon after left my husband, starting out on my own for the first time in my life. I was excited, scared, hopeful and devastated all at once.
And now I am a 24yr old ‘single’ mum of a gorgeous 2yr old son, trying to juggle making a career for myself as well as motherhood. At first, things seem to get worse, it was all so hard and even though I had little support at home before, I now had none. Trying to deal with a messy separation and keep everything going was incredibly hard.
It wasn’t long before things settled a bit and everyday I would be more and more inspired by the people around me. I was amazed at how willing people were to share their wisdom and at the lengths they would go to help me find my path.
Amazing entrepreneurs, running businesses as well as teaching others how to build a successful company, the most dedicated and intelligent people, 23yr olds who have already been featured in BRW, all these resources ready and willing to help me succeed. I found the more I surrounded myself with these people the more their attitudes seemed to rub off on me.
I was soon thinking in the way they did, knowing I could achieve whatever I put my mind to, that nothing was impossible and I had as much potential as the next person.
One year on I am now the Business Development / Subscription Manger for thinkBIG working four days a week, I wake up every morning excited and anxious to see what the day brings and what I can do today to bring me one step closer to achieving everything I ever dreamed of.
I will be forever grateful for those seeing the potential in me, even when I could not see it myself. So you see, sometimes it really can be a case of who you know and with the right attitude nothing is impossible…nothing.
It is always easier to stay in something that is not working, making the change to where you want to be heading is the part that takes courage. No matter what your situation may be, despite any or all the people in your life who tell you can’t..you can! You just need to have the right mindset and think BIG!!!!
