This week, something a wee bit different.
Via the wonders of LinkedIn, a couple of months back I connected with Yvonne Divita in New York. She runs a website and company called Nurturing Big Ideas, which does pretty much what it says on the tin. She enables women to turn their ideas for a business into reality.
Part of her mission is to interview women entrepreneurs and – as she calls them – Smart Women – about who they are, what they do, their view on life and how they got to where they are.
And lo and behold, she chose to interview me!
We had a lot of fun, and the conversation was different from what either of us were expecting. You can read the whole blog post about it and why she chose me here.
We talked about whether we accept that we are creative or dismiss that because we are not artistic. What is the impact of that? How would you describe yourself?
We discussed confidence, and the importance of self awareness and self belief in passing on to the next generation an ability to be honest, emotionally open and learn from mistakes. What do you pass on to your kids, or young people around you about how to learn and grow in character?
The conversation was wide ranging, and more reflective and personal than anything else I have done online. Listening back to the interview today (which is very weird!), I know that much of what I said came from the life season I am in. This is both the age and stage my children are in and the huge changes that lie ahead for us soon. But also the transient nature of our lives, brought recently into sharp focus.
Many of us live reactively: things happen to us and we react to them.
But life is too short and too precious. Instead we can choose to exercise our power to be proactive and intentional about the lives we want to live (more on that here) and the contribution and difference we want to make to those around us.
If you have a wee bit of time spare, do have a listen. And as you listen, ask yourself:
What is my biggest takeaway from this?
And what therefore can I start to do in my own life now that will make a difference?