Courage.

Courage comes from doing, not from thinking.⁠

It's something one of my mentors said in a recent webinar. ⁠

And although obvious, it was a bit A-HAish for me. I thought about all the time I spend just thinking, consuming what others are doing but feeling a bit of imposter syndrome paralysis when it comes to my own doing. Creating a long list of to-dos for the day only to accomplish NONE OF THEM because I didn't have the courage to try. Then I cut myself some slack - ok so I didn't quite complete all that BUT...

Perhaps as small business owners, courage is the decisions we make each day just to get one step closer to our goal or (honestly) just to STAY in business. And perhaps it's just having the...

Courage to take a leap of faith that you will be successful

Courage to stop looking for a just-incase-I-fail job on LinkedIn

Courage to hire a sales coach when you really can't afford it

Courage to say no to a project that just doesn't feel right

Courage to say yes to a project that makes you scared

Courage to walk away from a project where you no longer bring value

Courage to hire your first employee

Courage to fire your last one

Courage to SAY and DO the right thing, ALWAYS

Courage to apologize when you should

Courage to stay positive despite the odds, the noise and the disappointments

Courage to tell you all how deeply humble I am to have you follow me

Courage to post this, knowing I might only get 1 like (Hi Mom!)

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Courage to wear a tiger necklace on a Tuesday. 🐯⁠

Let's go out and get it!

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Stay positive, ⁠

MT

24 Months Strong.

Hi! 👋 I'm Manejah (pronounced Man-e-zhay) and it's so great to meet you here. It was just over 24 months ago that I made the final, game changing decision to take a leap of faith and head out on my own. ⁠

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No big deal, right? No, actually, it was a big deal and it has been a big deal every day since. ⁠

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As you could imagine, with a big decision like this, there was a lot of back and forth on the "Can I actually do this?", "Should I do this?", "Will they like me?" Self-doubt and reoccurring doses of imposter syndrome played a huge role in my delay and uncharacteristic indecisiveness. In the end, I used the wise words of Maya Angelou: “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better”, to get me through the starting line.⁠

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And I did it. ⁠

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I launched my business. ⁠

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Something my pre-August 2018 self would never dream of being able to do. ⁠

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And the biggest discovery (or A-HA) was how I was able to see myself in a way that was so different than before. I've been many things in my almost half a century life: a Journalism student, Newbury Street waitress, seller of annuities, coder of things that required coding, Project Manager of people WAY smarter than me, PR professional, agency Partner, and a global event manager, so I've seen myself wear quite a good many pairs of shoes. ⁠But no shoes felt more comfortable than the ones I'm wearing today as a female small business owner.⁠

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It had me thinking, where have I been all this time? ⁠The answer to this question, which I am now unraveling, I'm sure has nothing to do with my own ability to get the job done. That was always there, waiting for me to be brave enough to grab it. ⁠

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If you're thinking about going out on your own but unsure, I can honestly tell you that if you're thinking about it then you likely already know what to do. ⁠I hope I can shed some light from experiences in my own story to help you with yours. ⁠

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But for now, remember, your destiny belongs only to you. ⁠

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So put your best shoes on and let's get going! ⁠

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x,⁠

Manejah⁠

Some Remote Offices are Better than Others.

No, a cramped seat with a quarter sized tray table on a Spirit flight is not ideal. But every once in a while the universe throws you a bone and you get this view, 100s of acres of space and fresh mountain air.

I'm no stranger to working remotely and mixing family and work travel with staying on top of deadlines and catching up on projects. I remember the first time I ever even worked from home - it was the winter of 2001 and I was working as a project manager at Akamai. My manager handed me a laptop the day before an impending New England snow storm and he told me to stay home. I'm not going to lie, It felt strange. SO QUIET.

Decades later, working remotely is my life. And as a new small business owner with a child in high school (and a family who has a deep rooted passion for travel), it's important for me to find the right balance of supporting clients with creating memorable family time. What I've learned, through years of practice, is that it's about knowing what must get done and what can safely be put on hold until I return home. This opens up and provides time and space for life. And of course, the important piece, the one we all struggle with and argue about, time to disconnect completely just to breathe in the air.

So as Feb break 2020 wraps up, I'm looking forward to being at home base (for a short while ;)), to focus on some new projects and those heavier tasks I had put on hold.

How do you balance work while being away? Have you ever chosen not to go on a personal trip because of work?