Choose to Challenge This International Women’s Day

Ladies, it’s been a year…2020 has been challenging to say the least; there were numerous job losses, new homeschooling demands, as well as a rise in figures of domestic abuse.

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It’s ok if you’re feeling a bit downtrodden and defeated at the moment, but today is International Women’s Day –  let’s use this opportunity to reignite ourselves and champion the women in our lives.

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International Women’s Day first began on March 8th 1911, and it took some pretty courageous women to get us there. Let’s take inspiration from the women before us and those around us and strive forward. The theme for International Women’s Day this year is ‘Choose to Challenge’. We have a choice; do we stay in our comfort zone and let life just tick on as it has been? Or do we get back in the driver’s seat, take control and choose to challenge? – Now is the opportunity to redefine how we want the rest of this year to go. At PUSH, we are using today to mark a new beginning, shifting our mindset to propel ourselves forward and away from our limiting beliefs.

Mindset – Overcome your limiting beliefs

According to PUSH Coach and Psychologist Nova Cobban, to shift your mindset, you first need to figure out what limiting beliefs hold you back. What do you believe to be true? Only when you define your beliefs can you begin to challenge them and realise that, more often than not, our fear is what gets in the way between us and our goal.

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Once you name the beliefs you hold about yourself, you need to own them. You need to accept things about yourself even if you want to change them. This is where self-compassion comes in. There’s no point beating yourself up about the way you may currently be living your life, it got you to where you are now, but perhaps this pattern doesn’t serve you anymore. When you compassionately thank yourself for what you have done to get to where you are now, you can begin to move forward.

Take Control – Get out of the passenger seat of your own life

The next time you notice yourself in a difficult situation, unsure what to do, check-in with yourself. Is your immediate inclination to go with the familiar course of action you’ve always taken? This will, more often than not, keep you in the same cycle. This is fine if you’re happy with where you’re at; however, if you want to make changes in your life, stop and ask yourself, what do you want?

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Are you a people pleaser? Peter Hall, who has been delivering diversity, inclusion and leadership programmes for more than 20 years, says these are the people who often suffer the most by allowing others to dictate who they are and what they do.

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What feels familiar feels safe, but we’re not going to change if we’re never challenged.

Redefine – What do you want your life to look like?

Divide your life into ‘assets’ and ‘liabilities.’ Your assets are the good things about your life – hobbies, friends, career, relationships – and your liabilities are the things that let you down. See which assets you can boost and which of the liabilities you can let go of. When you’ve determined where you are currently, you can start to look at where you want to be. Set yourself goals, as big or small as you’re comfortable with, and plot a path towards them.

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“You have to ask yourself what do I want to feel like and what should life look like, and how do I get there?” – Cate Sevilla, Editor & Journalist

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Now you get to carry out your plan! Growth requires continuous effort; we need to continuously check-in and question ourselves; Given that this is what I say I want, are my current thoughts, feelings and actions taking me towards that or away from it?  

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Doing things differently might be intimidating at first, but growth happens outside your comfort zone. 2020 was a pretty terrible year for everyone, but the bad times are followed by the brilliant; What do you want your brilliant to look like?