Hi friends,
I hope you’ve had a beautiful week.
I've been thinking a lot about relationships recently.
(No, not the romantic kind - although they’re often on my mind too!)
And I've come to realise something: relationships aren't just important. They're everything.
It's relationships that hold us up. Not frameworks, not strategies, not positive thinking. People.
- It's the friend who texts "I'm thinking of you" at exactly the right moment.
- My colleague who takes something off my plate without being asked.
- The client who says "Take all the time you need" and actually means it.
These relationships - they're not soft stuff. They're the infrastructure that keeps us standing when everything else falls apart.
But here's the thing: the most important relationship you can have is the one with yourself.
Someone said this in a workshop last night: "The way you speak to yourself determines everything."
And they're right. Because nobody will catastrophise more than you. Nobody will beat you up harder than you. And invariably, what you need to recover from isn't what's actually happening - it's from what you're telling yourself about what's happening.
- Lost a client? Reality: tighter cash flow for a month. Your brain: "You're a fraud. The business is collapsing."
- Team member quits? Reality: need to hire someone. Your brain: "You're a terrible leader. This is the beginning of the end."
Our relationship with ourselves determines the stories we tell ourselves and it’s these that have the likelihood of doing so much more damage than the actual events.
And what about relationships at work? Well, they’re everywhere and everything.
- Every sale? A relationship.
- Every opportunity? A relationship.
- Every recovery from failure? Supported by relationships.
But also: every moment you can keep going when life gets hard? That's relationships, too.
The businesses that thrive aren't just the ones with the best strategies. They're the ones built on genuine human connection.
The practice that changes everything...
1. Catch yourself catastrophising
Next time something goes wrong, notice the gap between what actually happened and what you're telling yourself about it.
2. Build your reality-check network
You need people who'll lovingly remind you that one mistake doesn't mean you're a failure. Who'll sit with you in the hard stuff without trying to fix it?
3. Invest in relationships before you need them
The relationships sustaining me now were built over years of showing up for each other.
Here's what I know after almost 50 years on this planet: relationships are what make us human. They're what get us through. They're what make any of this worth doing.
The relationship with yourself determines how you experience everything else.
The relationships with others determine whether you do it alone or held.
And in the end, it's not about being strong enough to handle life solo. It's about being wise enough to know you don't have to.
All my love,
Cate x
Hi friends,
I hope you’ve had a beautiful week.
I've been thinking a lot about relationships recently.
(No, not the romantic kind - although they’re often on my mind too!)
And I've come to realise something: relationships aren't just important. They're everything.
It's relationships that hold us up. Not frameworks, not strategies, not positive thinking. People.
- It's the friend who texts "I'm thinking of you" at exactly the right moment.
- My colleague who takes something off my plate without being asked.
- The client who says "Take all the time you need" and actually means it.
These relationships - they're not soft stuff. They're the infrastructure that keeps us standing when everything else falls apart.
But here's the thing: the most important relationship you can have is the one with yourself.
Someone said this in a workshop last night: "The way you speak to yourself determines everything."
And they're right. Because nobody will catastrophise more than you. Nobody will beat you up harder than you. And invariably, what you need to recover from isn't what's actually happening - it's from what you're telling yourself about what's happening.
- Lost a client? Reality: tighter cash flow for a month. Your brain: "You're a fraud. The business is collapsing."
- Team member quits? Reality: need to hire someone. Your brain: "You're a terrible leader. This is the beginning of the end."
Our relationship with ourselves determines the stories we tell ourselves and it’s these that have the likelihood of doing so much more damage than the actual events.
And what about relationships at work? Well, they’re everywhere and everything.
- Every sale? A relationship.
- Every opportunity? A relationship.
- Every recovery from failure? Supported by relationships.
But also: every moment you can keep going when life gets hard? That's relationships, too.
The businesses that thrive aren't just the ones with the best strategies. They're the ones built on genuine human connection.
The practice that changes everything...
1. Catch yourself catastrophising
Next time something goes wrong, notice the gap between what actually happened and what you're telling yourself about it.
2. Build your reality-check network
You need people who'll lovingly remind you that one mistake doesn't mean you're a failure. Who'll sit with you in the hard stuff without trying to fix it?
3. Invest in relationships before you need them
The relationships sustaining me now were built over years of showing up for each other.
Here's what I know after almost 50 years on this planet: relationships are what make us human. They're what get us through. They're what make any of this worth doing.
The relationship with yourself determines how you experience everything else.
The relationships with others determine whether you do it alone or held.
And in the end, it's not about being strong enough to handle life solo. It's about being wise enough to know you don't have to.
All my love,
Cate x
