Look Beyond Yourself

To find our own power, success and prosperity we have to look beyond ourselves and beyond our own insecurities. I have had experience with this change in outlook in both competing in fitness shows and starting my business. I am happy I have never had anything handed to me because it taught me this lesson I'm about to share with you.

I will be straight up honest that I've never been the BEST at anything in my life.  I grew up dancing competitively and I never won first place or was the star performer. I did work my butt off and learned a lot about determination and perseverance. So naturally when I started competing in fitness shows I thought "this is my chance, this is my shot at being the best". Little did I know, this was not what life had planned for me. For the first 2 years I competed I kept pushing to strive to win and be the best . I would be proud of myself because I was improving my physique and beating my own personal best each show, but after I stepped on stage and didn't receive an award I would feel totally defeated and cry because " I wasn't good enough." It took about 2 years for me to see that  there was more to my fitness journey than just "me". This is when I started my first recipe blog "Secrets of a Fitness Model". I realized that I had more to offer than a trophy or a toned body, people were interested in what I could offer them and what made my experience unique.

After I started my blog and connected with some other women in the industry, I started to recognize and admire other people's strengths. I joined an online group called Sisters in Shape and it was an opportunity for women not to compete with each other, but celebrate and support each women's success and share our experiences with one another. This fitness thing was about less than competing  and more about connecting with like minded women. During this time period I also began talking to more women at shows. I started to become genuinely interested in other women's stories instead of being consumed in my own. I now know WHY I didn't always win. I wasn't ready for it. I wouldn't have appreciated it the way I would now. I would have allowed it to fuel more egocentric behaviour and would not have celebrated other women's wins the way I do now.

Let's fast forward to a few years later when I started my business. At this time I needed to focus on myself in a positive way. But when I launched my business it was still centered around my own experience and life. This is not how you create a purposeful company that facilitates meaningful change. I knew I had to stay true to my brand's mission in order to grow and become a successful brand. I wanted to empower women, but I couldn't do it alone. I didn't have thousands of followers or fans. I was not a model or fitness "celebrity". That's when I realized I needed to celebrate other women to discover the power of my own brand.
That is truly empowering for myself and other women.

By genuinely seeking out women whom I admired I was able to create my Squad of amazing fit and strong women that others could look up to. These women shared my vision and instead of being jealous of their bodies or Instagram following I looked beyond my own insecurity and wanted these women  on my team! Now I also seek out women to share their stories because I'm bored of my own and am humbled by hearing what other women have faced in their own fitness journeys.

Hope you enjoyed today's post, as an entrepreneur there is always room to learn and grow to transform myself and my business. 

Kelsey xo