The Kinetic People Development journey started in October 2019.
Having worked in professional service firms for over 15 years and as a director of a training company for another 5 years, a few unexpected events last year allowed me to follow my dream of running my own company.
At the time it was tough. You think you are on one trajectory and then all of a sudden, your life turns upside down and you are confronted with choices, so many choices.
I remember feeling overwhelmed, underprepared and quite frankly, like I wasn’t worthy. Looking back, it wasn’t a fun time. However, we never know how resilient we are, until we need to be. Which reminds me of Mike Tyson’s famous quote “Everyone has a plan, until they get punched in the mouth!”.
Well, that’s kind of how it felt, life had sucker punched me and I had two choices: lay down or get up! I chose the latter. Starting a business at any time is stressful and challenging. Starting a business a few months before a global pandemic shuts down every country in the world, well that’s just plain nuts!
Like everyone, I was forced to do a lot of soul searching during lockdown and one of the things that helped was our Kinetic Sessions. These came about as a desire to provide a little inspiration and help in the face of all the anxiety and worry. Check them out when you have some time: YouTube Kinetic Sessions
Some of you who are reading this may be thinking, now is the perfect time to re-evaluate your life and start a new venture. And yes, just as in 2008 after the financial crash, some amazing companies are being launched from bedrooms and kitchen tables all over the world. Did you know Airbnb, Groupon, and WhatsApp were all launched during the global financial crisis?
And while I celebrate the entrepreneur/solopreneur/mumpreneur in you, my advice would be, do your research! Speak to people you know that have leaped. Find out the realities, like getting up at 5am (or earlier sometimes) because you have to start that piece of work you have been thinking about for the last hour and a half.
Before making the leap, could you start your idea as a side hustle? Could you give yourself a chance to prove the concept first? What planning have you done? What’s your contingency in case things do not match your timeframes?
Don’t get me wrong, running your own business is amazing. However, I had 7 years prior to learn the ropes. I also have an amazing support network and wonderful clients whose successes we share.
There is nothing better for me than seeing someone we work with get promoted and achieve more than they thought was possible. I also love bringing new information on behavioural agility and the psychology of performance to teams.
And so, the real reason I missed our birthday was because I was so focussed on: an upcoming client session and the supporting marketing activity; I had my head in book detailing the psychology of negotiations ("Never Split the difference" by Chris Voss an ex FBI negotiator); and preparing our second quarters income and expenditure for our accountant, that I committed the cardinal sin of not making a bigger song and dance about our first birthday. My apologies to the team. Luckily, I had linked messages from my amazing professional network to remind me. And, thank you everyone.
So, with a few months to go before we wave goodbye to 2020, I’d just like to say, 2021, BRING IT ON!