A light in all the darkness, the power of validation

I thought I would create a conversation today about the issues of how we validate ourselves 
I have just written this post on Instagram, this is not a bragging moment about my OBE, it is actually the start of explaining that no matter what external validation we gain, it is our deep feelings we hold inside us that will really hold us back or allow us to come alive.

Without exception, everyone I talk to has a deep issue around their self worth

This is number 15 in my book serialisation

Why do so many of us suffer issues around our worth? Knowing this is critical to creating a life we WANT to lead, a business that we are in control of and the boundaries we must have to protect ourselves

Let’s face it, anyone in their mid 40s plus has worked in a hugely disrupted economy, combined with massive expectations of their ambitions and additional stress of the socially connected world online that can pull us into comparison and anxiety of keeping up.

Self value is a huge contributor to our confidence to market and sell ourselves.

In this part of my book, I am sharing the power of external validation, however, as you learn later in my book, real self worth and validation has to come from inside you, no amount of external validation can change the belief systems we carry from our childhood and past. This is the most powerful aspect of our experience of working with our Masterminds and the greatest shift that we can all build from.

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A light in all the darkness, the power of validation

I worked like crazy during the period from the loss of Ecademy through to 2015 – those were four very tough years. I was running on empty, working 16 hours a day, using up huge amounts of mental energy, travelling the UK to speak and evangelise our business of helping youths. In November 2013, I received a letter awarding me an OBE for ‘Ecademy and our Contribution to Entrepreneurship in the Social Digital Economy’ – it was a spark of utter joy. The shock of this was enormous and its impact was life changing for me. I had a warmth inside me that I will never lose. At last we had been recognised for what we had done. Ecademy was no longer part of our lives, but what we had done had been acknowledged at the highest possible level.
The impact of awards and the recognition they bring cannot be underestimated. The validation and sense of self-worth was priceless. The Queen ‘had packed my parachute’, (you will understand this statement later in the book).