Being Intentional at the Women at Work Conference
So I took Sunday off from writing, I wish I could tell you it was for something exciting, but it wasn’t. My body was telling me I needed to rest and when I woke up with a migraine I knew that was what I needed to do. So with an ice pack, medicine, essential oils, and my bed, I binge watched NCIS on Netflix all day. If you followed me on Instagram ( yes I am mentioning the ‘gram again) then you know I attended a women’s conference a few weekends ago. In keeping with my create goal,I decided that each month I want to find a workshop or conference to attend that will not only empower me but also gives me a chance to create time for self-care and for learning. January, I attended the JOY workshop and in February it was all about listening to Lysa Terkeurst and this month it was not only about empowering women but also supporting a fellow blogger who I met back in May when I went on a bus tour to Fayetteville.
When I saw Nicole post about the conference she would be speaking at, and seeing it was about 20 minutes from my house, I knew that I had to go not only because it would be a great opportunity to learn things but also I would get a chance to support an amazing fellow blogger, Nicole from The Doctorette.
Attending events like these are always better when you can get a friend to go with you, so of course, Emily from the farm, went with me. Plus I couldn’t think of a better person that I would want to spend a Saturday morning with than Emily. After a few misturns, we finally made it to the conference. We checked in and got coffee, muffins, and fruit and set in to listen to empowering women.
Dr. Nicole Cranley (Nicole) was the first to speak. She is such a sweet person and I knew I wanted to be there to hear her speak and to support her. Her topic was Overcoming the Imposter Syndrome. This is something that all of us at one time have felt. To sum it up we are our own worst critic. During her talk, Nicole did an exercise where she said a statement about basically not valuing ourselves and if we have ever felt that way you were supposed to make a little check mark. Of the 10 or so statements that she called out over ½ of the room had checked off more than five. So that is big as women we often feel undervalued in society but we also tend to be the ones who undervalue our worth as well. So how do we cope with this or prevent it? Nicole gave us some simple steps to incorporate into our life.
- Accept the “F” Word- Failure. Realize that it is okay to fail. And start to think that rejection and failure are opportunities for growth. Just because a project failed it doesn’t mean you are a failure.
- Redefine success- Realize that success is not measured by achievements but instead measured by your bravery to still want to reach your goal even after you have failed.
- Redefine and Own Our Successes- Don’t say I got here by sheer luck and opportunity. Instead except that, you have worked hard to get where you are.
- Accept compliments- Sometimes as women that is the hardest thing for us to do. So Nicole suggested that each day or week sit down and take a moment to think about all that you have succeeded at. Write down one thing you have succeeded at each do and soon you will be able to see a difference in not only yourself but in the way you interact with others.
At the end of her talk, she said one thing that really stood out to me.
Your Comfort Zone is a beautiful place but nothing will ever grow there. – Dr. Nicole Cranley @thedoctorette_
After Nicole spoke, we broke up into three groups. I was a little disappointed that Emily and I couldn’t stay together because it seemed like everyone else knew each other but we went along with the flow.
So after a kick pit stop, I went to the workshop called “The Game of Work”. It was presented by Frieda Clark. This breakout session was a little shorter than the other ones but there were a few gems that came out of this.
Comparison to others can be the death of joy. I mean seriously how true is that. I have stopped spending so much time on social media just because of that.
Failure is not trying. And learn from failure and even get a laugh out of it, if you can. Because you have to be able to laugh to get through the day.
The last session of the day was by Lorri Lofton from Gracefully 5417. She talked about the Glow Effect. What is the GLOW effect you ask? It is actually really simple when you think about it.
G– Guard Your Heart
L– Love Yourself – being intentional in finding time daily to put yourself first
O– Open to New Opportunities
W– Walk in Your Purpose – Don’t waver from your journey and be intentional.
I can honestly say that having this idea in my head of the GLOW Effect has helped me to stay on track and intentional in my goals.
Attending this event has given me the courage to step outside of my comfort zone and take huge some huge steps into adventures I never would have thought of doing before, like driving to Raleigh by myself, which is huge for me because I hate interstates.
