Who can help you keep going?

“I am distressed, almost discouraged, and fatigued to the point of feeling slightly ill. What I am doing is no good, and in spite of your confidence I am very much afraid that my efforts will all lead to nothing.”

Claude Monet, in a letter to Gustave Geffroy, 1889, courtesy of Tim Ferris in his latest 5 Bullet Friday email

Monet is my favourite impressionist. I can and have gone to galleries in Edinburgh, London and Paris and gazed for long periods at the texture and brushstrokes of his work, as well as visiting his gardens at Giverny, where you can still see the scene depicted above, almost unchanged over more than a century.

Yet, like all of us as humans, and as illustrate by his thoughts in is letter to a friend above, he sometimes felt down, discouraged. Very likely he felt what we now call imposter syndrome, a lack of self-worth.

If you are the type of leader who does look to be brave, to stretch, to push boundaries as you look to grow your impact for your business and community, such doubts are also amplified by what you are looking to achieve being outside the norm. Beyond all of that, we are living in very tough times through this pandemic, times that can lead to further accentuation of such feelings. So, now more than ever, it is important to have people we can turn to who can help keep us going through hard times.

One caveat here when you are considering who can be that type of person for you. It is not enough to simply have a cheerleader, as they may encourage you without knowing who you are and what you truly are capable of. No, those you need around you to keep going must understand you, your abilities, your passions, your levels of abilities and drive.

Who do you have for this?

PS at this time I have space for one or two such leaders as clients. Being that person is core to what I provide to my clients. Perhaps we can talk about that? It may or may not be a fit for you, however I can promise you I will seek to understand what you can achieve, what potential you have to realise, then you will leave encouraged.