How I Activated My Inner CEO: The Lessons -Nikki Rogers
Part 2 of a 2 Part Series in My Journey to Actualizing My Dreams
Taking a leap of faith to pursue your dreams can be terrifying. It leaves an unclear future ahead which can cause doubts. What I have learned after my personal leap of faith, is to trust yourself. Trust that you will figure everything out, and be successful. Things will work out the way that they’re supposed to, but they will not happen without that inner confidence. This is the first step in reaching your potential.
I spoke at the ‘You Are Enough’ conference in June, and decided to share my story further, to spread the message that the time is now.
“The first thing I had to do was start trusting myself. I had to start moving with confidence. Confidence is about trusting yourself. It’s trusting that you know what you know, and it’s believing that you’re going to be successful, so I had to start operating in that manner.
“My husband and I were talking about me leaving my job and he asked, rightfully so, are we going to have to cut out some spending? Tighten our belts? I confidently told him that we will absolutely be able to maintain our current lifestyle. I had absolutely no idea how much revenue I was going to be generating over the next year, but I had a plan, and I had a dream of a goal that was going to replace my 6- figure income. And that’s what I did.
“By the end of my first 12 months of being in business, I had generated 6- figures. And I was working only part-time while doing that. The year I quit my job I actually took five trips, because that’s what I had planned to do and I had confidence that I was going to be able to do it.
“The second thing I did was initiate my curiosity. To be honest, I was conditioned to be an employee. I had my first job when I was 16, and I had interned every summer during college and grad school. I really bought into that notion of getting a degree and then getting a good job, as I had done that multiple times.
“So I had to get curious about what being an entrepreneur looked like. I asked questions, I followed those who were successfully doing what I wanted to do. I read books, I listened to podcasts, I got a coach to help me shift my mindset from that of an employee to that of an entrepreneur, and now a CEO.
“The third thing I had to do was get into courageous action. The first thing I had to do in this step that took the most courage was to finally resign from my job. Now, I had a panic attack about a week before I actually resigned because I thought, what am I doing? I’m going to bankrupt my family. All these thoughts just went through my head, but I took action.
“And literally one year to the day of my mother’s home-going service, I turned in my resignation. It was the scariest thing I had ever done. That same day in the afternoon, four hours later, I got a call from a former co-worker offering me a contract to come to do work for his organization.
“I went from resigning from a job in the morning to having a contract that afternoon.
“So I say all that to say: try things out even if you’re afraid. If there’s something you want to do, just put a stake in the ground, make a commitment to it and do it. The first time you do it is not going to be great but then you will have done it once, which is more than a lot of people can say, and then you’ll know how to improve and evolve over time. I really want you all to remember that life is just too short not to do what you love. Don’t wait for the death of a loved one, or a health scare, or a professional setback in order to start doing what you love and taking the steps toward the future that only you can create. You are more than enough, just as you are. You are born with the right to thrive.”
For those of you who are ready to take that next step and take control of your life, your wealth, and your legacy. I invite you to download my free activation guide at bit.ly/activateceo.
About Nikki: Nikki Rogers is a transformation coach assisting people and organizations to grow and become sustainable entities. She is an experienced management consultant that works to bridge gaps and create opportunities for all. Nikki supports strategic visions to co-create success with other leaders.
