It just crossed my mind that I made one of the boldest moves of my life, both professionally and personally, four years ago. I walked out!
I walked out of the last businesses I co-founded. Actually, this specific business I considered my second baby as I was the Managing Director of it and I ran it from day 1 (the “let’s explore this venture” day) until the day I left 4.5 years later. It was number 3 of 4 businesses I co-founded over the duration of 5.5 years. And yet, I walked out of it taking nothing and leaving behind my blood, sweat, and tears.
I decided to leave the business because my partner and I were no longer seeing eye to eye. It was more eye to foot even by that point in time. I walked out because I felt like I failed and there was nothing more I could do to grow my baby. I walked out because I felt like I let myself down when I couldn’t build a legacy out of this one outlet for the business. I walked out now knowing what to do next, at least beyond putting in the last of my savings, and time and effort into completing the requirements of my doctoral degree.
What I hadn’t realized when I walked out that day was…
- I had indeed built a million-dollar business (in revenues) in less than 2 years single-handedly,
- I had gained TONS of experiential knowledge through that business (and the other 3 businesses and the countless initiatives) that shaped me personally and professionally into becoming who I am today,
- I still had so much potential in me that I hadn’t even tapped into yet,
- I was actually walking into an adventure to uncover my purpose and manifest my dream of supporting others see the brighter side of life’s tests,
- Walking out was the biggest leap of faith I had taken to date as I stood up, possibly for the first time in my life, and claimed that I deserved better than that.
I look back at that period of my life fondly now in spite of the fact that it took me a good 2 years after walking out to remain angry, broken and defeated. Yet, it now reminds me how much inherent power I have within me. It is a testament that most of the time we underestimate what we are actually capable of until we are thrown into the pool of uncertainty and the only option is to sink or swim.
I walked out, and I started over. And yet, it wasn’t a restart. It was merely a pivot towards a journey of tests and trials, self-discovery, and ultimately, gradual fulfillment.
Sometimes we need to walk out to be able to walk onto a new path.
We need to walk out to slide down self-doubt and gain the trajectory required to propel us into self-fulfillment.
We ought to walk out to go and seek ourselves.
What have you walked out of/on lately?
