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7:30am

The sound of the school bell reverberates off the concrete walls.

I slip into my brand new navy blue one-piece Speedo, novelty and excitement coursing through my veins. 

It was the first day of my sophomore year, and I was a new member of the swim team. 

That meant my first class of the day was swimming practice!

My friend Kyra encouraged me to join the swim team when I told her I needed a PE credit. She’d been on the swim team for years and thought I’d really enjoy it. 

“It’s like a pool party every morning!” 

Swimming at school sounded like it shouldn’t be allowed. I signed up the next day. 

Goggles affixed firmly to my head, I walked out of the locker room and joined my team next to the pool. The coach blew the whistle, and I dutifully jumped in. 

My pool party illusions shattered the moment my body made contact with the freezing water. 

And to add insult to injury… the pool was DEEP. You couldn’t touch the bottom anywhere in the whole damn pool! 

The assignment was to tread water for THIRTY MINUTES.

I had never (successfully) played any sport, nor did I have any history of exercising. How on earth was I supposed to tread water for a full class period? 

My life flashed before my eyes. 

Was this really how it would end for me? 15 years old, wearing a speedo, drowning in an indoor pool? 

Miraculously, I survived. 

The next thing I knew, I was peeling off my wet swimsuit (ugh), towel drying my hair, tying my shoes, and marching straight to the scheduler’s office to request a transfer to literally anything else.

Some people say I should’ve stuck it out. 

“Give it time! You’ll get stronger, and it’ll start to feel FUN!” 

I say I hadn’t yet lost the ability to listen to my intuition. 

I knew unequivocally that what just happened wasn’t for me. No amount of strength training or mindset shifting was going to make me enjoy submerging myself in cold water at 7:30am every day for the next year of my life.

There was no doubting or judging myself. I knew I didn’t want to do it, and I demanded to leave. 

Most of us lose that clarity somewhere between 15 and 25. 

We start to succumb to pressure from our friends, family, colleagues, society…

We force ourselves into little boxes by doing what we think we should be doing, even though it doesn’t make us happy. 

How does this show up in your business?

For many entrepreneurs, it shows up in the form of offering services we don’t really want to provide. Or marketing to an audience we don’t really want to serve. 

We’re doing the work we think we should be doing for the people we think we should be doing it for. Even though it doesn’t make us happy. 

For example, being a therapist doesn’t make me as happy as it used to. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about how much longer I’ll continue being a therapist. 

When I pause to ask myself what my unapologetic 15 year-old self would do, the answer is clear. Take off the speedo. Pick the class that makes you happy. 

Obviously, it’s not that simple, but it is illuminating to think about what our intuitive selves would do if our grown up thinking selves would get out of the way. 

So, are you doing anything in your business that no longer feels exciting? Or maybe never felt exciting? 

Are you showing up in a certain way because you think that’s how you’re supposed to do it… but know deep down inside that you want something different? Reply and let me know. Maybe we can support each other in moving towards what we really want.