Guess Who is Six today!

How do you write a post you never thought you would write? Six years ago, the idea to start PurposefulMe Blog to share my learnings, thoughts and experiences to help others on their journeys to becoming the best versions of themselves came to me. I didn’t know how long I would write it for or how much I would have to say. The one thing I can say is that I definitely didn’t see much past one or two years before the blog would be retired because I saw it as an assignment with a start and end date. Six years on and 312 weekly posts shows there’s been a lot to say.

In my anniversary posts, I love to write about my reflections, share some learnings and extend my appreciation to all my readers, subscribers and especially to those who champion me by diligently sharing the posts. This post won’t be much different; the lessons will be dotted within the stories so you need to treasure hunt for the nuggets.

A lot has happened over the past 6 years starting with me taking a career break, launching the blog and publishing my second book, The Purposeful Life Project.

The world experienced a global pandemic which the average person didn’t see coming and one that changed the way we work, connect and communicate with others. This season taught me the importance of not waiting for change to be imposed on us. There are always precautions we can take, skills we can develop and new ways of working.

I went back to full time work at the tail end of the pandemic and took part in MasterChefUK 2022 competition where I made it to the top 6 as a semi-finalist. Again this wasn’t something I saw coming but after lots of posts about being prepared and ready to seize the opportunities that are gifted to us, I had to live out the lessons I had repeatedly shared.

Taking part in the competition opened a lot of new doors for me and opportunities to start to build my skills, knowledge and contacts in the food industry ultimately leading to having my own weekly food column in my local papers. A friend (Priya Mandiva) suggested I approach the local paper and her words were, ‘do it, just do it’ so I bolstered up the courage to make a cold call that resulted in ‘Yemi’s Food Stories’ in ‘The Stray Ferret’.

In previous posts, I have called out the importance of mentors, coaches and accountability partners and those that fall into these groups have challenged and championed me to demand more of myself and venture into new territories. This is a reminder to leverage what they have to offer and have the courage to face your fears and just do it.

As these new doors have opened up, I am starting to be seen as an expert of some sort and there are times when ‘imposter syndrome’ creeps up on me making me take these views with a pinch of salt and I have to catch myself to stop any self-sabotage that could follow. For help with imposter syndrome, check out Conquering Imposter Syndrome 1 and Conquering Imposter Syndrome 2 posts.

I have been privileged to meet many industry experts, local celebrities and dignitaries and whilst these present great photo opportunities for sharing on social media, I have learnt to focus on the bigger picture of purposeful and meaningful connections opting for real conversations and connections over taking a photo. The right opportunities to take pictures happen as these connections bloom into friendships, shared passions and projects. This is a reminder to focus on the bigger picture and avoid distractions of immediate gratification over long term gains from making connections and relationship building.

If I had thought of today six years ago, I doubt that it would happen because the thought of what to write in over 300 posts would have been overwhelming. That is why it’s important to break large goals into bite size milestones and create a simply plan to achieve them. It’s great to have a vision but it is more important to create a realistic path towards achieving it. My approach is to focus more on what I have to say and less on how long I would need to keep the blog going for.

Six years of consistently creating posts has helped me to form good habits of paying attention, being present, continuous learning from others and helped me to write in all manners of places from busy airports, to trains and in car journeys. The commitment to write has encouraged this versatility and writing has become even more of a second nature for me. I have learnt how to ignore the noises and zone in to meet my deadlines. Commitment and dedication, showing up no matter what will create the habits you need to be successful in your field.

I have to get better at Time management to continue to deliver quality contents and managing the demands of work and life is more challenging so to celebrate this anniversary, I would love for any non subscribers to subscribe directly to get the post as soon as it goes live. Consider this your birthday gift to me; and I thank you.

To subscribe, scroll down to the end of the post in the blue coloured section; add your email address and click the Subscribe button.

To help me manage my workload from 1st January 2024, I will only send the post to WhatsApp Groups. If you usually get this via WhatsApp, find the post useful and don’t want to miss out, please subscribe. Alternatively read it on Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram or bookmark the website www.purposefulme.co.uk

It has been a wonderful ride for the last six years and I continue to look forward to sharing my thoughts with you. Thank you for being a part of my journey, diligently sharing it with others and for encouraging me to dig deep each week.