How a decision has permanently changed my life and my path.A whole year full of surprises, co-creation and celebration!
Wow, what a year 2022! Not all years are so intense and so full of surprises. I am already very grateful for the new people who have come into my life because they have enriched me, challenged me and walked the path together with me.
That's another reason why I decided to capture this year in a blog article for me and you. So here you are reading my first personal blog article, which I wrote with dear Judith Peters (Judith Peters: Blog like nobody's reading! (sympatexter.com)) at this year's blog challenge #yearbackblog22 with over 1000 other bloggers.
In twelve highlights I give you an insight into which moments were most important to me and you will also find out why. I linked the people who are special to me because I love co-creation and without them I wouldn't be where I am now at the end of 2022.
But now it's best to leave it alone 😉 I wish you a lot of fun with it!
And for everyone who loves abbreviations, here is my list of links to the individual highlights:
Do you still like to listen to music while reading? Here you can find the playlist of my favorite songs that accompanied me in 2022:
My year in review 2022
#1: My mentor, A! like beginning and i
Anna Rischke aka A!like beginning and beginning of a great journey to myself.
On February 14th, 2022 the time had finally come. "Master Your Standing" 2022 began. With Anna and 14 great women I went on the 10 week journey to myself.
But what had happened before? At the end of 2021 I was quite frustrated in my job. Although I was successful as a consultant and in the management level, at the same time I did not feel effective.
I finally wanted to feel that I was seen and that I could use my full potential. So I decided to look for a mentor for 1:1 support for 2022 in order to change exactly that. I wanted to go for myself and my potential.
On the way back from my Christmas vacation in Freiburg, I listened to various podcasts in the car. That's when I became aware of Anna's business buddy Iris Seng. I didn't know Anna yet, but I was curious. Back in Berlin I heard the Jubiläumsfolge von Iris Podcast and she interviewed none other than Anna Rischke, her business buddy. Since the podcast was also on YouTube, I was even able to watch both of them. I was so touched by their energy that this was the moment I found my mentor.
I wrote Anna a message via her Instagram account. We made an appointment for a personal zoom call and it was clear: we work together. YES!!!
But I still had a surprise. Nothing came of my 1:1 coaching with Anna. Why? Because, guided by her intuition, she asked me if I would like to come to her group coaching instead. Phew, me and groups. I immediately felt resistance. However, this time it was resistance that felt like an opportunity for me to grow. I trusted her and chose the group. A group of 14 beautiful women who also went off on their own. And what can I say, it was a great journey together with a lot of depth, big surprises, intensive changes of perspective and deep connection. 10 weeks that changed my life forever.
I now know how valuable groups can be for me. How each one accompanied and strengthened me on my way. And what wonderful power and magic there is in walking together!
Would you like to get to know Anna yourself? 👉https://annarischke.de/
#2: My top 5 values
Why it was so valuable that I was allowed to rediscover my values.
Do you know your values? I always thought I knew them and didn't need to delve deeper into them. Loyalty, trust, reliability and depth have always been very important to me. But that these values are not my top 5 values, I was allowed to do Anna's 5-day at the beginning of 2022 "boost your standing"- Course experienced. As you have already learned, Anna has become my mentor, coach and sparring partner in 2022. Before the group coaching Master your Standing started, there was a small 5-day excursion with the boost workshop.
In a smaller group, we went through a daily morning practice in 5 days (which, by the way, I still counted as part of my daily morning practice for weeks afterwards). We were able to experience what feelings of shame and guilt actually are, which beliefs accompany us, even conditioned our behavior and how our values can change over the course of our lives.
And now you're probably really excited to see what values I've got, aren't you? I was amazed at my result:
My top 5 values: nonchalance. abundance. Spirituality. Gratitude. Joy.
Since my values are so clear to me, I also know what and why I act the way I do. They accompany me every day and also bring me back when I lose myself in moments that are stressful for me. I now know what I can refer to myself.
In addition, I embody my values and they are visible to the outside world. So you can use it as a guide, even if you don't know me personally yet. connecting values. Anyway, I'm glad you've read this far!
What is waiting for me through my values in 2023? adventure and to trust my intuition even more. what are your values Feel free to let me know in the comments or have a look at my Instagram account Post zu meinem Werten.
And if you want to find out your values yourself, I can recommend this page with the values test: https://einguterplan.de/werte-test
#3: Higher Power - My resignation and my "Yes!" to my potential
My birthday present to myself.
March 28, 2022. I did it. Through my business coaching and mentoring, I finally made the decision to really go for myself and my potential. I resigned with the idea of finally becoming self-employed. I want to build my own business based on my own strength and vision.
And phew, this step and this decision was not easy for me either. For me, this decision also means people, in the sense of leaving my previous colleagues behind. People who encouraged and challenged me. Without which I wouldn't be where I am now.
In such moments I am always humble, grateful and sad at the same time.
The picture was taken on the day I quit and had to celebrate myself first! For the courage and the go. Start before you are ready! :-) Yes! This is real. And the magical thing about it was that I had given myself the biggest birthday present because my employment ended on September 30th, 2022 and on October 1st. my birthday is. So a great start for my new beginning!
#4: Mein Breaktrough - Mein größtes Geschenk an mich selbst
A business retreat on Mallorca and my impertinence
One of my biggest highlights this year was Anna Rischke's #breakthrough retreat in Mallorca. Why was it my greatest gift to myself? Because I had never before decided on a retreat journey for myself alone. My investment in myself.
Actually, I had not planned this retreat at all. But as so often in life, some things are different than you think
My 10-week VIP business coaching with Anna ended in mid-April. At a coaching appointment with her, I said that I really wanted to get to know her business buddy, Iris Seng. And then suddenly there was the chance and invitation to do so. There was one last place for the Business Retreat in April and Iris Seng was there too. WOW! I immediately felt that it felt totally right for me and after a few organizational changes and coordination of appointments and vacations, I finally booked the retreat with Anna.
And the pictures probably speak for themselves. It was truly a breakthrough for me and an incredible time in Mallorca with
Embodiment yoga
Great breakthrough moments thanks to Anna's coaching and support
Fantastic Ayurvedic food from Stefanie, our own cook (Yoga | Yoga Comparto)
Crazy beautiful moments with the visionaries who were there and
Numerous moments of goosebumps due to our conversations with and among each other
I got such nice feedback from one of the participants that I am the "greatest impertinence" she has ever seen. For me one of the goose bumps moments, because I had always felt held back in groups and rather adapted. I was able to solve that in the last few weeks, for which I am very grateful.
So after 5 days I flew back to Berlin with numerous deep feelings and my vision for my business. I finally knew how to use my potential and how I want to be effective. And not only that, I had won great women, visionaries, as people of the heart, with whom I am still in contact today.
#5: The event "We lead differently!" and Future Leadership
Why I have a different attitude towards leadership, conflicts & communication!
In July I was finally able to meet my two mentors for organizational design again, Marc Poppenborg (Wir führen anders! – Das neue Buch von Mark Poppenborg (mark-poppenborg.com)) and Lars Vollmer (Lars Vollmer). At the event "We lead differently!" I moved in a community where we all have the same understanding of organizations and leadership. We call it Future Leadership.
Through my two training courses, the 2021/2022 training as a consultant for organizational design for agile teams and companies at the intrinsify Academy (Future Leadership | die intrinsify Akademie (future-leadership.de)) and my training in 2017 as a mediator at the Zweisicht Academy (Wirtschaftsmediation und Konfliktmanagement: ZWEISICHT), i got a different attitude towards communication. In particular, a different attitude towards conflicts and communication within an organization.
I finally understand what holds a system together and how it sustains itself.
The key to truly effective organizational design: Radical introspection and solving the really real problems.
There was a great atmosphere at the event and I took the following words with me from Lars' presentation:
You have to have a certain disrespect for authority to understand and make a difference.
The words triggered a feeling in me that I knew from other moments in a professional context. Authorities in management may also be questioned. Ultimately, they behave as contextually as all people within an organization do.
The "We lead differently!" For me, the event was further confirmation that I was on the right track with my vision.
#6: Finally South Tyrol again and at 37 degrees to Bolzano
South Tyrol: mountains, cocooning place and la dolce vita
Dieses Jahr war es endlich wieder soweit: 10 Tage Urlaub in Südtirol!
For as long as I can remember I have spent my most relaxing days in the mountains. Hiking, mountaineering, partly via ferrata and recharging in the fresh air. When I was a kid it was always an adventure. It was so nice to discover something new every time and, above all, to climb the peaks with your own strength.
I haven't been to South Tyrol for over 5 years now. So this year it should finally be that time again. It was a nine-hour drive from Berlin. I drove with my partner in one day via Munich in the direction of Brixen, because our hotel was nearby.
For me, the holiday was once again a single adventure and highlight.
The tingling feeling at first, do the pictures of the hotel live up to their promises? How will the weather be? How is the food? What are we going to do and how will we both like it?
And what can I say: we hit the bull's eye with the hotel and our holiday. Not only did we have really great weather, but our room and food was great. Basically, everything was just as coherent as I had wished. Finally seeing mountains again, climbing them and discovering new things.
The whole holiday was really a single highlight for me. Especially the trip to Bolzano at 37 degrees. Crazy hot and an experience to sit at the fish banks with a cold drink and bruschetta - pure la dolce vita!
All in all, we had a really good time and I recovered incredibly well, so that I was able to face the upcoming last working days after my return from vacation strengthened.
My holiday tips for you:
our hotel: 4*s Hotel in Natz Schabs bei Brixen in Südtirol - Seehof | Nature Retreat
Messner Mountain Museum at Kronenplatz: Museum / Messner Mountain Museen (messner-mountain-museum.it)
Fischbänke, Bozen: FISCHBÄNKE, Bolzano (Bozen) - Restaurant Bewertungen, Telefonnummer & Fotos - Tripadvisor
Geisleralm: Urige Almhütte in Südtirol - Geisleralm Villnöss Tal in den Dolomiten
Brixen: Urlaub in Brixen Südtirol - wo Stadt und Berg sich treffen
#7: My Brand Story - Flying Business Integrator & CEO Wingwoman
Not another Managementconsultant nor a normal Leadership Coach
You may have wondered why I call myself a Flying Business Integrator and CEO Wingwoman? In the last few years and especially in the first six months of 2022, I became aware of my real strengths and my potential through Anna's support. She took me back through my last 40 years. Through connecting-the-dots, connecting my golden moments in life, I recognized my common thread.
Thanks to Iris Seng, the common thread in August and September became my business story, because Iris is a business story architect and her slogan is: Your Story is Your Business - Werde sichtbar mit deiner Brandstory (irisseng.com).
With a small and fine group of 5 wonderful women, I started my 8-week journey with the Build your Brand Authority course in South Tyrol. For me the perfect time to develop my brand story for my business start.
And after 8 weeks it was there, my brand story and my brand authority. From that point on, it was clear to me that I wanted to combine my expertise in organizational design and mediation with my very own strengths. My vision and mission became even clearer:
I support female entrepreneurs to successfully build their business so that everyone in the team can use their full potential.
and I do that by:
As a Flying Business Integrator & CEO Wingwoman, I am a sparring partner and mentor for female entrepreneurs who have big visions. I am at her side as a partner, accompanying her in the execution of her corporate tasks, encouraging her, challenging her and supporting her with ideas and my experience.
I'm not just another management consultant or leadership coach, but
sparring partner,
mentor
mediator
organizational designer,
leadership agent,
problem-solving oriented guide,
Potential-Focused Trainer,
Advocate for your organization
and much more.
That's what it means to me to call myself a Flying Business Integrator and CEO Wingwoman.
My Slogan: your vision is my mission!
Because I want to make your vision really big. Let's co-create and celebrate!
#8: Farewell in 47 days and a new beginning
A goodbye. My process and what I learned in 47 days of farewell.
A farewell in 47 days. My craziest 47 days this year. Since my resignation, relationships in the company in which I still work until September 30th have changed. am employed, changed.
The picture was taken when I had my last working day and closed the door behind me. Wow, now the day has come.
I was somehow relieved and touched at the same time that I was now "outside the door".
What you don't see in the picture? I had caught a really bad cold during my last week at work. For me, my body's reaction to the exertion of the last few days and a sign of retreat and change.
Because of my cold, the last drink and the farewell were smaller than planned. It is as it is and probably should be as it is.
The last few working days have been full of mixed feelings for me. At the same time I was so happy for myself to finally be able to do my thing. Completely responsible and self-determined. That's what I went for. Get out of the comfort zone and consciously into life.
I associate with this feeling a very special sentence by Karin Kuschik (https://www.karinkuschik.com/)
Once you are aware of yourself, life really begins!
However, this feeling also goes hand in hand with the fact that one's own standing and visibility also changes the relationships in one's own environment. Both positive and negative. Without judging it. However, this made me even more aware that everyone is in their own process and has to go through it in their own way.
Also, more than ever, by going through my own process, I see what is not going well in organizations and how people cannot be at their full potential as a result. So now I'm going to change that and do my part to make work more effective and organizations that are places for people to reach their full potential.
#9: New beginning and a different birthday
A cold. vote away Just me and my birthday.
There is actually not a single picture of my birthday this year. September 29th, 2022 was my last day at work. I left with a bad cold, which stayed with me until the week after my birthday.
So I spent my birthday alone at home with a fever and barely a voice. Somehow this situation fitted my big change. I received congratulations from my partner, family and friends over the phone and Facetime. Thanks to digitization, without which this would not have been possible! 😊💛
Actually, I had planned something completely different. Accepted the situation, however, and now leaned back. My body just needed rest and rest. After all, I've been in my change process for nine months. My birthday this year therefore felt like a "new birth".
The only thing I gave myself for my birthday besides my "new birth" was a VIP Spot Sharing with Nina Schnitzenbaumer (Nina Schnitzenbaumer | Business Mentorin für Selbstständige). Auch hier ging es noch einmal zurück zu mir selbst und in meinen Ausblick, wie ich mein Business aufbauen möchte.
Mein Satz und Song der mich hierzu in diesem Jahr begleitet ist.
A million dreams.
The lyrics to "a million dreams" are from the movie "The greatest showman":
I close my eyes and I can see
A world that's waiting up for me
That I call my own
Through the dark, through the door
Through where no one's been before
But it feels like home
They can say, they can say it all sounds crazy
They can say, they can say I've lost my mind
I don't care, I don't care, if they call me crazy
We can live in a world that we design
'Cause every night, I lie in bed
The brightest colors fill my head
A million dreams are keeping me awake
I think of what the world could be
A vision of the one I see
A million dreams is all it's gonna take
Oh, a million dreams for the world we're gonna make
There's a house we can build
Every room inside is filled with things from far away
Special things I compile
Each one there to make you smile on a rainy day
They can say, they can say it all sounds crazy
They can say, they can say we've lost our minds
See, I don't care, I don't care if they call us crazy
Run away to a world that we design
'Cause every night, I lie in bed
The brightest colors fill my head
A million dreams are keeping me awake
I think of what the world could be
A vision of the one I see
A million dreams is all it's gonna take
Oh, a million dreams for the world we're gonna make
However big, however small
Let me be part of it all
Share your dreams with me
We may be right, we may be wrong
But I wanna bring you along to the world I see
To the world we close our eyes to see
We close our eyes to see
Every night, I lie in bed
The brightest colors fill my head
A million dreams are keeping me awake
I think of what the world could be
A vision of the one I see
A million dreams is all it's gonna take
A million dreams for the world we're gonna make
For the world we're gonna make...
So let's co-create our visions!
#10: Be quiet with Gabriele Werstler
Seeing with the heart and a 3,000 km road trip through Germany
What a touching 2022, right? But it goes even further. 😊 In November I met another very special person. Gabriele Werstler (https://www.gabriele-werstler.de/). With her I was able to experience silence again and experience what it means to be in real silence.
Since I learned this year that my intuition is one of my great strengths, I've been training to listen and follow it. Not always easy when the head often interferes rationally. Often with an exclamation of "That's crazy. You can't do that!".
Well, I could and can. So what have I done? I drove almost 3,000 km in October/November alone. My first way led from Berlin via Augsburg to Freiburg.
And at that point it was clear that Gabriele would give an exclusive seminar at her home near Munich. My intuition kicked in immediately and it was clear that I should go there. My head got in the way, but I decided at short notice to drive from Freiburg near Munich. Another almost 1,000 km for the outward and return journey.
What I take with me is that there is an incredibly inspiring woman in Germany who is leading the way for a lot of people and showing a way for an accessible kind of spirituality.
For me, going into silence with her meant getting to know a new world. A world where you see with your heart and not with the shipping. This will also give my being and my work a different depth, because silence is basically not quiet in the true sense. It leads us back to ourselves, to our core of being and shows us what we can create from the heart. Incredibly beautiful!
#11: My signature shoot with Heike Moellers
Business Glow co-creation by my Brand Authority
You may already be feeling the energy and dynamism of my special year. What I have experienced and am allowed to continue to experience is not a matter of course for me. I am grateful and full of joy that I went for myself.
I've learned to love the process, even though I used to resist the word "process". But now it's different. Because I learned a new perspective on it.
However, what I was able to learn this year is that I am open and trusting about my life. Some also call it devotion. surrender to life. I'm learning that too little by little.
One of these gifts of dedication is my signature shoot with the amazing Heike Moellers aka Business Glow Creator (https://www.unua-agency.com/). I met Heike in Iris Seng's Brand Authority course (https://irisseng.com/).
All my pictures that you have been able to see on my site and in my social media accounts are from her (https://www.instagram.com/verenagibson_leadership/ ).
Together with Heike we created my future self, my brand authority, in the pictures. Her professionalism and sensitivity at the same time are simply a unique combination to create my business glow, which I may have felt only very small in me.
When I see the pictures, I already see my future self. The business woman who is already where I can go now. It's unbelievable what pictures and the feelings that go with them can make a difference. The value is so complex that it is really unique to be able to see it now with the pictures. Pure joy and goosebumps!
#12: Reflections. 2023 in the making. Break.
Reflection and Take Action. Und die Entscheidung für eine Membership.
Sometimes I have the feeling that my many adventures, insights and experiences from this year cannot fit into one year alone. My title for my annual review could probably have been "The coaching and back to me year". I jumped from one coaching and training session to the next experience. Was allowed to become more visible and am currently working on my visibility.
It was not without reason that I decided to become a one-year member of Digitalheldinnen (https://www.instagram.com/digitalheldinnen/) at the end of November or beginning of December. They now accompany me on everything to do with technology and social media. The community is simply a great support and together you simply achieve more.
Some decisions and plans are still pending for 2023. However, I will now also allow myself a break between the years and around Christmas, in order to leave room for new inspirations again.
My goals for 2023
My first ten 1:1 customers: In 2023 I have already accompanied ten entrepreneurs with my individual sparring & mentoring.
Finishing my website and offers: At the moment my website is still in the status "work in progress". Of course, this should gradually change in 2023, so that you can already book my offers directly online in 2023.
Carry out at least 5 mediations: In the coming year I will again accompany more people through a conflict and support them as a mediator to find a solution together. For a consensus and for effective and genuine cooperation.
Planning a trip overseas: I've been longing for a long-distance trip for a long time. I will therefore plan my first trip in 2023. I have Patagonia, Canada and Reunion Island in mind. A trip to Scotland is also planned.
Start building my team: I will start building my own team in 2023. I'm probably looking at the second half of the year. Let's see what big things can come up.
Schedule breaks and rest: I still don't find it easy to take breaks and relax. That's why I've scheduled fixed times for this in 2023, so that I can also create a space for silence for myself.
My motto for 2023: "Focus. Flow. Intuition." - My word for 2023 came to me in the last few days. It was indeed focus. In 2023 I will put my entire focus on my business, on my flow and let my intuition flow even more into the creation process.