Last year, Lucy Puttergill decided to take a big step back. After much thought and reflection, she chose to leave her successful job in finance, opting for a fresh start.
She joined us a few months back on Season 1 of The She-Suite Podcast to share her story. Her honesty and transparency about her journey is not only striking, but also relatable. And whether you’re considering a career change or just some kind of personal life change, her words offer encouragement no matter what stage of life you might be in.
Finding clarity, taking a step back, and enacting change isn’t easy. But when you take the time to practice it, the results can be life changing. Here’s what guest Lucy Puttergill had to say on the topic:
Firstly, it’s important to acknowledge that in itself, you having the realization that something isn’t quite right and having the courage to look at it is an amazing step. So many people don’t even have the courage to get to that point, or to admit that they’re not happy.
Secondly, try to find some way of incorporating some kind of mindfulness practice into your life. I realize this has become a bit of a ‘buzzword’ – but for me, yoga has helped me to realize that there was actually a voice in my head that was talking rubbish at me all day. That made me realize, “Is this voice true? Is it what other people see?”
Having space to listen to your thoughts and see where they are (which doesn’t necessarily need to be meditation or yoga) can be any situation where you get into a flow state and are aware of your thoughts. Another amazing exercise for this that I recently started doing was to set an alarm on my phone for one minute, three times per day, and for that minute to write down every thought that comes into my head.
Some things that came out of that were – “Why did you have that latte this morning? What are you doing with your life? Are you sure that you’ve made the right choice?”
All this stuff was coming out, and it was amazing to see. I thought to myself, if this is what is going on in my mind for one minute, how is this driving my life?
…so the first step is to find some way to become aware of that voice and what it’s telling you, and the second (if you’re open to it) is to find a practice that can help you to release some of that stuff that is potentially holding you back.
For more on finding clarity, self-exploration, and creating a fresh start for yourself, be sure to listen to Lucy’s full She-Suite Podcast episode here.
Lucy Puttergill
Life Coach
