My current favorite words to live by

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Every now and then I read something that I like so much I pin it on the wall above my computer, and for the last ten days or so it’s been this great wisdom from Martha Beck written in O Magazine a couple of years ago: “Say, do and be what you would if no one else were looking. It will be scary at first, but if you persist, there will come that liberating moment when you’ll feel yourself sailing straight through your life’s most inhibiting barriers without even feeling a bump.”

This is sage advice for a woman (me) who left the security of corporate life for the wild waters of entrepreneurialism and a new career direction and also someone who advises other people to do the same thing. Yes, it’s sometimes been scary - and also at times a little lonely compared to an office full of other people—but I love it, so it’s worth it.

I’ve had a couple of offers to return to the corporate world in the last few weeks and both times I was able to say “no, thank you” because even though I felt flattering to be asked, I no longer do things just because people ask me to, because I feel flattered or because I once would have longed for the impressive-sounding title and salary. I do them only if they’ll give me the liberating feeling that I now know means I’m steering in the right direction - heading down my very own path.

What are your current favorite words to live by? What do they mean to you?

Kristen Carter on Twitter

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