Sashka Regina Forbes-featured founder of BrandSashka, author and leadership coach and mentor at the female factor, shared with us her insights on how your feelings and your mind have the power to lead you to career advancement.
In order to make the best decision for yourself, you must get in touch with your inner self and find out what your purpose in life is. Only if you align your body, mind and soul - both spiritually and energetically, and believe that you ARE the best, you will be able to create your own reality.
So let’s find out how you can do that!
don't fit in the system, create your own
Ever thought of yourself as “polite”, “caring” or “ambitious employee”? Sashka emphasizes how mental boxes we use (mostly stigmas and labels) will be in your way eventually. Some might think you don’t have enough experience to handle the job, that women are too emotional and cannot be trusted in top positions or that your journey was too unconventional or just “not enough” to be considered for a position or promotion. However, “sometimes we try so hard to ‘fit in’ when we were born to stand out; often we don’t need to be part of a system, but create one”. Well, if this isn’t a sign for you to start creating your own reality, we don’t know what is!
find your circle
Nevertheless, the fact that you want to stand out does not mean that you need to be by yourself: find leaders that keep challenging your thinking and you will discover a new world and grow more than you might expect. Do not limit yourself to finding people who will help you professionally, but also look for who can help you psychologically. Ultimately, your circle and your mentors will accelerate your growth, do not underestimate their power!
take control over your emotions
And what if you need a bit of encouragement to take this brave step and start changing your life? Sashka has a sharp solution for this as well. The key is learning to manage your emotions to avoid having them manage you, and overcoming what she defines as emotional anxiety (here is a link to her podcast to learn more about it). Doing this helped her see some situations more clearly, instead of having them clouded by too many overwhelming emotions, which would have caused her to go in different directions losing great opportunities, and eventually would have been counterproductive.
the 4 musts to position yourself
Once you have done your preliminary reflections and work on your feelings and true self, it is time to position yourself to get your deserved recognition – be it for a promotion, a raise or more. There are three main steps when you want to do this.
You need to understand how the person who you are asking for recognition thinks, so that by knowing how they will receive and process information you can adapt your attitude.
Remember that a NO is not permanent and you might have just asked for it at the wrong time.
Be aware that this advancement starts from within YOU and since you are able to create your reality, you need to manifest it through your feelings and hard work. And if you don’t have proof of any of it, then do not forget that the primary recognition comes from within, you should not always expect it from the outside and if you keep looking for external validation you will end up taking actions that do not really benefit you.
BONUS: Believe in what you do! Otherwise, you’ll loathe your work sooner or later
Eager to get some examples of impactful behaviours to reinforce your personal brand or those that you should avoid? You can download Sashka’s full list of impactful actions here.
choosing yourself
What about when you are unsure about something and cannot decide whether to take a risk or not? Well, it again comes down to your emotions. You should ask yourself how you feel about making this decision, see if it feels more like a heavy burden or a liberation. It is important to feel into the major decisions you take and reflect again on who you are, why you would do something and imagine how you would feel once it is done. Listen to your intuition and it might have unexpected answers for you.
For example, if you are pondering over a career change, think about the following:
How do you feel leaving your job? Do you feel lighter and at peace?
If you feel rather indifferent to this option, then maybe you are not asking the right question and there is something else going on, dig deeper until you feel a major lift
“Work with someone who can see the loopholes and the golden thread in your life and career, and can assist you with qualified guidance, but at the end of the day it’s your choice, so learn to get to know yourself!“
It’s not spelled “one day”, but DAY ONE!
And whatever you do, have one Sashka-approved goal in mind:
Make the world your ✨bitch✨ unapologetically
We know, so many things to reflect on, right? Have in mind, strength comes from within and you know best what works for you and what doesn’t. This is day one, it’s time to start – or continue – working on yourself!
Want to pick Sashka’s brain to find yourself, to manage your emotions or on how to become a confident female leader? Apply to be her mentee in our next batch! You can find more information here.
Sashka Regina: CEO and Founder of BrandSashka and Future Forward Hub Podcast & Events