I am a happy mother of two fantastic young adults of whom I am very proud of, for all the love we share and for the wonderful emotions we experience together daily. I am, also, a very successful international business executive and I have worked all my life balancing an extremely demanding career and a fulfilling family life. Lately, I have been thinking about what recommendations should I give to my daughter, the ones I wished I had when I was 20 years old and I was just starting to live my adult life.
- Always think positively about creating your own family, choose to create your family, do not just let it happen, think with love about the family you and your partner will be able to create, the incredible experiences of love, emotions and dreams that are awaiting for you. Never think or believe that, if you choose to be a working woman, you will not be able to balance family responsibilities. You can, if that is your desire, everything can be organised. Educate well your children, regardless if they are a son or a daughter, be there for what really matters to them.
- Go for a fulfilling career and realize your full potential. Go for your career! Do not give up, never think I can’t do it…..You will, you will, just set your priorities in the correct way, just understand what are your hidden talents, what will make you a happy woman, what ever is the industry that you will choose, just go for it….and grab it all, do not leave anything on the table. What you feel you can achieve is worth trying, it is better to make a mistake and fail than not to try because of fear of failure. There will be lots of people out there which will advise you differently, but realistically, you are the only one that can make the call, listen to everyone, and be aware that only you can decide what is good for you and your family.
- Decide what is important and drop all the rest, however you will need to make decisions. Decide where you want to go and who do you want to be. Decide what success or happiness looks like to you, once you have decided, brutally drop the rest. You will not be able to go for everything …it is impossible. Run, yes life will be a long marathon, not a sprint…. a marathon. In your life long run, you can only carry what will give you deep strengths for the difficult times, what will give you infinite joy, what will satisfy your need of love and emotions, what will make you proud and unique to your world. The rest is just noise and a distraction, not worth to carry the weight.
- Celebrate every success, in each of every step of your life, bigger or smaller, work or family sphere, career or new friendship, a salary increase or your children’s educational achievements, your sport improvements or a new friend in your circle. What ever you believe it is a success, celebrate, appreciate the positive vibe that comes with celebrating with the people around you. Treasure that feeling, get that adrenaline going and aim for more celebration. You can get addicted to happiness and it is wonderful.
- Help others on the way…..Never forget that you are a very blessed young woman, you have always been very much loved by myself and your father and we have always been very committed to your happiness and well being, however not all girls have had or will have your blessing…. during your life, help who is in need, regardless their gender, but do help other girls. It might be that they only need mentoring, or English classes, or support with their wider problems or some solid advise, help them. Women are very lucky because they can choose if to have a family, or a career or have both…… help other girls achieve the potential that they have envisage for their life. What is even more important, is to influence other women through your achievements, your behaviour , your dreams coming true, be a positive influencer in other peoples lives.
I have always considered myself very lucky because I was born a woman, because I had the opportunity to freely choose what I wanted to be, a mother and an executive, I have never considered myself inferior, even if I was discriminated due to my gender, but I have always fought back and stood by my principles, my values and my objectives. I have always thought that the fact that I was a woman made me a happier human being because I could determine who I wanted to be and how I was going to get there. I always considered that my gender has a bigger opportunity, life was putting it on a silver plate and I took it! I will keep on exploring this opportunity even further, for the remaining years ahead of me. Aiming to be a mother and a working woman is plausible, the rest is just all about how you will organize yourself, yes, difficult to do, however doable.
….and a special advise to my son , let the women of your life thrive! Support them, be there for them as a solid board where they can hold on when facing critical times of their life, you will be a happier man if surrounded by thriving women.
Today after many years of learning, working, building, failing, educating and running, I wished I knew before those 5 key learning points, probably I would have achieved earlier my objectives, who could say ….. Now , I hope they will be useful to you and to other women and men who want to live a happier life.
Breath in breath out,