Yesterday was International Women's Day.
As part of the festivities, I was asked to record a short video of advice to younger women. It took me all week to think about it and actually come up with something that I was happy with and the reason is, who am I to give any woman advice?
I've mucked up many a time. I've not taken advice myself when hindsight proves that I really, really should have and advice isn't always something that is appreciated, particularly when it's not been asked for. No one likes a preachy person telling them what they should do an how.
Instead, I came up with a thought and it's this.
Earlier this month at the Brit music awards a brilliant young artist, called RAYE (don't email me, she styles it in capital letters) age 26, won six awards, the most any one artist has won in any given year. More than Adele, more than Ed Sheeran. Six. Yet in one of her (six) acceptance speeches said this.
"18 months ago my career had gone to hell. I remember seeing my live agent at a gig.
"I went up to him, with tears in my eyes, and begged him not to give up on me. I told him I had more fight in me. A week later he set up this tiny tour.
"It was a hundred tickets per venue; me sat at the piano for two hours, talking the audience through my story so far. Had someone said then that I'd be at the O2 in less than two years, even I would have thought they were mad."
She won for two reasons - talent and mental strength. She kept going when she was tired, worn down, fed up, on drugs and rejected by so many, she kept going.
My thought on International Women's Day is this.
Mental strength is something we all have already, but it's a muscle, it needs to be trained every day so that we can do what we want to do in life, get the outcomes we want, fulfil the dreams we want.
Every day we need to not give in to paths or happenings that won't get us to where we want to be, but to do this we need to gather our mental strength in order to action what we need to do. This doesn't mean we're not exhausted to the bone, that we aren't running on empty that we enjoy what we need to do, but do it we must otherwise we will live with regret and that's a much bigger bill.
It doesn't even need to be big things. It's changing the sheets when you get home from work and are tired, walking the dog when it's pouring with rain and you really, really don't want to, it's sacrificing what you want to do because someone else is depending on you to do something for them. These things aren't always fun, but the results are .
Live your life today and make choices that future you wants you to make.
Why bother? Well, as RAYE said on her big night "this is proof that dreams can come true."
Don't give up on your dreams, there is always a way forward, you just need to find it.
Comments will be approved before showing up.
