Do you ever sit back and ask yourself

“How the F**K did I get here?”

There I was at Farnborough Exhibition Centre being introduced onto the main stage of The National Running Show by 4 time Olympian Jo Pavey, with her saying how inspired she is by me…when surely it’s supposed to be the other way round.

I had my notecard in my pocket, my palms were sweating…and my throat was so dry anyone would have thought I’d just run the Marathon des Sables

Long story short, I smashed my 30 minutes talk and came off the stage buzzing, a reminder of how much I have missed live speaking gigs the past 18 months.

An hour later I was sitting in a service station grabbing some late lunch (it was 4pm by now) and I found myself getting all emotional.

THIS IS MY LIFE!!!

This is a life I have created for myself

A life that I imagined for myself many many years ago, when everyone around me was telling me to play smaller, to not be so excitable, to not want so much from life.

On Friday morning I launched my new Bigger Than You Podcast and by Saturday morning it had reached number 3 in the Entrepreneurship charts on Apple, with only Steven Bartlett and Tim Ferris ahead of me.

This is the stuff that dreams are made of, and I have had to remind myself to enjoy it, to take it all in, to accept the role that I have played in making this happen.

Because guess what?

There is still a nagging voice that says,

“You don’t deserve this”

“It’s a fluke”

“It’s not real”

So today I am choosing to list 5 reasons why this weekend shouldn’t have been so EPIC…but also the reasons why it absolutely was.

Reason Number One

I wasn’t ready.

No seriously. On Monday I wanted to delay by a week, or even pull the plug. I got emotional on my team call, and my Podcast Producer Kelly had to give me a stern speaking to. None of us ever feel ready for any of the BIG things we do, but we must do them anyway, we must keep walking towards these things.

Of course, I was ready. I have been a professional keynote speaker for more than 5 years. I have been a trainer and facilitator for more than 20 years.

Reason Number Two

I worried nobody would listen to it

I have been building an online audience for 11 years. My blog www.toofattorun.co.uk/blog has been read by more than 10 million worldwide. I have an email list of 5000 and I have a very engaged social media following and network of colleagues and peers.

Of course, people were going to bloody listen to it. (Whether they liked it or not would be a different thing)

Reason Number Three

I wasn’t prepared enough.

Now, this was specifically in relation to my speaking gig. This gig had been in the diary for 2 years but was cancelled last year. I had been meaning to prep for it, but had left it to the last minute…6 am that morning I was still putting the slides together.

But I should have backed myself. I know my story. I am a confident presenter. And my talk “Finding Your Peeps (and your Mojo) was a talk that was from the heart….it didn’t need months of rehearsals.

The talk made people cry. It had people reaching out to me on socials to thank me. It had brands shoving gifts in my hands as I came off stage. It was a great talk.

Reasons Number Four

I am an imposter.

I was a speaker at the National Running Show and I haven’t been running consistently for months. I am in the top 3 in the entrepreneurship charts alongside millionaires and I have never made a million.

I am a fraud. People will find me out. I am not worthy of this recognition…..I call BULLSHIT

The reason folks resonate with me is that I am not perfect, I don’t have it all figured out, I keep it real about where I am…I own it.

Reason Number Five

It is too easy.

The podcast went live and with a few posts, and a few emails it hit the charts.

The speaking gig was 30 minutes, and I got paid a significant fee while having the time of my life

Far too easy.

Business success is supposed to be hard.

Come on Julie…cut it out.

I have done the graft. I have done the free speaking gigs. I have done the years and years of building my profile and my credibility online.

Yes it was relatively easy, but I also worked hard on the strategy and built a launch team, and did things properly

Plus, its OK for things to be easy

It is safe for businesses to feel easy.

Today I woke up with a sense of excitement.

I have a week to go until I run my Rethink & Reset Challenge for small business owners, and I am buzzing about how I can help them to get back into alignment. I am buzzing about the next batch of interviews I am about to record for the podcast, and I am buzzing that it feels like things are coming together in terms of that elusive live-work balance we always bang on about.

Life is good.

The business is strong.

And I am ready to Think BIGGER and to Do BETTER in my business.

The question is, are you?

Julie Creffield is a business growth strategist who helps solopreneurs to scale their businesses for greater influence, impact and income. With 25+ years of experience in devising and delivering transformational projects and programmes she loves nothing more than helping her clients to create movements that matter and businesses that have a legacy beyond just putting money in the pockets of their owners.

Register here for her Rethink & Reset Challenge which takes place from Tuesday 21st – Thursday 23rd September

For podcast, speaking or consultancy enquiries please contact julie@juliecreffield.com