71 | Letter to my former self: Joanna Lott

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Hello and welcome to Women in

the Coaching Arena podcast.

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I'm so glad you are here.

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I'm Jo Lott, a business mentor

and ICF accredited coach

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Microphone (Samson Q2U Microphone):

and I help coaches to

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build brilliant businesses.

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I know that when you prepare to enter

the arena, there is fear, self doubt,

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comparison, anxiety, uncertainty.

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You can tend to armor up and

protect yourself from vulnerability.

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In this podcast, I'll be sharing

honest, not hype, practical and

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emotional tools to support you to make

the difference that you are here for.

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Dare greatly.

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You belong in this arena.

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Hello, welcome to the women

in the coaching arena podcast.

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I am so glad you are here.

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I've just done my last business of

coaching group called before the summer,

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because I work term time only . So

I'll have six weeks off to really

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connect in, do big picture thinking.

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I'm intending to do a lot of creation and

changes to my business over the summer.

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And it's really lovely to get the

space to do that because it's that

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sort of thing that you just can't

do in between calls and in between

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replying to messages and all the things

that we all balance on a daily basis.

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So on the call we wrote a

letter to our former self.

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So we often write a letter to our

future self, but we very rarely write

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a letter to our former self about all

that we have learned along the way.

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I invited my clients to

write their own letter.

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Think about all that they've

learned on this journey so far.

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And it also invited them to

share their letter to me on this

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podcast, if they would like to.

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So I will see if anyone does it.

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But my main way of mentoring

is to practice what I preach.

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To really walk the walk.

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So despite the fact, I ended the call

saying, I really don't want to read my

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letter to my former self and publish it.

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I thought I would step

up and do exactly that.

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So here is my letter

to 23 year old Joanna.

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Dear Joanna.

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You have no idea that you will become

more than you ever thought possible.

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You will go on a journey that pushes

every limit you currently have in place.

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They are all of your own making

and you can truly push against

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these imaginary boundaries.

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You will speak up and be loved

by others for who you are.

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For your realness and vulnerability.

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You don't need to worry about going red.

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Soon that won't be a

thing for you anymore.

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You will be so deeply connected and

tuned into others that you will have

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no time or concern to be self-conscious

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.

You will realize that everyone needs support.

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No one has it sussed.

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They are just the same as you.

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You will learn that we all carry trauma.

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Whether that's through generations or

small incidents that we place meaning

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on which aren't necessarily true.

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You will learn that you have a unique

purpose and people need to hear

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your voice and your way of sharing.

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You will learn that those strengths that

you currently see in your strengths finder

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assessment, or that your boss tells you

in your performance development review,

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that you refuse to believe a true.

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Are actually true.

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You have an ability to connect with

people quickly and to feel their feelings.

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This isn't always a good thing as

you feel too much for others and

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you can't run around the track for

them, no matter how hard you try.

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I want to assure you that

you will find your own path.

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And that it's all a journey where

one step will lead to the next.

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But you must keep being courageous

and keep taking those steps.

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To draw a line in the sand

when you realize old stories

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are no longer true for you.

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When they are something that

you need to leave behind to

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move to your next evolution.

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That you are here for big things, and

you can not do those things while you

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undervalue yourself and your ideas.

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That your voice is worth listening to.

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That you matter.

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That you can make a difference to others.

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No matter how sorted you think that

they are, because they need you to

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raise your voice to make a difference.

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That is my letter to myself.

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As at 16th of July, 2024.

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So as I look back, that was

written to when I was around 23.

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And I had coaching for the first time

and I filled in a strengths finder,

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and all these different assessments.

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Cause it was a career coaching

thing I did at the time.

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And coach came out as my top job.

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And then I obviously thought,

well, that's ridiculous.

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So I moved down to job number two,

which was teacher, which again, I

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just didn't have the confidence for.

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So I laid low working in an office

for far too long, even though my

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entire aim in life was always.

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Not to work in an office.

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Now I've learned, never say

not, or I don't want to, because

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you will attract those things.

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So really focus on the

positive of what you do want.

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Rather than what you don't want.

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I think the main thing

that came out for me.

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In that letter, which someone shined

a light on today in their letter is

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that even though I understand that I

pushed past so many limiting beliefs.

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That we all still have limiting beliefs

that need pushing again and again.

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And imagine what your letter in 20 years

time will say to your current self.

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So that's a really poignant

thing for me to remember.

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That there are still things that I'm

carrying that no longer serve me.

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And I think my final takeaway

from my letter was raise your

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voice to make a difference.

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So that is why I absolutely love

you listening to this podcast.

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And it means so much to me.

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To be able to share my ideas,

which is something for most of

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my life I didn't feel able to do.

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And I always put other people's thoughts

and ideas ahead of my own, and I would

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never have been the first to speak up.

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So that's been a good

growth journey for me.

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Also to ensure that I continue, because

I have a big mission and I have a lot

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that I need to leave behind in order

to really move to that next evolution

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and really, really raised my voice to

make a difference in this industry.

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So, thank you so much for listening.

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If you want to share your letter

with me, I would love to hear it.

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So you can email me at

joanna@joannalottcoaching.com.

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And I can't wait to hear it.

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Thank you so much for

listening to today's episode.

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I hope it was helpful and you

gained insights from my own letter

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to my former self, and I invite

you to write your own letter.

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It was a really insightful exercise, to

make you feel grounded and to give you

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that fire and inspiration to continue

on this entrepreneurship journey.

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So thank you for listening.

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And like I say, at the end of every

episode, trust yourself, believe

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in yourself and be the wise Gardner

who keeps on watering the seed.

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Microphone (Samson Q2U Microphone):

Thank you so much for listening to this

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episode of Women in the Coaching Arena.

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I have a mess of free resources on

my website joannalottcoaching.com.

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That's Joanna with an A

and Lott with two T's.

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joannalottcoaching.com.

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And I'll also put links in the show notes.

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Let me know if you found

this episode useful.

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Share it with a friend and

leave me a review, and I will

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personally thank you for that.

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Remember to trust yourself, believe

in yourself and be the wise Gardner

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who keeps on watering the seed.

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Get into the arena dare, greatly and try.