Welcome to Lead Self | Lead Well
Or LSLW for short...
Have you ever had an idea that has been rattling around in your head for such a long time, that you figured you should probably do something about it?
Yep. Me too.
But maybe you and your idea got stuck in the clutches of perfectionism, self-doubt, imposter syndrome, analysis paralysis, or within the ‘white noise’ fallacy (the thought-pattern of “there is already so much content out there, so why would mine be of any value or different, and why would people engage with it?”).
Also. Me too!
However, I recently read
’s ‘From A to B’ newsletter titled: A Letter To Our (Imaginary) Shareholders, which opens up with an introduction explaining that he is taking a page out of ’ simple ‘work in public’ idea.I have also been reading
’s newsletter — 5 Minute Strategic Mindset — for years, and have wanted to emulate his simple, yet powerful newsletter framework for just as long.So I have decided to ‘bite the bullet’ and just start…
“Start what, exactly?” you may ask.
Well…
…Start sharing what I have learned along my journey from being a welfare kid with a parent who experienced childhood abuse, had Complex-PTSD and a gambling addiction, and did not seek support to overcome these issues — to:
Becoming the first in my family to go to, and finish, university;
Out-earning my parents by aged 26;
Owning (and selling) a house at 30(ish);
Consciously directing my life and career path (whilst exploring many side-quests) and;
Building the knowledge and skills to have better friendships, romantic relationships, relationship with money and overall, a better life than what I saw and experienced growing up.
It is only now, with the gift of hindsight, that I can recognise the common theme that spans across my journey, is self-leadership.
And along this journey, I have learned that if I want to lead others and have a great life along the way, self-leadership is the foundation for getting there (hence, Lead Self | Lead Well).
Without knowing it, my journey towards self-leadership began as a teen when I was sparked by curiosity to learn why I thought and felt the way I did, what I did and didn’t want out of life and what I valued and believed. This curiosity led me to begin developing self-awareness.
Then throughout my twenties, my journey progressed towards self-regulation when I was learning how to apply myself to things that mattered to me at the time (e.g. education, getting better with finances, developing my professional self, becoming a better friend) — whilst simultaneously riding (and eventually embracing) the waves of frustration, sadness, loneliness, impatience, resentment, anger, confusion, imposter syndrome etc. and getting to a place where acceptance, compassion, clarity, self-belief, determination, motivation and joy were (and continue to be) experienced more.
Self-awareness and self-regulation together, has helped me to learn how to heal (my) past self by repairing holes left by past experiences and hurts, and rewire my brain towards values, beliefs and thoughts that helps (rather than hinders) me to believe I can overcome the (real or perceived) challenges before me, to have the life, career, friendships and relationship I want to have.
And now, in my thirties, I am building my self-commitment muscles — the routines, habits, practices and actions that, together with self-regulation, help me to strengthen (my) present self by learning to enjoy the process of overcoming challenges and achieving goals.
Self-commitment, together with self-awareness, is helping me become (my) future self — the version of myself that I envision myself to be, doing what I want to do, and having what I want to have.
To simplify, I have developed the Lead Self | Lead Well Self-Leadership Framework and each fortnight I will bring you short stories, practical tools and resources that align to the topics within it, which I hope will inspire and help you along your own self-leadership journey.
This newsletter is my way of ‘working in public’, strengthening my self-commitment muscles, and progressing towards becoming my envisioned ‘future self’.
I don’t have a set newsletter structure or lots of pre-developed or planned content yet, so please bear with me as I try, test and learn what works, and discover what is valuable and engagement-worthy to you.
However, with that being said, expect to get to know me a little more as I share parts of my story along our, hopefully long, journey together.
If you have read this far down, please let me know by clicking the ‘heart’, commenting and/or subscribing!
Thank you for reading! I appreciate you!
Until next time…
— Crystal McKendrick
P.S. I definitely didn’t battle with perfectionism-based procrastination when getting close to publishing this newsletter *cough cough*.
For those of you within my network who have received this newsletter via email, I would greatly appreciate being able to stay in your inbox.
However, I understand if you (like me) have too many emails coming in and would like to unsubscribe.
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Big congrats on taking the first bold step, Crystal!