We live in a world where social media activity is at an all time high. Every person can build their own platform and market their beliefs, activities and products. In this fast paced, content driven world, I believe that what we stand for and why, is going to become more and more important to help people sift through the noise.
In January it will be four years since I quit my job and set out to forge a new path. I started with a blank piece of paper and four colouring pens. I had no idea what I wanted to do, or how my dreams were going to manifest themselves. But if you asked me what it was that I believed in, what I wanted to focus on, build something around, and to champion in this world. I knew.
I would have told you exactly what I would tell you now. I would have told you that out of all the things I learnt in my education, through school and a university degree in Philosophy, it was what the mountains taught me that changed my mindset and my whole entire life.
Developing the tools to overcoming the things that are difficult and scary in life, was not a module taught at the University of York where I studied.
Developing self-belief and worthiness to know who you are, be happy with that person and fight for what you believe you deserve, was not a class offered at my school.
I graduated from university, moved back to London and fell into a career in sales at a London tech startup.
I knew I could do more. I felt boxed in and knew this wasn’t the place I was going to find out what I was really capable of.
So I turned to adventure. I loved it. It changed my life. Things that seemed impossible became possible. I began to travel to amazing places, meet awesome people and began to find out who I really was. Challenge Sophie was born.
Fast forward nine years and I’m standing in front of a room of people giving a talk called ‘Harness Your Why and Grow Your Tribe’ at SitSum social influencer conference in Atlanta. I'm talking about The 3 C's: Cause, Champion, Change.
As I’m talking, it’s becoming clearer right in front of my eyes. How powerful it can be when you believe in something so badly it hurts. Like when you love someone it can make you cry because you love them so much. That’s how I feel about my work.
I believe in my mission so much, in empowering people to believe in themselves and overcome the barriers that are holding them back. It often brings me to tears!
I believe not many things are as valuable as realising how powerful and capable you really are.
Yet, everyday we let negative thoughts about ourselves, and negative opinions from others, affect us.
Fear.
I think a lot about fear. I think a lot about pain. I think a lot about self-belief. About why they exist, what they feel like, how to overcome them, where they come from, how to manage them.
I push my limits with the aim of learning more about fear, pain and self-belief. The more I learn, the more likely I am to be able to manage them and control them before they control me.
Going back to my talk and what I called The 3 C’s: Cause, Champion and Change...
I believe that change is happening from the grass roots up. Everyday people like you and me have the power to drive change on a scale that was previously unprecedented.
This happens by championing what’s important to you and why. If it’s important to you, the chances are it will be important to other people. If you can find a way to communicate it in a way that’s interesting, relevant and engaging, you can build something around it and you can create change.
If you want to watch my talk at SitSum social influencer conference, it was live streamed. Video below!
Big thanks to Discover Atlanta and the awesome team at Sensei for inviting me back to Sitsum this year.
I am insured for all my travels by HolidaySafe. Use my code SOPH16 for a 20% discount if you're looking for insurance.