My journey to confidence
I can now tick off another of my 30 by 30 challenges:
- 26. Drive on the motorway again.
The first time I drove on the motorway on my own was when Isabella was 2 and William 6 months. A simple enough journey on the M40 for an hour then I would reach my destination; to visit my best friend. The journey there went very well and we spent a wonderful day together. It then came to going home time, I thought I’d leave at 3:00 to be back by 4:00 so I could cook tea and keep to our routine. The first 30 minutes of the journey passed with no event and then we came to a complete stop! I didn’t get home until after 8:00, needless to say I was in slight shock. Thankfully we had managed to stop to get a bite to eat but not before the kids had got hysterical and I had nearly had a panic attack.
I had not driven on the motorway since then; until yesterday that is, and I can thankfully say that my experience was much better.
My journey was to Bricks and Bread to visit Trudy and to meet Claire for the first time. These are two very inspiring ladies who I was so desperate to meet with that I had to believe in myself and have confidence in my abilities to make the journey there and back. I was reminding myself about how much driving I had been doing recently and that this was just the next step.
Usually I will spend the week before any major event worrying about all the possibilities but this time I was determined to keep positive and not to think about what could go wrong. I was reminding myself of all the good things about our get-together to look forward to.
From chatting with Claire and Trudy yesterday I have realise that my driving on the motorway is a part of many pieces of my life that I need to fit together to build my confidence. The confidence to hopefully start up a business of my own. By writing my list of 30 things to do before I am 30 I have set small achievable goals that hopefully help in bringing more contentment in my life and so help me define what it is I’d like to do in terms of work. At the moment I am not really in a position to commit to set working hours as I am at home with the kids all day but all of my blogging, interaction on social media and ideas are adding up to make me more confident and to develop my skills-set that I could quite easily have lost by not working.
Becoming a mum is probably the hardest thing I have done or will ever do, my confidence was completely knocked when I had Isabella and I have spent many years regaining my sense of self and defining what I would like to do. Through reading many blogs, websites, business startup guides and self-help books I have come up with my list to help me move forward and get the confidence I need to grow myself and hopefully grow a business when the time comes:
- Believe in yourself – this is the hardest for me.
- Set goals – I am a master of writing to-do-lists.
- Take small steps - over this last year I have driven further and further now I’ve driven on the motorway, yippee!
- Think positively – I am finally realising worrying is a waste of my time(it’s only taken 28 years).
- Find a support network – I have all sorts of different networks of friends; friends are essential!
Do you have a list of tips that you try to live your life by? Do you have any defining moments on your journey to confidence? If you have set up your own business how did you define your idea?
For now,
Catherine
I so understand the driving fear. We had a bad accident some time ago and it took me forever to gain the confidence to get on the motorway on my own again. You’re doing amazingly Catherine and am sure you will accomplish everything on your list and more x
Thank you Lara, small steps at a time
Your blog is looking super too x
I love this post, well done you
I can relate to this so much. From fear of driving on the Motorway (although now I find Motorways are ok its winding country roads/and driving in the dark are my new driving skill to gain confidence in!).
I too found that after having children I lost complete sense of identity and who I was anymore. It takes time to find who you are and what you want again, but I do feel far more grounded after having children than I ever did.
Thinking back and remembering those first post-natal meetings we had together it seems like a life time ago, but we are both building our confidence back, and starting to believe in ourselves at last.
Big virtual hug x
Thank you so much for my hug, sending one right back to you xox
I’m used to the country roads
and driving in the dark is a bit icky I agree but practice makes perfect 
It WAS a life time ago, just remember those wintery days with our tiny girls! We have come so far, I’m proud of us xxx
Catherine,
Love this post & it was great to meet you
I had *no* idea how much of a journey it had taken for you to arrive at Bricks and Bread and I’m so happy that you did it! I am absolutely positive that your confidence will continue to grow and I look forward to sharing your story, being your friend and doing our charity work together. A very exciting time ahead for both of us.
With much love, and I look forward to the next meet up – perhaps the M25 to Wisley next time?!
Claire x
Thank you Claire,
It was really great to meet you too. It was a bit of a weekend of confidence building for me as I started working at the pub too, just two evenings per week but will certainly also help in building my confidence.
I am so excited to learn more of our charity work at Bricks and Bread and learning more about your ideas and plans for the future. I feel blessed to find someone on a similar path to me.
M25 to Wisley is a challenge I will certainly accept
Love Catherine x
My mum won’t drive on a motorway and I don’t blame her. I use motorways when I go down to Manchester (I live near Scotland) but so many people abuse them with speed and dangerous driving. Unless you have a lot of confidence behind the wheel, it’s probably best not to chance it.
CJ x
Thank you for your message, I do feel much better now I have driven on the motorway again. I just sit in the slow lane and don’t mind about how slow the lorries are going. There are definitely some crazy drivers out there, I must admit I did go into the fast lane once on my journey as there were two very silly drivers in front of me dodging in and out and being very dangerous!
It’s really nice for me to feel confident again, I’m quite proud of myself
C x